Motherly's Annual State of Motherhood Survey - Motherly

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2022 SURVEY RESULTS

2022 SURVEY RESULTS

At Motherly, it’s our mission to empower mothers to thrive, and one way we do that is by elevating the voices of today’s generation of mothers. Our annual State of Motherhood survey offers a view from a unique perspective—today’s modern mother. Here’s what we learned.

The Great Resignation is even more complicated if you’re a mother

2X

more women left the workforce than men in 2021

46%

of mothers still unemployed left the workforce in 2021 due to childcare issues

48%

of mothers currently employed are dissatisfied with their employer’s lack of flexibility & paid time off

“I had to take a hard look at how I was managing it all. With no flexibility from my employer and childcare costs completely unmanageable, I reached my breaking point and had to resign.”

— Katie N.

The pandemic heightened the US childcare crisis—and it’s not getting any better

#1

reason women changed or left jobs last year – lack of childcare

59%

of working mothers are dissatisfied with their childcare

33%

of mothers report childcare creates a constant financial strain

10%

of Black mothers report having zero childcare support - 2x higher than white moms and 3x higher than Latinx mothers

“[Childcare] is a huge portion of my wages, like almost half my monthly take-home pay.”

— Molly D.

The great ‘baby bust’ of 2022

Mothers are

9%

less likely to want another child than they were in 2021

13%

of mothers are less likely to want another child than in 2020

62%

of mothers who don’t want to be pregnant again, work full time

68%

of mothers surveyed are “one and done” – up 21% from 2020

“We had our first and only child in 2021. Before we had her, I wasn’t sure whether I wanted one or two. Now, I couldn’t fathom having more than one.”

— Jennifer G.

Sex & motherhood: The good, the surprising and the satisfied

45%

of moms are having sex at least once per week and 87% of those moms report being “satisfied” or “extremely satisfied”

77%

of moms who report having sex less than once a month report being “dissatisfied” or “Extremely dissatisfied”

54%

of all millennial and Gen Z moms polled report being “satisfied” or “extremely satisfied” with their sex lives

Almost half of today’s working moms are primary breadwinners—and they’re still shouldering the majority of the mental load

47%

contribute more than half of their household income

50%

of “breadwinning” moms also still manage the majority of the household workload. Up 10% from 2018

70%

of moms schedule all medical appointments for everyone in the family

Pandemic burnout may be waning, but not enough

38%

report feeling completely burned out (down 5% from last year)

55%

of SAHMs report they “always” or “frequently” feel burnt out – significantly higher than working moms

38%

of moms who report feeling frequently burned out are having sex less than 2 times per month

“Being a primary caretaker is incredible taxing. All of the responsibilities fall to your shoulders and there’s never a break.”

— Christine C.

But here are things moms said would help them

40%

of moms said more support would help

30%

access to more resources to better balance work & motherhood

24%

of Gen X moms said a shift in the cultural mindset that a woman could do it all

In the past 5 years mothers have proven their power. Here’s what’s changed

The pandemic has, undoubtedly, played a large role in the change in statistics from 2018 until now. While fewer Gen Z and millennial mothers plan to expand their families, more mothers are primary income earners than ever before. Compared to five years ago, there’s been a dramatic increase in mothers who are interested in legislation and policy geared toward improving the lives of families, too.

Mothers are

15%

more likely to choose smaller families

Only 42% of millennial and Gen Z moms intend to have another child, down from 57% in 2020.

10%

more mothers are contributing more than half of the household income

47% of moms surveyed in 2022 contribute more than half of the household income, up 10% from 2018

Flexibility in the workplace improved for

2%

of mothers polled

18% of moms hope for more flexibility when it comes to work, down from 20% in 2018

28%

more mothers believe it’s time for policies and legislation to change when it comes to paid family leave

77% of moms surveyed in 2022 believe better policies around paid leave would help them feel supported. That is up 28% from 2018.

It’s clear that times are changing. It’s also time for public policies and societal expectations to catch up to the needs of today’s mother. Because mothers are the key to a healthy, functioning, flourishing society—and we can’t get there without them.

METHODOLOGY STATEMENT Motherly designed and administered this survey through Motherly’s subscribers list, social media and partner channels, resulting in more than 17,000 responses creating a clean, unweighted base of 10,001 responses. This report focuses on the Gen X cohort of 1197 respondents, Millennial cohort of 8,558 respondents, and a Gen Z cohort of 246 respondents. Edge Research weighted the data to reflect the racial and ethnic composition of the US female millennial cohort based on US Census data.

Time-lapse proves moms are never off the clock