Mothers by the Numbers

Info about mothers from the Census Bureau

How Many Mothers

80.5 million
Estimated number of mothers of all ages in the United States.

55%
Percentage of 15 to 44-year-olds who are mothers.

81%
Percentage of women 40 to 44 years old who are mothers. In 1976, 90% of women in that age group were mothers.

How Many Children

2.1
Average number of children that women today can expect to have in their lifetime.

2.5
Average number of children that women in Utah can expect to have in their lifetime. This state tops the nation in average number of births per woman. Rhode Island, Vermont, Massachusetts, and the District of Columbia have the lowest average number—1.7 births.

Mothers Remembered

21,667
Number of florist establishments nationwide in 2004. The 109,915 employees in floral shops across our nation will be especially busy preparing, selling and delivering floral arrangements for Mother’s Day.

The flowers bought for mom have a good chance of having been grown in California or Colombia. Among the 36 surveyed states, California was the leading provider of cut flowers in 2005, accounting for 73 percent of the domestic flower production ($289 million out of $397 million) in those states. Meanwhile, the value of U.S. imports of cut flowers and fresh flower buds in 2005 from Colombia, the leading foreign supplier to the United States, was more than $418 million.

Months ahead of this widely observed day of recognition, many of the 13,057 employees of the 120 greeting-card publishing establishments in 2004 will be busy creating Mother’s Day greeting cards.

12,454
The number of cosmetics, beauty supplies and perfume stores nationwide in 2004. Perfume is one of the top gifts given on Mother’s Day.

28,772
Number of jewelry stores in the United States in 2004—the place to go to purchase necklaces, earrings, and other timeless pieces for mom.

Moms Who’ve Recently Given Birth

4.1 million
Number of births in the United States in 2005. Of this number, 414,406 were to teens ages 15 to 19, and 111,190 to new moms age 40 or older.

25.2
Average age of women when they give birth for the first time—a record high first reached in 2003.

40%
Percentage of births that are the mother’s first. Another 32% are the second-born; 17%, third; and 11%, fourth or more.

35,578
Number of births in 2004 that did not occur in hospitals.

1-in-31
The odds of a woman delivering twins. Her odds of delivering multiple births of three or more babies was approximately 1-in-565.

July
The most popular month in which to have a baby, with 359,426 births taking place that month in 2004.

Tuesday
The most popular day of the week in which to have a baby, with an average of about 13,045 births taking place on Tuesdays during 2004.

Jacob & Emily
The most popular baby names for boys and girls, respectively, in 2005.

Working Moms

5.6 million
Number of stay-at-home moms in 2006.

55%
Among mothers with infant children in 2004, the percentage in the labor force, down from a record high of 59% in 1998.

729,040
Number of child care centers across the country in 2004. These include nearly 72,000 centers employing close to 780,000 workers and another 657,000 self-employed persons or other companies without paid employees.

Single Moms

10.4 million
The number of single mothers living with children under 18 years old, up from 3.4 million in 1970.

Meals with Mommy

61% and 81%
Percentages of children younger than 6 living with married parents who eat breakfast and dinner, respectively, with their mother every day. The corresponding percentages who eat with their father were 30 percent and 64 percent.

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