After Nephi’s family crossed the sea and fled from Laman and Lemuel’s vengeance, they settled into the day-to-day routine of creating a life for themselves in a new land. In the midst of his family’s challenges to survive, Nephi made an incredible statement:
And it came to pass that we lived after the manner of happiness.
In Pursuit: Marriage, Motherhood, and Women’s Well-Being
A new study released today by The Institute for Family Studies and The Wheatley Institute called “In Pursuit: Marriage, Motherhood, and Women’s Well-Being” found that across demographics, modern married mothers echo Nephi’s sentiment—despite challenges and difficulties, married mothers are happiest.
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.
“At a time when marriage and fertility rates have reached record lows in the United States, our study challenges prominent cultural narratives by revealing that marriage and motherhood provide deep emotional and social benefits,” said Jean Twenge, Professor of Psychology at San Diego State University and co-author of the study. “Pop culture portrayals, online forums and media headlines declaring single women without children are happier than married mothers are simply not true.”
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 showed that, out of the four groups studied—married mothers, single women, unmarried mothers, and married women without children—married mothers’ well-being statistically significantly surpassed that of the others.
Key data from the survey includes:
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Happiness
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.
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Social Connection
According to the data, married women are about half as likely as unmarried women to experience frequent loneliness.
Only 11% of married mothers and 9% of married women report feeling lonely most or all the time, compared to 23% of unmarried mothers and 20% of unmarried childless women.
In this survey, married mothers are just as likely to say they feel satisfied with their number of friends as other women. In contrast, unmarried women without children are more likely to report difficulties with making new friends than married and unmarried moms.
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Physical Touch
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%).
58% of married mothers and 61% of married childless women say they often receive hugs or kisses, compared to just 36% of unmarried mothers and just 18% of unmarried childless women.
Married mothers are nearly twice as likely to frequently hold hands as unmarried mothers. Meanwhile, married childless women are over four times as likely to hold hands as unmarried childless women.
48% of married mothers and 49% of married childless women report regularly cuddling or snuggling with someone, compared to 26% of unmarried mothers and 14% of unmarried childless women.
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Meaning and Purpose
In the survey, 33% of married mothers and 30% of unmarried mothers strongly agree with the statement, “what I do in life is valuable and worthwhile,” compared to just 24% of married childless women and 20% of unmarried childless women.
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Motherhood Challenges
To be fair, the WWS [Women’s Well-Being Survey] also found that motherhood comes with many challenges as well. Mothers are more likely than non-mothers to feel overwhelmed and exhausted each day. About 64% of married and unmarried mothers report feeling overwhelmed on a daily basis, compared to 56% of married and single women without children. Additionally, 79% of unmarried mothers and 77% of married mothers feel exhausted every day, though 71% of unmarried childless women and 72% of married childless women do as well.
Mothers also say they have less time to themselves: 59% of unmarried mothers and 58% of married mothers report they wish they had more time for themselves, compared with 40% of married childless women and 43% of unmarried childless women. Yet, as the study showed, married mothers simultaneously report greater happiness, meaning, and purpose.
Female Flourishing
The Women’s Well-Being Study concludes with these meaningful words.
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 stabilizing 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.
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