Who are our moms, and how much will we spend on them for Mother's Day
May 10, 2014
Many baby boomer women are moms, so they’ll be celebrating Mother’s Day Sunday either with their children or by contact through Skype or the telephone.
Americans have been officially celebrating Mother’s Day since 1914, when Congress designated the second Sunday in May as the special day for moms.
Mother’s Day spending
Americans will spend an average of $163 on mom this year, down from a high of $169 last year, according to a survey done for the National Retail Federation. Total spending is expected to reach $19.9 billion.
Mom’s loved ones will also buy books and CDs, $480 million; housewares or gardening tools, $812 million; personal experience gifts such as a day at the spa, $1.5 billion; jewelry, $3.6 billion; and special outings such as brunch or dinner, $3.8 billion.
Having spent the last few years treating mom to electronic gifts like tablets, smartphones, cameras, and more, Americans this year are less likely to buy these items for her: 13.1 percent say they’ll buy mom a consumer electronic item, and they’ll spend a total of $1.7 billion, down from $2.3 billion last year.
As for gift cards, 43 percent of those shopping for a gift for mom will buy her a gift card, up from 42 percent last year. Total spending on gift cards is expected to reach $2.1 billion, up from $2 billion last year.
Facts and figures about moms
Every year, the U.S. Census Bureau offers statistics related to various holidays. Here are the numbers about moms for Mother’s Day this year:
How many mothers
4.1 million
Number of women between the ages of 15 and 50 who gave birth in the past 12 months.
35.7%
Percentage of births in 2011 that were to unmarried women age 15 to 50. The metro areas with birth rates to unmarried mothers that were among the highest in the country included Flagstaff, Ariz., 74.6 percent; Greenville, N.C., 69.4 percent; Lima, Ohio, 67.5 percent; Myrtle Beach-North Myrtle Beach-Conway, S.C., 67.4 percent; and Danville, Va., 67.3 percent.
How many children
20%
Percentage of all women age 15 to 44 who have had two children. About 47 percent had no children, 17 percent had one, 10 percent had three, and about 5 percent had four or more.
Recent births
3.953 million
Decline in the number of births registered in the United States in 2012. Of this number, 305,388 were to teens 15 to 19 and 7,157 to women age 45 to 49.
25.8
Average age of women in 2012 when they gave birth for the first time, up from 25.6 years in 2011.
62.1%
Percentage of women age 16 to 50 who had a birth in the past 12 months and were in the labor force.
29.5%
The percentage of mothers who had given birth in the past 12 months who had a bachelor's degree or higher.
84.6%
Percentage of women age 15 to 50 who gave birth in the past year and who have at least a high school diploma.
Jacob and Sophia
The most popular baby names for boys and girls in 2012.
66
Number of births in the past year per 1,000 women age 15 to 50 with a graduate or professional degree. The number was 56 per 1,000 for women whose highest level of education was a bachelor's degree.
Stay-at-home moms
5 million
Number of stay-at-home moms in married-couple family groups in 2013 – about the same as 2012 and 2011.
Compared with other moms, stay-at-home moms in 2007 were more likely:
- Younger – 44 percent were under age 35 compared with 38 percent of mothers in the labor force.
- Hispanic – 27 percent compared with 16 percent of mothers in the labor force.
- Foreign-born – 34 percent compared with 19 percent of mothers in the labor force.
- Living with a child under age 5 – 57 percent compared with 43 percent of mothers in the labor force.
- Without a high school diploma – 19 percent versus 8 percent of mothers in the labor force.
Single moms
10 million
The number of single mothers living with children younger than 18 in 2013, up from 3.4 million in 1970.
5.6 million
Number of custodial mothers who were due child support in 2011.
415,475
Number of mothers who had a birth in the past 12 months and were living with a cohabiting partner.
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