Happy Mother’s Day

The driving force behind Mother’s Day was Anna Jarvis, who organized observances in Grafton, W.Va., and Philadelphia on May 10, 1908, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

As the annual celebration became popular around the country, Jarvis asked members of Congress to set aside a day to honor mothers. She finally succeeded in 1914, when Congress designated the second Sunday in May as Mother’s Day.

MOTHER’S DAY TRIVIA
2 — The total fertility rate or number of births per woman in the U.S. in 2009, a decline of 4 percent from 2008 (based on current birth rates by age).

85.4 million — Estimated number of mothers in the United States in 2008.

54% — Percentage of 15- to 44-year-old women who were mothers in 2008.

82% — Percentage of women 40 to 44 who had given birth as of 2008. In 1976, 90% of women in that age group had given birth.

94% — Among the 37.8 million mothers living with children younger than 18 in 2004, the percentage who lived with their biological children only. In addition, 3% lived with stepchildren, 2% with any adopted children and less than 1% with any foster children.

4.13 million — Number of births registered in the United States in 2009. Of this number, 409,840 were to teens 15 to 19 and 7,934 to mothers 45 to 54.

25.1 — Average age of women in 2008 when they gave birth for the first time, up from 25 years in 2006 and 2007. The increase in the mean age from 2007 to 2008 reflects, in part, the relatively large decline in births to women under age 25 compared with the small decline for women in the 25-39 age bracket.

42,746 — Number of births in 2008 that did not occur in hospitals. Of these, 28,357 were in a residence (home) and 12,014 were in a freestanding birthing center.

32.6 — Number of twin births per 1,000 total births in 2008, the highest rate on record.

6,268 — Number of triplet and higher order multiple births in 2008, the lowest number reported in more than a decade. The 2008 triplet and higher order multiple total included 5,877 triplets, 345 quadruplets, and 46 quintuplets and higher order multiples.

5 million — Number of stay-at-home moms in 2010 — down from 5.1 million in 2009 and 5.3 million in 2008 (the estimates for 2010 and 2009 are not statistically different). In 2010, 23% of married-couple family groups with children under 15 had a stay-at-home mother, up from 21% in 2000. In 2007, before the recession, stay-at-home mothers were found in 24% of married-couple family groups with children under 15.

61% — The proportion of mothers with a recent birth who were in the labor force increased from 57% in 2006 to 61% in 2008. Among states with higher than average levels of new mothers who were unemployed, the highest proportions were in Alabama (10%) and Michigan (9%), along with several states in the southeast United States.

9.9 million — The number of single mothers living with children younger than 18 in 2010, up from 3.4 million in 1970.

5.6 million — Number of custodial mothers who were due child support in 2007.

38% — Of the 4 million women 15 to 44 years old who had a birth in the last year, 1.5 million (38%) were to women who were not married, who were separated, or married but with an absent spouse. Of those 1.5 million mothers, 425,000 (28%) were living with a cohabiting partner.