In “unsettled times,” what becomes of the connection between aspirations and action? The sociologies of culture, gender, and family explore this link from multiple angles, theorizing imagined futures, the stalled revolution, and deinstitutionalization. Bridging these literatures, this chapter seeks to clarify the link between countervailing structural changes, aspirations, and action. In the United Arab Emirates, young adults are constrained by the incomplete de-institutionalization of the homemaker-breadwinner marriage previously established with the formation of the federation in 1971. State support for Emirati women’s employment and related neoliberal labor market and social welfare reforms have contributed to stark increases in young women’s labor force participation while reducing young men’s breadwinning capacities. While young women face long workdays, young men com-mute long distances for better pay. Concurrently, the homemaker-breadwinner model of marriage remains legally enforced and socially expected, especially on the marriage mar-ket. Consequently, I find that despite dreaming of involved fatherhood and working motherhood, young Emiratis anticipate that structural barriers will prevent them from enacting their egalitarian aspirations. Many respond by postponing marriage and parenthood. During this liminal peri-od, middle-to-upper-class Emiratis with the financial means to do so pursue higher ed-ucation and professional careers, investing in alternative sources of social standing less readily available to their working-class counterparts, especially men. While shoring up varied socioeconomic statuses, this class-privileged category forms an elite identity rooted in not yet relinquishing egalitarian aspirations. While contributing to the study of stratification among Arab Gulf citizens, this chapter highlights the generativity and intersectional consequences of implausible futures.