Quantcast
Help IFS Unlock Our $25,000 Matching Gift!

The Creative Destruction of Motherhood

May 10, 2025
The Creative Destruction of Motherhood

Recently, the pop star Chappell Roan made waves by announcing that motherhood is “hell.” Expressing horror that her mom friends have to “get [expletive] babysitters” to attend her concerts, Roan said she doesn’t know anyone with young kids “who has light in their eyes; anyone who has slept.” Social media furiously debated Roan’s comments. Here’s the complex truth: Roan is right. And also wrong.

First, Roan is just flat-out wrong that moms aren’t happy. In general, mothers—especially married mothers—are typically happier than their counterparts without kids. The Institute for Family Studies recently conducted a survey on moms, finding 21 percent of married moms with kids self-report as “very happy” and 54 percent call themselves “pretty happy.” That’s higher than the 12 percent and 51 percent, respectively, of married women without kids who described themselves as such. For unmarried women without kids, the numbers were even lower.

Continues...

Sign up for our mailing list to receive ongoing updates from IFS.
Join The IFS Mailing List

Contact

Interested in learning more about the work of the Institute for Family Studies? Please feel free to contact us by using your preferred method detailed below.
 

Mailing Address:

P.O. Box 1502
Charlottesville, VA 22902

(434) 260-1048

info@ifstudies.org

Media Inquiries

For media inquiries, contact Chris Bullivant (chris@ifstudies.org).

We encourage members of the media interested in learning more about the people and projects behind the work of the Institute for Family Studies to get started by perusing our "Media Kit" materials.

Media Kit

We Have A Match!
Your gift is urgently needed to unlock the $5,000 that remains of our generous $25,000 matching gift.
Can IFS count on you?
Make My Gift