Mothers' Views on Big Business and Trust
Rapid

In June 2024, Count on Mothers surveyed 650 mothers nationwide to identify industries they find most concerning for families and to gather open-ended feedback directed at corporate leaders. Mothers across political ideologies and regions expressed consistent concerns about safety, trust, and corporate accountability. Findings reveal broad, cross-partisan unease with how major industries impact children’s health, development, and family well-being.

June 28, 2024
Related themes:

Shared Priorities and Cross-Partisan Alignment Among Mothers

Family Economic Security and Cost Pressures

  • Widespread concern across ideology and geography:
    Mothers across the political spectrum expressed deep mistrust of corporate decision-making and concern that profit is often prioritized over children’s safety and family well-being.
  • Food, tech, and health insurance top the list:
    The industries mothers identified as most troubling were food and drug manufacturers (58.5%), tech companies (41.8%), and health insurance companies (41.4%).
  • Heightened concern about social media and healthcare delivery:
    Mothers frequently cited social media as uniquely harmful due to addiction and mental health impacts, and raised concerns about healthcare providers for rushed, dismissive, or ineffective care.
  • Childcare and education as systemic pressure points:
    Although not traditionally viewed as corporate sectors, childcare and education emerged as major concerns related to affordability, access, and increasing privatization.
  • Strong negative sentiment toward corporate leadership:
    More than 80% of mothers expressed negative sentiment when asked what they would say to business leaders, reflecting a shared perception of harm, lack of accountability, and disregard for families.
  • Shared priorities despite partisan differences:
    While views diverged on some industries, mothers consistently conveyed a bipartisan message that families feel unprotected and deprioritized by major institutions.

This report focuses on information Count on Mothers collected on an issue of interest to Mothers. In June 2024, we studied Mothers’ first-hand experiences and views on the industries of most concern to Mothers and most pressing concern with the industries. A total of 650 Mothers residing in 47 states in a representative sample across the political spectrum provided feedback. Regarding the political background of the survey respondents, the sample fairly reflects the U.S. breakdown of political ideology among women according to Gallup. 9.3% identified as very conservative, 19.5% identified as conservative, 39.5% identified as moderate, 20.0% identified as liberal and 9.8% identified as very liberal, and 1.9% identified as other. After analyzing Mothers’ opinions from the survey, we take this aggregate data and share it with industry leaders, policymakers, and the public so they are educated on Mothers’ firsthand experiences.

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Methodology
Count on Mothers conducts nationwide surveys and qualitative research with U.S. mothers. Findings are analyzed and reported in aggregate to inform research publications and decision-making related to families.
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