Increased support for mothers is a bipartisan priority for women voters

As the Delta variant of COVID-19 continues to put a strain on the U.S., new data sheds light on the ongoing challenges women — particularly, mothers — are facing during the pandemic.

Even in the best of times, being a mother is a role that comes with great joy but also a great amount of work. Though the challenges facing moms (and especially working moms) long predate the pandemic, the last year and a half exposed and exacerbated these struggles.

To assess the impact of the pandemic on America’s mothers, I worked with pollster Kristen Soltis Anderson to conduct a nationwide survey of female voters under 55 years of age — with a focus on surveying moms — on behalf of Marshall Plan for Moms.

Specifically, we sought to understand the unique challenges mothers have faced during the COVID-19 crisis, especially as many now seek to re-enter the workforce. To that end, our research was designed to answer a critical question: Given these challenges, is there an opportunity to engage a bipartisan voting coalition of moms on these issues? Our data suggests a resounding “yes.” 

Our research confirmed that female voters surveyed, and especially moms, were tremendously impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, and, even as the United States tries to establish some sense of post-pandemic normalcy, still face significant — though not unfamiliar — challenges ahead.

Indeed, one half (50 percent) of moms surveyed believe one of the biggest challenges facing moms during the pandemic recovery is juggling the responsibilities of work and family. The next biggest challenges? Fatigue and burnout from maintaining these responsibilities during the pandemic (46 percent); the lack of family-supportive workplaces and businesses not offering adequate paid family leave (39 percent); and the high cost of childcare (38 percent).

To be sure, these hardships don’t just hurt moms. They negatively impact their spouses, their families, their communities and the entire nation’s — and by extension, the world’s — economic recovery. And yet, even as moms try to participate in our nation’s post-COVID recovery, institutional obstacles persist.

Our survey indicated that moms seeking to reenter the workforce, or simply return to the amount of work they were undertaking before the pandemic, lack accessible, affordable childcare.

Indeed, nearly one half (48 percent) of working moms experienced either unemployment or income reduction during the pandemic — and while many noted this was due to job loss or reduction, 48 percent of moms surveyed believe childcare is too expensive to make going back to work worth it. 

Further, 42 percent indicate that one of the biggest challenges facing working moms is that the jobs available don’t pay enough; 41 percent agree that the jobs available do not accommodate flexible hours. And it’s not just workplaces that fail to help moms: Only 35 percent of women surveyed believe the government adequately supported mothers during the COVID-19 crisis.

The data paints a clear picture of a broken system. But notably, the numbers also suggest a strong opportunity to rally women voters across the political spectrum around parenting-related policies that could help moms, and especially working moms, overcome the significant challenges they face.

Critically, women voters under 55 say that these policies could impact their vote in a meaningful way, including leading them to vote for a candidate from a different political party. Specifically, more than three-quarters of moms — including 78 percent of liberal women, and 66 percent of conservative women — indicate they would support a congressional candidate who aligns with their views on parenting-related policies, like paid family leave and affordable childcare, even if they’re from a different political party. 

In an era of intense political polarization, these numbers may come as a surprise — but perhaps they shouldn’t. Women everywhere understand that the issues facing mothers cut across identity and ideology. Eighty percent of moms surveyed — that’s 80 percent of liberal women, and 78 percent of conservative women — believe moms across the political spectrum have similar priorities in terms of the issues they want lawmakers to do something about.

Bipartisan consensus on any issue is a rarity in the United States today. But when it comes to supporting moms, there is a clear opportunity for elected officials from both parties to do not only the right thing, but the politically smart thing — to expand their voting coalition by championing policies that enable mothers to work, and help them to afford motherhood. 

Carly Cooperman is a pollster and partner with the public opinion company Schoen Cooperman Research based in New York. She is coauthor of a forthcoming book, entitled “America: Unite or Die.”