Poll: Majority Of Moms Feel Appreciated

CBS News/N.Y. Times Poll Also Shows Majority Of Americans Believe Being A Mother Today Is Harder Than When They Were Kids

(CBS)  As Americans gear up for Mother's Day, there is good news regarding the day's honoree. A new CBS News/New York Times poll found that most moms feel appreciated by their families. A stunning 85 percent of those surveyed across ages, income, and education levels said they felt appreciated.

But the poll also revealed that the majority of mothers today feel that being a mom is harder than when they were children. Seventy three percent of Americans believe that being a mom today is more challenging, including an overwhelming majority of both moms and dads.

On the issue of moms in the workplace, opinions are more divided. Half of Americans believe that children are better off with their mom at home rather than working, down from 61 percent six years ago. Thirty eight percent of Americans say it makes no difference in a child's life if their mother works, up from 29 percent in 2003.

Those numbers break down in some surprising ways based on gender. It's women - not men - who more strongly endorse the idea of stay-at-home moms. That includes working moms themselves.

Just 46 percent of men think children are better off with their mother at home, but when you factor in dads, that number increases to 57 percent. In contrast, 58 percent of moms think that children benefit when their mothers don't work.

When it comes to parenting style, moms are almost evenly divided over whether or not they used their own mothers as role models. Fifty two percent of those polled say that their parenting was similar and 47 percent said that their style was different.

The survey shows, however, that a lot depends on the age of the mom and the age of the child. Sixty one percent of women with children over age 18, say their parenting style resembles their mother’s, while 54 percent of moms with kids under age 18 say their style differs from their mother’s.


Click here to view the complete poll (PDF)

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This poll was conducted among a random sample of 973 adults nationwide, interviewed by telephone April 22-26, 2009. Phone numbers were dialed from RDD samples of both standard land-lines and cell phones. The error due to sampling for results based on the entire sample could be plus or minus three percentage points. The error for subgroups is higher. The margin of error for the sample of Mothers is four points.

An oversample of African Americans were interviewed for a total of 212 interviews with African Americans. The results then weighted in proportion to the racial composition of the adult population in the U.S. Census. The margin of error for the sample of African Americans is 7 points.

This poll release conforms to the Standards of Disclosure of the National Council on Public Polls.

[gravyboat45]

---------------- Happy Mothers Day To All -----------------
Posted by Sir_Majesty

I saw this post this morning, realized it was the only post here and thought it was fitting, no need to say anything else. How perfect would it have been if nobody had added to the board?

SM, we don't see things in the same light, but props to you...



---------------- Happy Mothers Day To All -----------------

[barbaram99]

i don't know my mother at all. I am childless. I only have one living- parent and that is Mum. I would think it be harder to day in some areas and earier in other ones. Mum is human. . Today Mums have the tools to help her. I would tell Moms in years ago taught values that have not been passed down. Mom is in her 70s.Have a nice day.

[Realist_4_2009]

Personally I can not imagine how mothers today could possibly think anything, much less raising there kids is harder. Beyond the modern day luxuries will all enjoy and take for granted, the average "MOTHER" today has outsourced just about all child rearing responsibilities . . . . They deliver them to day care @ 6 weeks of age and from there forward it's one activity after another . . . . sports, lessons, etc . . . and those few moments they actually have to spend with their kids en route to these activities they put them in the back seat tell them to shut-up and watch one of the 2 or 3 video streams that never stop while "MOTHER" is driving . . . .That way she has free time to talk to HER friends about how hard her life is . . . Then you have the ones who are lucky enough to have healthy active kids . . . must be something wrong with them . . off to the Ritalin doctor, oh, not for the kids, mom will take the Ritalin to lose weight . . . .and it goes on and on . . .

The age of the "TOTE BOX BABY" . . . . born to a plastic box and remains enshrouded in a container until they leave home . . . .ie . . the back seat of a 5000 lb SUV . . . .

And don't allow them to play outside . . . then you won't have all those allergies "the kids have" to talk about on the phone to their friends . .

There are no more dangers or problems raising kids today than ever before, just poorer quality of parenting . . . . Perhaps soccer moms could just ship their kids to China to have them raised over there and returned when grown. That would sure reduce the problems of raising "square foot children you know the babies women have so they justify a larger house they can not afford . . . . Grandma & Grandpa always come up with the down when more grand kids are on the way . . .

I could go on, but we know how American hate the truth . . . The truth is never politically correct . . . . We keep hiding behind our lies while the world passes us by.

Send mom back home where she belongs . . . . That's when America was the strongest, that's when America turned out the best, that's when America turned out the smartest . . . .

I remember when I was a child, 50+ years ago what one of my elementary teachers once said during the days of "THE RED SCARE" . . . . .

"Russia was a horrible place, they gathered all the children, regardless of age, everyday and sent them to huge buildings and made the mothers go off to work in factories . . . . . . Leaving the children to be raised by women that were to un-skilled or stupid too work in the factories . . . .

Why do we have an astronomical divorce rate . . . women working . . . . There was once a time when a man of say age 35 went to work, there were no women for him to flirt with or compare his wife too . . . All that was there was young girls who would not give him the time of day or women in their 50s & 60s who were of no interest to him . . . . .
A Realist . . . .