NEW RESEARCH: 93% OF MOTHERS EXPERIENCE BURNOUT -- AND NEARLY HALF HAVE SCALED BACK OR LEFT THEIR CAREERS

Peanut and Nuna release the inaugural Motherhood Index, a first-of-its-kind data-driven study into the state of motherhood in 2026

NEW YORK, June 3, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Peanut, the world's largest social network for mothers, and Nuna, the globally trusted name in baby gear, today released the Motherhood Index 2026, the first in an annual series tracking the state of modern motherhood. The inaugural report draws on a survey of over 4,000 mothers across the US and UK, combined with Peanut's proprietary analysis of year-on-year conversation trends across 500,000 posts on the Peanut platform.

The findings reveal a generation of mothers navigating a system that has not caught up with the reality of their lives, and building workarounds in its place.

BURNOUT

• 93% of mothers report experiencing burnout, with 58% saying they feel burned out often or almost always.
• 70% get fewer than five hours of unbroken sleep a night. More than a third (36%) get fewer than four.
• 48% needed health support but couldn't access it, or found it fell short.
• 71% of mothers in two-parent households do more childcare and domestic labor than their partner; 42% say significantly more.

Burnout language in online motherhood conversations has risen 107% year-on-year on the Peanut platform. Clinical mental health language is up 58%. Nervous system language, a proxy for chronic stress, has surged 625%. Now, we also know that mothers doing a higher share of domestic labor are 33% more likely to self-report burnout.

Critically, 61% of mothers describe their wellbeing as "good", a figure that sits in direct tension with the burnout, sleep, and healthcare access data above. Qualitative interviews suggest the benchmark for "good" has shifted: many mothers are measuring themselves against peers who are also struggling.

WORK

• 47% of mothers have scaled back, paused, or left their careers since having children.
• 58% say flexible and remote work is the single innovation that would most improve their lives - ranking it above healthcare investment, affordable childcare, and policy reform.
• 25% cite greater career flexibility as their top priority for change in the next 12 months.
• 1 in 5 mothers have left work or their career entirely.

The maternal career penalty is measurable and consistent. Nearly a third (28%) say motherhood significantly changed or paused their career plans; 22% say it scaled back their ambitions. Conversations about maternity leave and return to work on the Peanut platform are up year-on-year across both the US and UK.

IDENTITY & COMMUNITY

• 93% of mothers report a meaningful change in identity since becoming a mother.
• 59% say they feel like a completely different person.
• 75% trust peer recommendations above all other sources — ranking them above brands, healthcare providers, and media.
• 43% say stronger communities are what gives them the most optimism about the future.

Mothers are reshaping the values they pass on: kindness and empathy top the list (66%), ahead of emotional intelligence (51%). Ambition sits at 6%. AI tool adoption in conversations about parenting and family life has grown 1,088% year-on-year, a signal that mothers are rapidly integrating new tools into the infrastructure gaps they face.

QUOTES

"Mothers are the most influential consumers on the planet. The Motherhood Index exists because we believe the first step to doing better is listening harder. The next step is celebrating the brilliant women driving change."
— Marta Pina Fernandez, EMEA Marketing Director, Nuna

"The career penalty of motherhood is no myth. Flexible work isn't a perk, it's the structural change mothers say would most transform their lives. That's ahead of healthcare investment, policy reform, and technology. That's worth listening to."
— Michelle Battersby, President, Peanut

ABOUT THE MOTHERHOOD INDEX

The Motherhood Index is the first annual report published by Nuna and Peanut. The 2026 edition is based on two complementary data sources: a survey of 4,000 mothers across the US and UK, and Peanut's proprietary analysis of year-on-year conversation trends across millions of deduplicated posts on the Peanut platform (December 2024 – March 2026). The full report is available at peanut-app.io/motherhood-index.