Parents report children unwelcome at weddings and in shared spaces

Some parents in Lithuania say they and their children are not welcome in everyday settings, from weddings to apartment building stairwells, LRT reports. Examples include invitations that exclude children, mothers having to feed babies in toilets and neighbours objecting to a child’s bicycle being left in a shared space.

Giedrė Juškienė, founder and head of the public institution Namų mama, said parents sometimes fear going places because they expect to be unwelcome. She said families can encounter difficulties at cultural events not intended specifically for children, as well as in daily life.

Juškienė said neighbours in her apartment building object to a children’s bicycle being kept on a landing, although it does not block passage, while flowers are kept on other floors. “Someone’s need to grow flowers is met, but a mother’s need to shorten the distance she has to carry a bicycle is not,” she said.

Philosopher Gediminas Karoblis, who raised a large family, said the trend of excluding children from weddings surprises him, according to LRT’s summary of the article.

There is no research in Lithuania on how society treats children and families with children in public life. Aida Savicka, a senior researcher at the Lithuanian Institute for Culture Research, said the fact that people generally want more children than they ultimately have suggests that some do not fulfil their family plans because of real or perceived obstacles.

Although children are generally viewed as an important part of family life and a source of meaning and emotional bonds, parents do not always feel that they receive tolerance or support from others.