There’s no denying it: working moms are a force to be reckoned with.
They’re juggling the demands of work, family, and personal life all at once, and they’re doing it with style—and a lot of grace.
But if you’re a working mom yourself, there’s one thing we know you want more than anything else: statistics on working moms. And we’ve got ’em!
We’ve compiled a list of working mom statistics that will help you understand just how amazing working moms are—and why they deserve our respect and admiration.
Working Mom Statistics (Editor’s Choice)
Working mothers are becoming a larger group each year, slowly but steadily conquering every industry they step into.
Here are some of the most intriguing statistics we discovered about working mothers.
- Only 32% of all employed women are mothers.
- Working moms have 57.9 hours of additional work at home per week.
- Over 70% of mothers are working or actively looking for a job.
- 70% of mothers will be primary breadwinners for at least a year.
- Over half of mothers feel burnout from work.
- A staggering 75% of mothers are more likely to struggle with mental health concerns.
- Over 60% of working moms would choose to work part-time.
- Unemployment rates are lowest for White mothers.
Working mothers face many difficulties, but they are determined to reach their goals and find a work-life balance that’s best for them. Continue reading if you want to discover more about the life of a working mother through statistics.
Mind-Blowing Working Mother Statistics and Facts
1. Only 32% of all employed women are mothers in the US.
Data from the US Census Bureau shows that about three in ten (32%) employed women are working moms, which means that there are 30.76 million working moms in the US.
Moreover, the same data shows us that over 70% of working mothers with underage children are between 30 and 49 years old.
The most exciting discovery, though, is that new mothers with higher levels of education have higher chances of being employed.
(US Census Bureau)
2. Over 70% of mothers are working or actively looking for a job.
In 2021, 71.2% of mothers with children under the age of 18 were already working or looking for a job. This percentage is slightly lower compared to 2019, when it was 72%.
Moreover, in 2019 the rate for single, divorced, and widowed mothers working or actively job seeking was significantly higher, reaching 77.6%. For fathers, the workforce participation rate was at 92.5% in 2021, a share significantly higher compared to that of mothers.
Here are the participation workforce rates of mothers by their marital status:
- Married mothers – 69.3%
- Mothers with other marital statuses – 87%
Besides these figures, it’s important to note that the unemployment rate among women with children dropped by 2.5% (from 7.5% to 5%) in 2021. The unemployment rate among men with children decreased a bit less (1.8%). Yet, the overall situation was better as their unemployment rate was 3.8%, or better than the one among moms.
(Labor Force Participation)
3. More working mothers have a bachelor’s or higher degree than women without children.
Similar data shows us that 44% of employed mothers over the age of 25 have a bachelor’s or higher degree than 38% of all workers in the same age group.
This statistic may explain why women with children have higher median annual salaries than other working women. For example, in 2018, working moms earned on average $44,190 while the rest of the women earned $42,295.
(US Census Bureau)
4. In 2021, there were 1.6 million fewer working moms than in 2020.
According to the US Department of Labor, there were 1.6 million fewer working moms in 2021 compared to 2020. The percentage was the highest among mothers with children under the age of six (9% fewer) and lowest among mothers with teenagers (1% fewer).
The study discovered that the main reason for the 6.5% decline is the COVID-19 pandemic.
(US Department of Labor Blog)
5. Mothers with younger children are less likely to work.
In 2020, 63.3% of families with children under the age of three had a working mother. The percentage gets slightly higher for families with children under the age of six (65.8%).
Interestingly, there are most working mothers in families with children between the ages of 6 and 17. In this group, 75.4% of families had a working mom. Lastly, 71.2% of families with children under age 18 had a working mother.
(US Bureau of Labor Statistics)
6. About 70% of mothers will be primary breadwinners for at least a year.
An interesting study revealed that mothers could expect to become primary breadwinners in their household before their children turn 18. The study shows that mothers will be primary breadwinners for at least one year, earning over 60% of their household’s earnings.
That said, the average time spent as breadwinners for working mothers will be almost six years. The chances are higher for women with a college degree.
(Sage Journals)
7. Over 70% agree that being a mom today is more challenging than 30 years ago.
We are not saying that being a parent was easy in the 70s and 80s, but it was definitely easier than today.
Living in a fast-paced world makes parenthood, especially motherhood, a lot more complicated than it is supposed to be. At least according to the opinion of over 70% of Americans who agree with this statement.
Working mothers are also experiencing a lot more difficulties when trying to balance their personal and professional lives than 30 years ago.
(Pew Research Center)
8. Both mothers and fathers say that having a job makes it hard to be a good parent.
There isn’t a significant difference between mothers and fathers when it comes to balancing their personal and professional lives. However, according to the latest data, 53% of mothers and 51% of fathers claim that having a job makes it difficult for them to be good parents.
The difference is seen in how parenthood affects their career path. The same data reveals that 50% of mothers say that parenting makes it harder for them to advance in their careers than 39% of fathers. Women are more likely to reduce their work hours for their kids (54%) and turn down a promotion (23%).
(Pew Research Center)
9. About 27% of working moms feel that they were seen as less committed to their jobs.
It’s not easy being a working mom, primarily if you work in a company that judges you for having a family.
Based on the data from the same research, 27% of mothers have experienced some kind of behavior that made them feel less committed to their job. Moreover, 19% of mothers have been passed over for a promotion or a vital assignment only because they have children.
(Pew Research Center)
10. Over half of the mothers feel burnout from work.
Balancing parenting and work is not an easy task, especially for mothers. The fact that 55% of working mothers feel burned out from work proves that. Moreover, 25% of mothers experiencing burnout are scared to take days off or take advantage of flexible work options.
The reason is simple. They are already seen as less devoted to their jobs than women without children and men, so they are worried that taking a break could hurt their careers.
(McKinsey & Company)
11. A staggering 75% of mothers are more likely to struggle with mental health concerns.
Mothers have the most chances to struggle with mental health issues compared to other women and men, including fathers.
For example, 75% of mothers have reported a mental-health concern compared to 69% of fathers. Mothers are also more prone to struggle with household responsibilities (73%) than fathers (65%).
(McKinsey & Company)
12. Nearly two-thirds of working moms would choose to work part-time.
A staggering 62% of working mothers admit that they prefer working part-time. Ten years ago, only 48% said the same. What changed?
Women with younger children seem to like spending more time with them. Healthy work-life balance is becoming a big trend among new mothers or mothers with small children.
By comparison, only 19% of fathers with younger children prefer to work part-time.
(Pew Research Center)
13. Almost half of working mothers had at least one year without any income.
Women are taking time off work because they don’t have access to paid family and medical leave and affordable child care. That leads to 43% of working mothers taking at least one year off from work.
These women’s earnings were 39% lower than those who didn’t take breaks. That is a significantly higher cost than women who took unpaid leave in the 60s and 70s, with only 12% financial loss compared to the rest.
(Institute for Women’s Policy Research)
14. Working mothers are afraid to ask to work remotely.
Women with children are already seen as less committed to their jobs, resulting in more than 50% fearing to choose remote work. They worry that they will be seen as even less committed to their jobs.
In addition, 42% also fear that they will have to work harder remotely to get the recognition they deserve.
(McKinsey & Company)
15. Mothers are having severe issues finding child care.
About 50% of American families report issues with finding child care. That is why many mothers are forced to make difficult job decisions that are not in the interest of their financial situation or career goals.
Moreover, over 50% of at-home mothers and 30% of mothers with part-time jobs admit that they would love to find a job or work longer hours if they had access to more affordable childcare.
This issue was especially highlighted by mothers employed in Amazon, who called themselves the “Momzonians.” The group included almost 2,000 members and pointed out how the lack of affordable daycare resulted in coworkers leaving their jobs.
Additional research showed that about 2 million parents, most of which are women, are forced to make career sacrifices resulting from childcare issues.
(CAP)
16. Working moms have higher aspirations and ambitions.
A 2019 study discovered that working mothers have bigger career ambitions than all other women in the workplace. For example, 75% of working moms wanted and fought for a promotion, compared to 71% of the rest of working women. Moreover, 68% of working mothers believed in opportunities for advancements in the workplace, compared to 66% of all other women.
On the other hand, 58% of mothers aspired to be managers, and 35% had an end goal of becoming a top manager. In comparison, 54% of women without children wanted to become managers, and 32% wanted to be promoted to top managers.
(McKinsey & Company)
17. If a working mom is compensated for her work at home, she could earn an additional $66,979.
According to a Salary.com study, a working mother has 57.9 hours of additional work at home per week. If she were to be compensated for these hours, she would earn about $66,979 annually on top of what she already makes on her 9-to-5 job.
On the other hand, a stay-at-home mother works about 94.7 hours weekly. If she were to be compensated for these hours, she could earn about $112,962 annually. Moreover, these figures were for the average salary seen in 2014.
By 2017, the Salary.com calculations placed the mom’s worth – as they put it – at $157,705 a year. Meaning, the extra money a working mom would make would grow, as well.
(Salary.com)
18. COVID-19 led to over 33% of working moms downscaling or leaving their work.
COVID-19, without a doubt, changed the world. Unfortunately, it also changed how working moms with younger children look at their careers.
According to the 2020 Women in the Workplace report, more than one-third of mothers with young children decided to either downscale their jobs or leave their work entirely.
That’s surely a hard choice to make, considering that raising a child in the US costs nearly $235,000.
(McKinsey & Company)
According to the US Census Bureau, 40% of all working moms have jobs in the educational services, healthcare, or social assistance industries.
Other industries that also have many working mothers are:
- Scientific, professional, management, administrative, and waste management services (11%).
- Retail (9%).
- Entertainment, arts, recreation, food, and accommodation services (8%).
- Real estate, rental, finance, and insurance services (8%).
- Manufacturing (6%).
(US Census Bureau)
20. Unemployment rates are lowest for White mothers.
In 2020, white (1.6%) and Asian (1.5%) mothers had the lowest unemployment rate. However, there was a significant switch in 2021 when Asian mothers reached about the same level of unemployment rates (4.1%) as Black (4.7%) and Hispanic (4.7%) mothers. For White women, the unemployment rate also rose to 2.8%.
Furthermore, Black working mothers had the highest labor force participation rate in 2020 (75.4%), but they are in second place behind White working mothers in 2021.
(US Census Bureau)
21. More than half of working mothers are worried about juggling parenthood and their career.
The study was commissioned by Seraphine and surveyed 1,000 working mothers in the United States.
The survey found that 51% of working mothers feel overwhelmed by their responsibilities at home and at work, with the top concern of 40% being “too tired” to work.
But despite these obstacles, there is hope!
The survey also revealed that more than three-fifths (65%) of working moms believe that being a mother enhanced their workplace performance—and that’s something we can all be proud of!
(Seraphine)
Conclusion
Working moms are the future. They’re the ones who will be there for their kids, fighting for equal pay and affordable childcare. They’ll be there when you need them, but they’ll also be there when you don’t. They are making us a better world, one kid at a time.
We can all learn from them: how to do our best even when we’re tired and overworked, how to make sure our kids are getting what they need even when we feel like we’re falling short ourselves, how to stay strong in the face of adversity and keep moving forward with our heads held high.
Working moms are setting an example for all of us—we should follow their lead!
Whether you’re a working mom yourself or just looking for ways to support your friends, family members, and colleagues who are working moms, we hope this article has been helpful in giving you some insight into what it means to be a working mom today.
There are so many ways to show your support for working moms:
- Take a minute and share this post with your friends on social media. Let them know that you support working moms and want them to succeed.
- Send an email or text message to your closest working mom friend and tell her how much you admire her for being there for her family while also pursuing her career dreams.
- Ask yourself: What can I do today to make this world better for my fellow working moms?
If there’s something else you want to know about working moms—or any other topic—be sure to let us know!
Thanks for reading!
413 Preschool Name Ideas To Make Moms Smile
193 Mother Daughter Business Name Ideas that Just Work!
21 Female CEO Statistics To Celebrate Women Leaders