Motherhood loneliness is common across countries and stages of early parenthood. In 2025, 70% of U.S. mothers said motherhood was lonelier than expected, while 82% of mothers in a global Peanut/Nuna survey reported feeling lonely. The figures below measure different populations and definitions, so they should be read as separate estimates rather than one combined rate.
Contents
- How common is loneliness in motherhood?
- How often do mothers and parents feel lonely?
- Loneliness in new motherhood and the early years
- Support gaps and the missing village
- Which mothers and parents face greater isolation?
- Time, work and everyday social connection
- How loneliness affects wellbeing and family life
How common is loneliness in motherhood?
The 2025 Motherly State of Motherhood Survey Results found that 70% of U.S. mothers felt their experience of motherhood was lonelier than they had expected. The remaining 30% said motherhood was not lonelier than expected. This measures a gap between expectation and experience, rather than loneliness at a particular moment.
The global Peanut/Nuna “Where did the village go?” survey reported an even broader experience: 82% of participating mothers said they felt lonely, and 70% said they felt they were doing motherhood alone. Only 18% said they felt fully supported in motherhood.
Earlier U.S. research also found substantial loneliness among mothers with young children. The Loneliness in America 2021 report said 51% of mothers with young children experienced serious loneliness. In that same 2021 survey, 47% said their loneliness had increased since the pandemic.
Marital status is another important difference in one March 2025 U.S. estimate. The Institute for Family Studies report found that 23% of unmarried mothers ages 25–55 felt lonely most or all of the time, compared with 11% of married mothers. These figures describe a specific age range and survey measure; they do not represent all mothers.
How often do mothers and parents feel lonely?
Daily loneliness is reported by a sizeable minority of mothers. In the 2025 Motherly survey, 20% of U.S. mothers said they felt lonely every day. The rate was about 33% among Gen Z mothers and 24% among Millennial mothers. Among Millennial mothers, another 26% reported feeling lonely weekly.
British data from a different period uses categories of “sometimes,” “often,” and “always.” The Parental Loneliness Survey conducted in May 2021 found that, among parents of children ages 0–5, 36% sometimes felt lonely, 13% often felt lonely, and 3% always felt lonely. Combined, 16% felt lonely always or often, up from 9% in October 2020.
The same 2025 U.S. well-being survey reported that 64% of mothers felt overwhelmed daily. Feeling overwhelmed is not identical to loneliness, but the result shows how frequently emotional strain occurs alongside the transition to motherhood.
| Measure | Population and period | Reported share |
|---|---|---|
| Lonely every day | U.S. mothers, 2025 | 20% |
| Lonely most or all of the time | Unmarried U.S. mothers ages 25–55, March 2025 | 23% |
| Lonely most or all of the time | Married U.S. mothers ages 25–55, March 2025 | 11% |
| Lonely always or often | British parents of children ages 0–5, May 2021 | 16% |
| Serious loneliness | U.S. mothers with young children, 2021 | 51% |
These estimates cannot be ranked as though they used the same questionnaire. “Serious loneliness,” daily loneliness, and loneliness most or all of the time are different measures.
Loneliness in new motherhood and the early years
Parents of young children often describe loneliness as a concern about wellbeing, not merely a lack of company. In May 2021, 46% of British parents of children ages 0–5 said loneliness’s effect on mental health and well-being concerned them most, according to the Centre for Early Childhood survey. The result was 55% among women parents and 36% among men parents.
Practical contact mattered. In the same survey, 59% said in-person contact with friends and family was the most important support when they felt lonely. Yet 23% wanted friends and family to text, call, or reach out more often.
The Loneliness among parents of young children report, based on English parents of children under five in 2019, found that 21% often felt a lack of companionship and 23% often felt isolated from others. Feeling left out was reported by 30% of mothers, compared with 16% of fathers.
Age differences appeared in that English research as well. Among parents ages 18–24, 37% often felt a lack of companionship, compared with 21% of parents ages 25–34. The figures are from 2019 and should not be treated as current national estimates.
Support gaps and the missing village
Support expectations can make isolation more visible. In the 2025 Peanut/Nuna survey, 75% of mothers said they had less of a village than their mothers’ generation, and 77% said they had less of a village than their grandmothers’ generation. Also, 56% felt less supported than they had expected before becoming mothers.
The emotional cost of that gap was substantial in the survey: 65% of mothers said they had cried because they felt unsupported, while 77% said they avoided asking for help because of guilt or shame. During the fourth trimester specifically, 20% said they felt fully supported.
The survey also combined several isolation indicators. At least 51% of surveyed mothers had two or more isolation indicators. Mothers with no isolation indicators rated their support at 7.95 out of 10, while those with two or more rated their support at 5.21 out of 10. Those scores describe the survey’s support-rating groups and do not establish that isolation caused the lower rating.
Which mothers and parents face greater isolation?
Family structure is associated with different social-wellbeing measures. In Understanding the social wellbeing and supports of Australian families with children in the early years, based on HILDA Wave 23 in 2023, more than 76% of Australian couple parents with children ages 0–5 rated feeling part of their local community at least 6 out of 10. The comparable share for single parents was less than 56%.
In the same Australian data, 13.4% of single parents strongly agreed that they often felt very lonely, compared with 2.1% of couple parents. Also, 6.2% of single parents strongly agreed they had no one to lean on in times of trouble, compared with 1.6% of couple parents.
Age patterns were smaller and varied within the Australian parent sample. The share who strongly agreed they often felt very lonely was 5.3% among parents ages 15–29, 2.2% among parents ages 30–34, 3.1% among parents ages 35–39, and 1.8% among parents ages 40 and older. These results concern parents of children ages 0–5 and are not motherhood-only estimates.
The 2026 Home-Start survey results reported that women parents in the UK were 9% more likely than men to report feeling lonely or isolated. It also found that 21% of parents in ordinary working households often or always felt lonely or isolated, compared with 15% in professional or affluent households. Parents with children under five were more likely to say they could feel lonely or isolated than parents of older children: 49% compared with 41%.
Time, work and everyday social connection
Time scarcity can restrict the ordinary contact that protects against isolation. In Pew Research Center’s Parental satisfaction, time and support, published in 2015, 53% of U.S. mothers said they did not have enough free time away from their children to see friends or pursue outside interests.
The result varied by work status: 59% of full-time working mothers, 48% of part-time working mothers, and 47% of mothers who did not work outside the home said they lacked enough free time for friends or outside interests.
Only 45% of U.S. mothers said they had a lot of support from friends or extended family in raising their children. For parenting advice, 21% often turned to friends and 32% often turned to family members other than a spouse or partner. At the other end, 18% rarely or never received parenting advice from those non-spouse family members. Parenting websites, books, or magazines were used often or sometimes by 43% of mothers for advice.
These 2015 findings are legacy estimates and have not been independently verified here. They show how free time and informal advice were measured in that survey, not how every mother currently spends time.
How loneliness affects wellbeing and family life
The 2026 Home-Start results connect parental loneliness with concerns about both parents and children. Among UK parents who felt lonely or isolated, 49% were concerned that it affected their children’s happiness, and 44% were concerned about their children’s development.
The same survey found that 51% of those parents said loneliness was affecting their mental health, while 43% said it was affecting their physical health. These are reported experiences and concerns among parents who felt lonely or isolated, not clinical diagnoses or evidence that loneliness alone caused the outcomes.
Taken together, the statistics show several recurring features: loneliness can be daily or occasional; it is especially visible during the early years; support differs by family structure and social resources; and many mothers report a smaller support network than they expected. The measurement period, geography, sample, and definition matter for every comparison.