Study finds moms feeling a little undervalued

Mothers across the country like being mothers, but they also tend to feel underappreciated and less valued by society, according to a new study.

The research conducted in January and February by the University of Connecticut and the University of Minnesota found that 81 percent are “very” satisfied with life as a mother.

But of the 2,000 mothers surveyed (41 percent employed full time and 21 percent part time), 33 percent said their ideal work situation would be working part time; 30 percent said working for pay from home; and 21 percent said not working at all.

Nearly one in five (19 percent) also said they felt less valued by society since becoming a mother.

“What really was striking here was that mothers across the board had such common concerns and feelings about being mothers,” says Martha Farrell Erickson, a developmental psychologist who was the study’s principal investigator.

The results do not seem all that surprising to those attuned to such research, such as Rosalind Barnett, director of the Community, Families and Work program at Brandeis University’s Women’s Studies Research Center, or Judith Stacey, a professor of gender studies and sociology at New York University.

“It’s hard to imagine any mother saying she isn’t satisfied with being a mother,” Barnett says. “Even if you think that, you would not admit that in a survey.”

Women can enjoy being a mother and still feel “hassled and harried” at the same time, she says.

The study’s findings that mothers want to spend more time on personal and family relationships and less time at work supports previous research, says Stacey.

“Men and women alike want more family time,” she says.

The Motherhood Project based at the Institute for American Values commissioned the $219,000 study, which was paid for by various charitable foundations.