A study out of the Wheatley Institute at Brigham Young University, in collaboration with the Institute for Family Studies, found that married mothers across demographics were happier than unmarried women or women without children. The study found that married women are more likely than their unmarried counterparts to report feeling a deep connection and meaning in their relationships and are less likely to report being lonely.
The Women’s Well-Being Survey participants included “3,000 U.S. women aged 25 to 55, with 1,551 respondents having children under 18” interviewed between March 1-12, 2025. The study measured the participants’ well-being by assessing their overall happiness, social connection, access to physical touch, sense of meaning and purpose, and, where applicable, challenges related to motherhood.
The findings highlighted that, out of the four groups studied—married mothers, single women, unmarried mothers, and married women without children—married mothers’ well-being statistically significantly exceeded that of the others.
Other key findings included the following:
- Married mothers are nearly twice as likely to report being “very happy” compared to single, childless women
- 47% of married mothers and 43% of married childless women say life feels enjoyable, compared to 40% of unmarried mothers and 34% of unmarried childless women
- According to the data, married women are about half as likely as unmarried women to experience frequent loneliness.
- Only about 1-in-10 married women report feeling lonely most or all the time, compared to 23% of unmarried mothers and 20% of unmarried childless women.
- 47% of married mothers and 49% of married childless women report high levels of regular physical touch, compared to only 23% of unmarried mothers and 13% of unmarried childless women
- Women who experience high levels of physical affection are more than three times as likely to be very happy (22%) compared to women who experience low levels of touch (7%)
Whilst modern-day feminism encourages women to pursue careers, stay single to have no children, co-authors of the study noted, “Women are often told that staying single and child-free leads to the happiest and most fulfilling life, but our findings paint a complex yet hopeful picture of the benefits of marriage and motherhood in women’s lives. While marriage and motherhood are certainly challenging, our research makes it clear that married mothers are thriving in ways that challenge current stereotypes about family life.”
The study concludes with the following:
Despite the challenges associated with family life for women—including more stress and less time for oneself—there is no question that marriage and motherhood are linked to greater female flourishing on many other fronts. Moreover, marriage shapes and magnifies the experience of motherhood. Unmarried mothers with children still identify more purpose and meaning than childless women, but they are less happy, more stressed, and lonelier than married mothers.
Marriage appears to offer a stabilising and supportive context that lifts the burdens of motherhood, while strengthening happiness, connection, and meaning. That reality should invite our best efforts, both culturally and politically, to support and strengthen single mothers even as we also work to increase the likelihood and quality of marriages. The opportunities for greater touch, less loneliness, and more meaning seem to provide married mothers the most joyful lives.
The full report is available: Jean M. Twenge, Jenet Erickson, Wendy Wang, Brad Wilcox, “In Pursuit: Marriage, Motherhood, and Women’s Well-Being” (The Institute for Family Studies and The Wheatley Institute, August 2025)
*Written by Family First staff writers
