New Analysis Reveals How The Experience Of Being A Mom In The United States Has Changed Over The Past Few Decades

While age has increased, however, the number of kids that women in the United States birth over their lifetime has decreased.

During the late 1970s, women reaching the end of their childbearing period– classified as between ages 40 and 44– had an average of over three children. But, in 2020, women had an average of two children.

It was also found that women with less education have, on average, more children; meanwhile, women with further education bear fewer children.

From 1976 to 2022, women between the ages of 40 and 44 who held a Bachelor’s degree had 1.75 children on average. At the same time, women who did not hold a high school diploma have an average of 2.99 children.

The analysis also revealed that moms spend more time with their kids than dads– a trend that is especially true during children’s younger years.

Data drawn from the 2021 American Time Use Survey showed that mothers with kids under the age of 6 spent about 7.5 hours on childcare each day. Dads, on the other hand, reported 5.3 hours of daily childcare.

This trend continued as children aged, as well. Moms with kids between the ages of 6 and 12 still reported spending 5.7 hours per day on childcare each day; meanwhile, dads reported spending 4.2 hours.

The difference in time that moms and dads spend on childcare corresponded with another finding: moms reported taking on more childcare responsibilities in their opposite-gender relationship. Yet, dads were more likely to claim that the childcare responsibilities were divided up evenly.

In fact, a majority of mothers (78%) who are married or live with their partner claimed to do more in terms of managing the schedules and activities of their children under the age of 18.

Approximately 58% of mothers also reported providing more emotional support or comfort to their children than their partners, and 65% of moms with school-age children reported helping out more with homework and other school assignments.

Additionally, it was found that moms are more likely to claim that becoming a parent was harder than they expected.