The National Benchmark of U.S. Mothers

Mothers see it first.

Mothers see family strain before institutions do, across the places it lands: the family budget, the doctor's office, and the online and commercial world their children grow up in. Wave 1 is the first reading of a recurring, nationally representative measure of where that strain falls, and for whom.
Wave 1 is published. Released July 15, 2026.
Built on 20+ national studies · 20,000 responses · all 50 states
Read the topline report Explore 20+ national studies
Wave 1 findings

Six of the findings, and why each one is new

Fielded May 2026. 2,818 mothers. Nationally representative.
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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 health care, 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.
Why it is new
‍The first national, representative measure of where a family's care shortfall lands. When a mother skips care, she leaves no record, so the system almost never sees it.

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.
Why it is new
Financial fragility shown by the age of the child. A national average hides this.

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.
Why it is new
A view of children's unmet mental health need from the home, before it ever reaches a clinic, with the size of the access problem attached.

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
Why it is new
A ranking of eleven named institutions on one scale, framed around children's interests, with AI companies at the bottom.

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.
Why it is new
National, representative numbers on a concern that has had little data behind it, measured while AI reaches children faster than safety review and regulation can keep up.

32%

A third of mothers say their child has been marketed a product illegal to sell to a minor.
Vapes, gambling, alcohol, cannabis, or pornography. More than half (55%) report at least one harmful or age-inappropriate product, and that share rises with the child's age.
Why it is new
A representative read on the commercial world reaching children, named product by product, reported from what mothers can actually see.
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.
The numbers behind it

How Wave 1 was measured

2,818

mothers surveyed

±2.3 pts

margin of error

Weighted

nationally representative

UCL

academic research partner
The National Benchmark of U.S. Mothers (Wave 1, fielded May 2026) tracks the conditions shaping mothers and families and repeats every wave. This report leads with the underlying item-level numbers. Combined index scores become most useful as a trend from Wave 2.
Read the full methodology 
What we measure

Five conditions, tracked consistently, wave over wave

These five were not chosen in the abstract.
They are the concerns mothers themselves raised across more than three years of earlier Count on Mothers surveys. The Benchmark now measures all five together in a single instrument, so it can show how these pressures overlap within households rather than treating each one in isolation. Most research sees one of these at a time. This sees them together.

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
Index scoring, item weights, and crosstabs on the items in it are available to institutional members.
‍Schedule a conversation.
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.
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By the time these shifts register in clinical data, administrative filings, or issue-specific polling, families have already been adjusting, often for months or years.

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.
Independence

Who decides what gets reported

Count on Mothers is an independent, nonpartisan research firm. All findings are governed by the Count on Mothers research team, which sets the questions, runs the analysis, and decides what is reported. No outside party approves or can change a finding.

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 the community is invited to participate in Benchmark waves and roundtables. 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 engage through institutional subscription. Founding members join the inaugural cohort during the establishment phase.
Partner With Us →
Track record

Built on Three Years of Research

Count on Mothers has published more than 20 national research reports since 2023 — drawing on over 20,000 survey responses from mothers across all 50 states. Our findings have been requested by Congressional leaders on technology policy, childcare, and paid leave, and covered in national press.

The National Benchmark of U.S. Mothers formalizes three years of research into a recurring measurement framework — establishing durable national indicators that institutions can track over time.

20+

national research reports published

20,000+

survey responses from mothers

50

states represented

5

core index areas tracked
Browse past research

Questions about the Benchmark?

Reach the research team directly or learn more about institutional partnership.
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