The Results Are In! Our 2022 Survey of Christian Motherhood
As you carry out the daily tasks of motherhood, have you ever wondered, “Am I the only one who feels like this?” If we spend much of our days home with kids, driving to and from school or sports practices, or working away at our desk, we can easily feel disconnected from other moms. How do our experiences stack up against theirs? What are our unique challenges and strengths as moms in 2022? How do we grow and support each other through them?
We set out to answer these questions this January, launching the second-annual R|M community survey that zeroed in on Christian motherhood today. We know moms face a lot of particular burdens right now—including the ongoing impacts of a pandemic—but we were overwhelmingly encouraged to hear of God’s grace sustaining the nearly 10,000 of you who responded to our survey call. The large majority reported engaging regularly in spiritual disciplines like prayer and Bible reading (90%), believing that their theology matters to motherhood (99%), understanding and applying the gospel to life some or all of the time (95%), and feeling unified and content in their marital relationships (93% even said their marriages were the same or better as pre-pandemic!). For this, we praise God and encourage you sisters, in the vein of 1 Thessalonians 4:10, to “do this more and more.”
We also know that, despite such positive reports overall, moms around the world continue to encounter a lot of personal trials and heartaches. We see you, and we’re committed to coming alongside you with gospel-centered hope and resources that can “encourage the fainthearted” and “help the weak” (1 Thess. 5:11). Every mom matters and we long to see each of you strengthened, comforted, and equipped by Christ. As we look to serving this R|M community well in the months and years to come, here is just a snapshot of what we learned from the survey results:
Moms Working Inside and Outside the Home
Almost half of moms (48%) are juggling family responsibilities alongside income-producing work, and it’s one of the biggest reasons we launched our Moms + Work podcast series and related articles this winter! We know that there are a lot of questions and struggles surrounding this topic, so we’re excited to have these resources to help you practically apply the gospel and serve the Lord as you navigate various working roles.
Moms Carrying the Weight Within Families
We’ve heard many of your stories over the years—moms longing for your husbands to be more invested in discipling your kids. Of the 97% of survey respondents married to believers, 14% indicated they don’t feel like their husband is leading their family according to God’s Word. If this describes you, we know you’re feeling a heavy burden. It’s why we’ve addressed it specifically on the podcast twice before; check out:
Relatedly, while 85% of moms surveyed felt unified with their husband in their collective mission and vision for their families, 35% felt they carried the primary burden of bringing this mission to life in raising their children. As you trust the Lord with this and continue communicating with your husbands, we hope these resources can be encouraging:
Where Are We Going? Leading Your Family with a Gospel-Centered Vision
Ep. 46 || Intentional Motherhood: Communicating Your Family’s Mission
Moms Struggling to Find Time for Spiritual Disciplines
If it’s been difficult for you to consistently have time with the Lord in this season of motherhood, we’ve been there. 51% of moms who said they routinely engage in prayer don’t have a dedicated prayer time but rather pray when it comes to mind. We know the Lord loves to hear from his children and ministers grace through his Word even in the cracks of our days, and we’ve also seen the incredible fruit that can come from making habits like Bible reading and prayer a focused priority. We’re committed to equipping you with resources that encourage moms to connect regularly with the Lord, even in the busyness of life:
Prayer mini-series (this page also includes our full library of articles and shows on prayer, as well as resource recommendations)
Local church involvement is another spiritual discipline that can be a challenge in motherhood. Of the moms surveyed, 30% reported that the pandemic has caused them to either attend church less, exclusively attend church online, or stop attending church altogether. We hope the below resources can speak well to some of the factors that may be at play in your experience.
Additionally, 33% of respondents said they can’t regularly attend a Bible study in this season of life, with moms engaged in full-time, income-producing work less likely than others to be involved (41% compared to 31% of moms with part-time or no income-producing work). To help inform your own decisions and conversations with your church community about this, check out:
Moms Learning to Apply the Gospel to Life
The majority (58%) of moms in our survey felt able to understand the gospel and apply it sometimes but didn’t always feel confident. 41% of moms said they struggle with defaulting to other worldviews. Take heart! Moms’ confidence in being able to disciple their children according to biblical principles increased with age, with 28% of moms 18-24 saying they felt confident, compared to 32% for those 25-34, 39% for 35-44, and 54% for 45-54. Consider reaching out to older, wiser moms in your own church or community to learn from their experiences. You can also check out the Risen Motherhood book for a host of real-life examples of applying the gospel to everyday moments. Birth experiences, traditions, self-care, schooling choices, and more—it’s got you covered!
Moms Experiencing Doubts
A sizable 40% of moms indicated they frequently doubt God’s presence, care, and control in their lives. We hold out our hands to you as sisters who’ve wrestled through that as well. As we continue to create content that anchors all of our hearts in the trustworthiness and goodness of God, we hope you’ll find encouragement from our Fear mini-series as well as Laura’s candid interview with the Daily Grace podcast walking through her own experiences with doubt.
Additionally, we have a brand new podcast mini-series coming this spring that will include an episode of Scripture meditations for doubt! We’re creating this in direct response to the needs we saw on this survey and hope that it will help you fight these battles with the truth of God’s Word.
Moms Feeling Overwhelmed & Inadequate
Here’s another thing we overwhelmingly share: mom guilt. 93% of respondents said they experience it at some level (sometimes, frequently, or always). The resources below can help remind us all that we don’t have to stay here! Because of Christ, who bears our guilt and our shame, we can walk in joy and freedom as we make decisions to care for our families.
Survey respondents also confessed that they struggle with overwhelm (62%), anxiety (38%), and burnout (81%). We found that there was no significant difference between moms engaging in full-time, part-time, or no income-producing work when it came to burnout. We’ve hit on these issues several times in past content as well; check out:
Shows on anxiety
Nearly half (45%) of our respondents also felt like their mental health has worsened since the start of the pandemic; if you can relate, we hope these articles will encourage your heart, alongside other means of support and counsel that may be appropriate for your situation:
What were moms most stressed about? For 78%, it was keeping up with the work of the home. Discipling children came in second at 59%, and 49% also said they were stressed about spending quality time with their children. For single moms, finances were a top stressor as well (65%). We’ve touched on a few of these challenges in the past. For starters, see:
Seven Principles To Keep In Mind When You Don't Know How To Discipline
Ep. 07 || Dirt, Dishes & Diapers: Coping With The Never Ending Mess
Where does this leave us? As moms in 2022—just like every other period of history—we find ourselves pressed to depend on the Lord through the many ups and downs of our everyday lives. And this is God’s grace to us, drawing us towards the true rest and relationship that only he can bring. If you’re in a season of strength right now—maybe a healthy marriage, a heart well-formed by the gospel, a hard-won hopefulness and trust in the Lord—there’s another struggling mom nearby that you can pour into. We’re working on more resources to help equip you for gospel friendship and mentorship. But if you are that struggling mom, know that you’re more than a number or survey statistic to us. You’re the reason we do what we do, and we’re excited to continue pointing all of our hearts towards the powerful hope of the gospel, one podcast episode, one article, and one social media post at a time.
If you are a church or ministry leader and interested in seeing the full survey results to help care for mothers in your community, we would love to share the detailed report with you. Click here to request!
