Giving Moms A Boost

We all tend to think of summertime as fun time. But all the moms out there who’ve been orchestrating this fun—in addition to work and/or regular responsibilities—probably could use a boost right about now. Especially when data in recent years shows that moms finish last when it comes to emotional well-being.

How Are You?
To be certain, wellness—both physical and mental—has become a driving force in many people’s lives and a motivating factor in home and housewares purchases. Of the consumers surveyed for the 2023 IHA Market Watch Report, 81% said wellness was very or somewhat important to their daily lives at home.

Yet researchers in women’s health have found that emotional well-being tends to decrease over time for women who are mothers. And just last May, CivicScience —which tracks consumer sentiment and how it may affect consumer behavior—noted that U.S. mothers finished last when it came to this category of wellness. In other words, moms’ collective sense of emotional well-being (52.5%) was lower than all women (54.1%), lower than dads (57.9%), and much lower than all men (60.0%).

What’s Going On?
“There is likely a cocktail of reasons contributing to why U.S. mothers report higher levels of negative emotions such as stress and lower levels of positive emotions such as happiness, with the workplace being one,” said CivicScience. “Given that moms continue to experience disruptions to their work and home life due to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, the gap in well-being comes as no surprise.”

Moms may also be taking the world’s problems a little harder than others as they attempt to navigate politics, social issues and civil unrest both for themselves and for their kids.

What’s It Mean?
It’s no secret that women—and certainly moms—make the majority of purchase decisions for home and housewares. So any effort retailers can make to give moms a boost or make their lives a little easier are likely to go a long way.

But unlike Mother’s Day, which is isolated to one day of gift-giving, successfully connecting with moms will likely involve an ongoing strategy on several different levels. This could involve in-store events like a Moms Night Out to increase the joy; services or investments in omnichannel to make shopping/returns/refills easier; or events and products to help with self-care or making household tasks simpler.

And don’t ignore the mental or emotional load that many moms are carrying. Researchers from the University of Southern California recently found that all the effort that goes into anticipating household needs—as well as planning, organizing and delegating tasks—is divided even more unevenly within couples than the physical dimension of housework (or who is actually doing tasks). And this seems to take a particular mental health toll on women.

According to the report: “Cognitive labor may be particularly taxing for women because it often runs behind the scenes and goes unacknowledged or unappreciated by others. It also pulls mental energy away from other priorities.”