May 10, 2015 - The driving force behind Mother’s Day was Anna Jarvis, who organized observances in Grafton, W.Va., and Philadelphia, Pa., on May 10, 1908. As the annual celebration became popular around the country, Jarvis asked members of Congress to set aside a day to honor mothers. She succeeded in 1914, when Congress designated the second Sunday in May as Mother’s Day.

How Many Mothers

43.5 million

Number of women between the ages of 15 and 50 who have children. These mothers gave birth to 95.8 million children.
Source: Fertility of Women in the United States: 2014, Detailed Tables, Table 2
<http://www.census.gov/hhes/fertility/data/cps/2014.html>

3.9 million

Number of women between the ages of 15 and 50 who gave birth in the past 12 months.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2013 American Community Survey, Table B13002
<http://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/ACS/13_1YR/B13002>

36.0%

Percentage of women age 15 to 50 who had a birth in the past 12 months who were unmarried.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2013 American Community Survey, Table S1301
<http://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/ACS/13_1YR/S1301>

How Many Children

62.5

Number of births per 1,000 women age 15-44 in 2013, down 1 percent from 2012.
Source: National Center for Health Statistics, National Vital Statistics Reports, Page 4
<http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr64/nvsr64_01.pdf>

22.3%

Percentage of women age 15 to 50 who have had two children. About 42.4 percent had no children, 17 percent had one, 11.7 percent had three, and about 6.8 percent had four or more.
Source: Fertility of Women in the United States: 2014, Detailed Tables, Table 1
<http://www.census.gov/hhes/fertility/data/cps/2014.html>

Characteristics of Women with a Recent Birth

3.932 million

The number of registered births in 2013, less than 1 percent fewer births in 2012. Of this number, 273,105 were to teens 15 to 19.
Source: National Center for Health Statistics, National Vital Statistics Reports
<http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr64/nvsr64_01.pdf>

61.7%

Percentage of women age 16 to 50 who had a birth in the past 12 months who were in the labor force.
Source: 2013 American Community Survey, American FactFinder, Table S1301
<http://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/ACS/13_1YR/S1301>

30.3%

The percentage of women who had given birth in the past 12 months who had a bachelor’s degree or higher.
Source: 2013 American Community Survey, American FactFinder, Table S1301
<http://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/ACS/13_1YR/S1301>

85.2%

Percentage of women age 15 to 50 who gave birth in the past year and who have at least a high school diploma.
Source: 2013 American Community Survey, American FactFinder, Table S1301
<http://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/ACS/13_1YR/S1301>

64

Number of births in the past year per 1,000 women age 15 to 50 with a graduate or professional degree. The number was 53 per 1,000 for women whose highest level of education was a bachelor’s degree.
Source: 2013 American Community Survey, American FactFinder, Table S1301
<http://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/ACS/13_1YR/S1301>

Noah and Sophia

The most popular baby names for boys and girls, respectively, in 2013.
Source: Social Security Administration
<http://www.ssa.gov/OACT/babynames/>

Mothers Celebrated

14,161

Number of florists nationwide in 2013. The 62,222employees in floral shops across our nation will be especially busy preparing, selling and delivering floral arrangements for Mother’s Day.
Source: County Business Patterns: 2013 (NAICS 45311)
<http://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/BP/2013/00A1//naics~45311>

15,113

Number of employees of greeting-card publishers in 2013.
Source: County Business Patterns: 2013 (NAICS 511191)
<http://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/BP/2013/00A1//naics~511191>

16,288

The number of cosmetics, beauty supplies and perfume stores nationwide in 2013. Perfume is a popular gift given on Mother’s Day.
Source: County Business Patterns: 2013 (NAICS 44612)
<http://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/BP/2013/00A1//naics~44612>

23,096

Number of jewelry stores in the United States in 2013 — the place to purchase necklaces, earrings and other timeless pieces for mom.
Source: County Business Patterns: 2013(NAICS 44831)
<http://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/BP/2013/00A1//naics~44831>

Stay-at-Home Moms

5.2 million

Number of stay-at-home moms in married couple family groups in 2014.
Source: America’s Families and Living Arrangements: 2014
<http://www.census.gov/hhes/families/files/shp1.xls>

Taking Care of the Kids

862,043

Number of child day care services employees across the country in 2013. They were employed by one of the 74,939 child day care services. In addition, there were 693,325 child day care services without paid employees in 2012. Many mothers turn to these centers to help juggle motherhood and careers.
Source: County Business Patterns: 2013 NAICS 6244
<http://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/BP/2013/00A1//naics~6244>
Nonemployer Statistics: 2012
<http://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/NES/2012/00A1//naics~6244>

Single Moms

9.9 million

The number of single mothers living with children younger than 18 in 2014, up from 3.4 million in 1970.
Source: America’s Families and Living Arrangements, 2014.
<http://www.census.gov/hhes/families/files/fm2.xls>

411,011

Number of women age 15 to 50 who had a birth in the past 12 months and were living with a cohabiting partner.
Source: 2013 American Community Survey, American FactFinder, Table B13004
<http://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/ACS/13_1YR/B13004>