91 Stay At Home Mom Statistics That Will Blow Your Mind {Updated for 2022} - Talk 2 Me Mama (2024)

Being a stay at home parent is not for the faint of heart! There’s a lot of work and fun involved, but it’s definitely a job. Check out these insightful stay at home dad and stay at home mom statistics. Some of these facts about stay at home parents will surprise you and some might be what you expected.

Related Content: Avoiding Stay At Home Mom Burnout

Stay At Home Parent Worth

Have you ever wondered what the worth of a stay at home parent is? It’s hard to put numbers to the value of a stay at home mom, but check out this study that untangles and evaluates all of the jobs and work a stay at home mom really does. Amazing!

According to a salary.com survey of 19,000 stay at home moms, their estimated worth was $178,201 in 2019. However, since the pandemic increased the workload of a mother, their new estimate for 2020 and 2021 increased to $184,820.

The estimate is based on the hybrid role that stay at home parents take on, including academic advisor, janitor, dietician, staff nurse, daycare teacher, chief operating manager, and more.

The increased worth of moms during the pandemic increased as moms spent more hours with kids. In 2019, moms worked an average of 97 hours per week, but during the pandemic, that number increased to 106 hours per week. That means stay at home moms are working an average of 15 hours per day 7 days a week.

COVID and Stay At Home Parents Statistics and Facts

COVID has changed a lot of things, and among the top of the list is how COVID has changed parenting. As more schools, childcare, and jobs shut down, went remote, or closed family life changed. Check out these fascinating stay at home mom statistics that were majorly impacted by the pandemic.

• While most states increased the amount of stay at home parents during the pandemic, 4 states decreased the percentage of stay at home parents, including California and Louisiana. (Magnify Money)
• Mississippi had a 306% increase in stay at home parents from 2019 to 2021. This is in part due to 55% of childcare centers being shut down by May of 2020. (Magnify Money)
• Nearly 20% of parents were not working during the pandemic due to a change in childcare needs. (US Census Bureau)
• Moms aged 25-44 were three times more likely to not be working in order to take of their families than men. (US Census Bureau)
• When school began to close down in the spring of 2020, 5.1 million mothers walked away from paying jobs. As of May 2021 1.3 million are still out of work. (NYTimes)
• The lowest number of women in the US are currently working outside of the home since 1986. Just 56% of women hold jobs outside of taking care of their children. (NYTimes)

Stay At Home Mom Facts and Figures in the United States

Being a stay at home mom looks different for every household. Check out these interesting stay at home mom facts below to gain some new insight!

• 50% of moms that choose to stay at home (not because they can’t find work or they’re on disability) have at least one child under the age of 5. (Pew Research)
• Only 14% of children under age 18 (in the year 2014) live with a stay at home mom and a working dad that are in their first marriage. (Pew Research)
• In 2014, 26% of families were headed by a single parent. (Pew Research)
• In 2014, 7% of families have parents that are not married, but cohabitating. (Pew Research)
• By 2014, 40% of births happened outside of a marriage. (Pew Research)
• 60% of Americans say that having at least one parent staying home with children is the best scenario. (Pew Research)
• 35% of parents say children do just as well with two parents that work compared to having a stay at home parent. (Pew Research)
• 65% of men say children benefit from one parent staying at home with them, and 55% of women agree. (Pew Research)
• 34% of moms living in poverty stay at home with their children. (Pew Research)
• 85% of moms staying at home with working husbands choose that lifestyle to take care of their children. (Pew Research)
• 41% of single mothers choose to stay at home in order to take care of their children. (Pew Research)
• Stay at home moms spend an average of 23 hours per week on housework compared to 14 hours of cleaning for working moms. (Pew Research)
• Stay at home moms spend 18 hours on childcare while working moms spend 11 hours per week on caring for their children. (Pew Research)
• Working moms only get an average of 58 hours of sleep per week, while stay at home moms average 63 hours of sleep per week. (Pew Research)
• Working moms use 21 hours per week to focus on leisure activities, while stay at home moms spend 31 hours on leisure in a week. (Pew Research)
• 6% of moms with a PhD choose to stay at home with their children. (Pew Research)
• 9% of moms with a masters degree stay home to take care of their children. (Pew Research)
• From 2019 to 2021, there was a 60% increase in stay at home parents. (Magnify Money)
• Mississippi has the most stay at home parents in the country at 6.5% of households with at least one parent staying at home. Delaware (5.6%) came in second and Texas (3.5%) is third. (Magnify Money)
• Iowa had the lowest rate of stay at home parents in the country with only 0.9% of households having one or more parents at home. Part of the reason is because Iowa never had any official stay at home orders. (Magnify Money)

The following table includes childcare statistics by state. The high rate of childcare and the % of the family income it may take contributes to why some families opt to have one parent stay at home to raise children. The table includes the 5 most expensive states (and Washington DC) for childcare and the five least expensive.

Stay At Home Dad Statistics

A growing number of fathers are staying at home with children, and the stay at home dad statistics are super fascinating!

• In 2015, more than 11 million US moms and dads did not work outside of the home. That’s 18% of US parents. (Pew Research) Of the 11 million stay at home parents, 7% are dads.
• About 24% of dads say they chose to stay at home specifically to care for their children. Conversely, 78% of moms that stay home is primarily for the purpose of taking care of their kids. (Pew Research)
• Of millennial parents, 6% of dads stay at home with their children. Only 3% of Gen X dads stay at home with their children. (Pew Research)
• 25% of dads and 29% of moms who stay at home with their children have a college degree. (Pew Research)
• 44% of stay at home dads that choose to stay at home (not because they can’t find work or they’re on disability) have at least one child under the age of 5. (Pew Research)
• 40% of dads that don’t work are living in poverty. (Pew Research)
• 79% of stay at home dads are married. (Pew Research)
• 15% of dads that stay home with their children are single. (Pew Research)
• 58% of stay at home dads have a high school degree or less. (Pew Research)
• Just 17% of stay at home dads have a degree from a 4 year college. (Pew Research)
• Only 8% of stay at home fathers are Asian, 9% are black, 19% are Hispanic, and 50% are white. (Pew Research)
• 43% of stay at home dads are over the age of 45. (Pew Research)
• In a study from 2017, 76% of grown ups agreed that men have a lot of pressure to work and provide for their families, while 40% said that women face this same pressure. (CNBC)
• 49% of adults felt that men are pressured to be involved as a parent, and 77% said women face the pressure to be involved. (CNBC)

Stay At Home Mom Statistics Past and Present

Being a stay at home mom used to be the norm. Check out how much things have changed in the last several decades when it comes to stay at home mom statistics!

• In 1940, 90% of married women in the United States did not work outside of the home. By 2010, 70% of married women are part of the labor force. (Home with Mom, Ettinger et. al)
• Only 50% of families in the 1960s had the “traditional” home (stay at home mom with a working dad, in their first marriage). By 1980, only 26% of families had this makeup. (Pew Research)
• In 1960, only 9% of families were single parent. (Pew Research)
• In 1960, only 5% of births occurred outside of marriage. (Pew Research)
• In 1989, dads made up just 10% of stay at home parents, but as of 2016 that number has risen to 17%. (CNBC)
• From 1965 to 2016, the time that dads spent on childcare per week tripled, with dads in 2016 spending an average of 8 hours per week taking care of their kids. (CNBC)

Stay At Home Parents by Racial and Ethnic Groups

I think you will find this set of facts and figures about stay at home parents particularly interesting. I love seeing how different cultures think about stay at home parenting.

• 24% of Asian parents have the “traditional” family model (stay at home mom, working dad, in their first marriage). (Pew Research)
• 18% of Hispanic families have the “traditional arrangement” (a dad that work, a mom that stays at home, and in their first marriage). (Pew Research)
• 15% of white families have a “traditional” family (first marriage with a dad that works and a mom that stays at home with the kids). (Pew Research)
• 4% of black families have a “traditional arrangement” where the dad works, the mom stays home, and each parent is in their first marriage. (Pew Research)
• 71% of Asian children are living with parents that are in their first marriage. (Pew Research)
• 73% of Hispanic parents say children are better off with a parent that stays home with them. (Pew Research)
• 57% of white parents and 57% of black parents agree that having a stay at home parents is preferrable. (Pew Research)
• White, evangelical protestants are more likely than unaffiliated (or non-religious) parents to believe that a stay at home parent is ideal. (Pew Research)
• 44% of Hispanic mothers who were not born in the US stay at home with their children, compared to 29% of Hispanic mothers who were born in the US. (Pew Research)
• 85% of foreign-born Hispanics believe it is best for at least one parent to stay at home with their children, while only 62% of native-born Hispanics agree. (Pew Research)

I’d love to hear which fact or stay at home mom statistic you found most interesting or surprising! Drop your thoughts in the comments!