research

The National Benchmark
of U.S. Mothers

A recurring, nationally representative measurement of where family strain falls and for whom, across the family budget, the doctor’s office, and the online and commercial world children grow up in.
Wave 1 published July 15, 2026. Wave 2 fields October 30.
Read the topline report
Download the one-pager (PDF)
Fielding twice a year · 2,818 mothers in Wave 1 · weighted to U.S. Census benchmarks
Wave 1 findings

Six findings from Wave 1

Fielded May 2026. 2,818 mothers. Nationally representative.
‍
Six findings from a much deeper instrument. Every one breaks out by child age, household income, region, and political ideology.

5 to 1

When a family can't afford all the care it needs, the mother's care is what goes.
This past year, about 1 in 3 mothers (32%) put off their own health or mental healthcare, and not their child's, because of cost. Fewer than 6% put off only their child's. That is a gap of about five to one, measured within each mother's own answer.
what it measures
Whether a mother delayed or avoided healthcare for herself, her child, or both because of cost in the past year. Asked of all mothers. Family economic pressure.

41%

By the early-teen years, families are most financially fragile.
Among mothers whose youngest child is 13 to 15, 41% are not confident they could cover a surprise $500 expense without going into debt, the highest point of childhood.
what it measures
Confidence in covering a $500 unexpected expense without going into debt. Reported here for mothers whose youngest child is 13 to 15. Family economic pressure.

47%

Nearly half of mothers whose child needed mental health support had difficulty getting it.
Nearly 4 in 10 mothers (39%) say their child needed mental, emotional, or behavioral help this past year. Among them, 47% had difficulty getting it.
what it measures
Whether a child needed mental, emotional, or behavioral help in the past year and, among those who did, whether getting it was difficult. Child wellbeing access and support.

65%

Of eleven institutions and industries, mothers trust AI companies the least.
Most mothers have little or no trust in AI companies to act in the interest of families and children, the lowest of eleven institutions.
Consistent across all political groups
what it measures
Trust in each of eleven named institutions and industries to act in the interest of families and children, on one scale. Institutional trust and accountability.

62%

Mothers say AI may make it harder for their children to build thinking skills.
Among mothers whose children use AI for more than entertainment, 62% say it may make it harder for their child to learn thinking skills, like writing, solving problems, and coming up with new ideas.
what it measures
Among mothers whose children use AI beyond entertainment, whether they think it may make it harder for their child to build thinking skills such as writing, problem solving, and generating ideas. Youth environment and commercial conditions.

32%

A third of mothers say their child has been marketed an age-restricted product.
Vapes, gambling, alcohol, cannabis, or pornography. More than half (55%) report at least one harmful or age-inappropriate product, and that share is higher for older children.
what it measures
Whether a child has been marketed an age-restricted product, with the product named. Asked of all mothers. Youth environment and commercial conditions.
The Wave 1 report

Read the Wave 1 findings

The Wave 1 topline report, plus a one-page summary for quick reference.
Read the topline ReportDownload the one-pager (PDF)
Subgroup analysis, custom cuts, and wave-over-wave data are available to institutional members.
‍Schedule a conversation.
methodology

How Wave 1 was measured

2,818

mothers surveyed

May 2026

fielded May 7 to 27

2 panels

national opt-in panel
plus The Count

Weighted

to U.S. Census benchmarks
Wave 1 fielded May 7 to 27, 2026, through a national online opt-in panel combined with The Count, CoM’s community panel, with results weighted to U.S. Census benchmarks on race and ethnicity, household income, education, region, and age. The topline report leads with item-level results; combined index scores become most useful as a trend from Wave 2. Margin of error and the design effect are reported in the methodology.
Read the full methodology 
What we measure

Five conditions, tracked consistently, wave over wave

Five concerns mothers raised first.
These five are the concerns mothers raised across more than three years of earlier Count on Mothers surveys. The Benchmark measures all five in one instrument, so it can show how the pressures overlap within households.

Maternal Capacity & Stress

The bandwidth mothers have to meet daily demands: perceived stress, time scarcity, coping capacity, and the buffering resources they can draw on.

Family Economic Pressure

Economic strain as a persistent household condition rather than an income threshold: financial strain, childcare and work constraint, healthcare affordability, food security, and care delayed because of cost.

Institutional Trust & Accountability

Whether mothers believe schools, healthcare systems, technology platforms, and government act in families' interests, and whether they feel able to navigate them.

Youth Environment & Commercial Conditions

The digital, commercial, and physical environments children are embedded in: AI and screen engagement, platform and content risk, advertising and harmful-product marketing, green space, and neighborhood safety.

Child Wellbeing Access & Support

Whether families can reach mental, emotional, and behavioral health support, the barriers they meet when they try, and the protective factors, such as peer friendship, that help.

Rotating module

Each wave adds a supplemental set of timely questions, reported separately from the core indices so the trend lines stay clean.
the instrument

Read the questions we asked

The Wave 1 core instrument is published in full, as fielded in May 2026.
All 44 fixed questions, the response scales, the screener, the demographic items, and the Wave 1 rotating module. The core is held constant wave over wave, so anyone can see what carries forward and what does not.
download the wave 1 instrumentread the full methodology
The full core instrument and all item-level results are published. Index scoring, item weights, and results for the families and regions an organization serves are available to members and research partners; write to:
‍research@countonmothers.org.
Why a benchmark

Wave 1 sets the baseline

Mothers are the first to notice when a school stops responding to bullying reports. When a pediatrician's office stops answering the phone. When a benefits program adds a new administrative hurdle. When a new platform feature changes how their child behaves.‍

Because the same questions repeat every wave, every number in Wave 1 becomes a trend to watch. One wave is a reading. Two waves are a trend. Three are infrastructure.

Wave 1 fielded May 2026 and published July 15. Wave 2 fields October 30, 2026, publishing February 2027. Wave 3 fields March 2027.
Independence

Who decides what gets reported

Count on Mothers is an independent, nonpartisan research firm. Its research team sets the questions, runs the analysis, and decides what is reported. Members and funders receive findings ahead of release and deeper access to the data, including results for the families and regions they serve and questions of their own, designed with the research team and carried in the rotating module. They cite and use the findings; the research team authors them.

Jennifer Brailsford, PhD

Director of Research
Leads instrument design, index construction, and the analytic framing of every wave. Final authority over what the Benchmark reports.

Melissa Lawrence, MPH, MS

Director of Data Science
Leads sampling strategy, weighting, and methodological consistency across waves, including the raking procedure and cell-size standards.
Academic review. The Benchmark's Methodology Advisory Board at University College London, including Kaitlyn Regehr PhD, Photini Vrikki PhD, and Katharine Smales PhD, provides academic review and domain expertise on instrument design. Sampling, weighting, and analysis remain governed by the Count on Mothers research team. Institutional members support the work. They do not shape the findings.
Get involved

Two Ways to Engage

For Mothers

Join the Count. Every mother who joins is invited to take part in Benchmark waves and roundtables. Wave 2 opens October 30. Your voice belongs in the data shaping decisions about your family.
Join the Count →

For Institutions

Foundations, health systems, employer coalitions, technology platforms, product designers, and policy organizations work with the Benchmark through membership.
Partner With Us →

Questions about the Benchmark?

For methodology, data, or press questions, reach the research team at research@countonmothers.org.
Email the research team Partner with us
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