Join The Mother Rising

Gender justice is due for mothers and caregivers. This Mother’s Day, let’s celebrate mothers and caregivers by helping them rise.

Honour a mother or caregiver in your life

Send a Mother’s Day e-card and gift to help diverse mothers, caregivers, women, and gender-diverse people move out of violence, out of poverty, and into confidence and leadership. Your gift also supports advocacy actions and policy change to build gender justice in Canada.

We want to hear your voice

Are you a mother or caregiver? We want to hear how you have been impacted over the last two challenging years. What do you need to rise? Your voice will help us continue to develop advocacy and policy actions to make things better for mothers and caregivers in Canada.

Buy a Mother’s Day Gift with extra impact

Check out the Canadian Women’s Foundation Shop featuring gifts that support the goal of gender justice!

The Facts

Mothers in Canada: National Poll Highlights 2022

When the Foundation launched The Mother Rising in 2021 with a national poll, it heard many mothers and caregivers were nearing their breaking point. They were overworked, overwhelmed, and undervalued; their mental health was suffering; and the pandemic’s burdens were even greater for those experiencing poverty, discrimination, and gender-based violence. The Foundation revisited the national poll this year and, despite changes to pandemic-related protections, the April 2022 survey suggests circumstances have not improved for caregivers. Moms are disproportionately being impacted, especially when it comes to their health and careers.

48%

of mothers are reaching their breaking point, vs. 39% of dads

  • 3 in 5 (67%) are concerned about their physical health, compared to 55% in 2021

  • 3 in 5 (67%) are concerned about their emotional well-being
  • More than one third (39%) of moms say they are struggling to keep up with work demands, up from 28% in 2021
  • 2 in 5 moms (37%) have put their career on the back burner to manage home and caregiving responsibilities
  • Nearly half (47)% find it exhausting trying to balance work and childcare responsibilities
  • The vast majority of moms (96%) agree that mothers and caregivers have been significantly impacted by the pandemic and need more support.

Significantly More Mothers Than Fathers Say …

Mom
Dad

they have had to put their career on the back burner to manage home/parenting responsibilities
(37% vs. 19%) 

  • They do more than their spouse when it comes to managing the child(ren)s schedules and activities (68% vs. 23%) and supporting the child(ren)s education (58% vs. 23%)

  • They do more than their spouse to find and make arrangements for the child(ren) when schools are closed (57% vs. 22%)

  • They feel anxious (41% vs. 34%), sad (24% vs. 14%), and upset (22% vs. 14%)

“Which of the following words best describe how you are feeling these days?”

Anxious

0%
Mothers
0%
Fathers

Angry

0%
Mothers
0%
Fathers

Hopeless

0%
Mothers
0%
Fathers

Sad

0%
Mothers
0%
Fathers

Isolated

0%
Mothers
0%
Fathers

Afraid

0%
Mothers
0%
Fathers

Poll conducted in April 2022 by the Canadian Women’s Foundation, in partnership with opinion research and insights firm Maru/Matchbox.

Other Key Research

  • Mothers have taken on the equivalent of two full-time jobs: Women reported an average of 68 hours per week of caregiving before COVID-19 hit Canada and 95 hours per week after, compared with men who spent 33 and 46 hours, accordingly.

  • Levels of depression and anxiety in mothers almost doubled: 35 per cent of the mothers reported symptoms of depression in 2020, compared to 19 per cent in the pre-pandemic period.
“I am at my limit. There is too much expected of people with dependents. You are burning out an entire generation of people. Something needs to change.”
2022 Survey Respondent