The driving force behind Mother’s Day was Anna Jarvis, who organized observances in Grafton, W.Va., and Philadelphia on May 10, 1908. While the annual celebration spread around the country, Jarvis began lobbying politicians to set aside a day to honor mothers. She finally succeeded in 1914, when Congress designated the second Sunday in May as Mother’s Day.

How Many Mothers

80.5 million
Estimated number of mothers in the United States in 2001. (Source: Survey of Income and Program Participation)

55%
Percentage of 15- to 44-year-olds who are mothers.
<http://www.census.gov/population/www/socdemo/fertility.html>

81%
Percentage of women 40 to 44 who are mothers. In 1976, 90 percent of women in that age group were mothers. <http://www.census.gov/population/www/socdemo/fertility.html>

How Many Children

2.1
Average number of children that women today can expect to have in their lifetime. <http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/products/pubs/pubd/hestats/prelimbirths05/prelimbirths05.htm>

2.5
Average number of children that women in Utah can expect to have in their lifetime. This state tops the nation in average number of births per woman. Rhode Island, Vermont, Massachusetts and the District of Columbia have the lowest average number — 1.7 births. <http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr55/nvsr55_01.pdf>

Mothers Remembered

21,667
Number of florist establishments nationwide in 2004. The 109,915 employees in floral shops across our nation will be especially busy preparing, selling and delivering floral arrangements for Mother’s Day. <http://www.census.gov/prod/www/abs/cbptotal.html>

The flowers bought for mom have a good chance of having been grown in California. Among the 36 surveyed states, California was the leading provider of cut flowers in 2005, accounting for 73 percent of domestic flower production ($289 million out of $397 million) in those states.
<http://usda.mannlib.cornell.edu/MannUsda/viewDocumentInfo.do?documentID=1072>

Months ahead of this widely observed day of recognition, many of the 13,057 employees of the 120 greeting-card publishing establishments in 2004 would have been busy creating Mother’s Day greeting cards. <http://www.census.gov/prod/www/abs/cbptotal.html>

12,454
The number of cosmetics, beauty supplies and perfume stores nationwide in 2004. Perfume is one of the top gifts given on Mother’s Day. <http://www.census.gov/prod/www/abs/cbptotal.html>

28,772
Number of jewelry stores in the United States in 2004 — the place to go to purchase necklaces, earrings and other timeless pieces for mom. <http://www.census.gov/prod/www/abs/cbptotal.html>

Moms Who’ve Recently Given Birth

4.1 million
Number of births in the United States in 2005. Of this number, 414,406 were to teens 15 to 19, and 111,190 to moms 40 or older. <http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/births.htm>

25.2
Average age of women in 2004 when they gave birth for the first time. The record high first reached in 2003 was equaled in 2004 . <http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/births.htm>

40%
Percentage of births that are the mother’s first. Another 32 percent are the second-born; 17 percent, third; and 11 percent, fourth or more. <http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/births.htm>

35,578
Number of births in 2004 that did not occur in hospitals. <http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/births.htm>

1 in 31
The odds of a woman delivering twins. Her odds of delivering other multiple births was approximately 1 in 565. <http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/births.htm>

July
The most popular month in which to have a baby, with 359,426 births taking place that month in 2004. <http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/births.htm>

Tuesday
The most popular day of the week to have a baby, with an average of 13,045 births taking place on Tuesdays during 2004. <http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/births.htm>

Jacob and Emily
The most popular baby names for boys and girls, respectively, in 2005. (Source: Social Security Administration, at <http://www.ssa.gov/OACT/babynames/>)

Working Moms

5.6 million
Number of stay-at-home moms in 2006. <http://www.census.gov/population/www/socdemo/hh-fam.html>

55%
Among mothers with infant children in 2004, the percentage in the labor force, down from a record high of 59 percent in 1998. <http://www.census.gov/population/www/socdemo/fertility.html>

729,040
Number of child care centers across the country in 2004. These include nearly 72,000 centers employing close to 780,000 workers and another 657,000 self-employed persons or other companies without paid employees. Many mothers turn to these centers to help juggle motherhood and career. <http://www.census.gov/prod/www/abs/cbptotal.html> <http://www.census.gov/epcd/nonemployer/index.html>

Single Moms

10.4 million
The number of single mothers living with children younger than 18, up from 3.4 million in 1970. <http://www.census.gov/population/www/socdemo/hh-fam.html>

Meals with Mommy

61% and 81%
Percentages of children younger than 6 living with married parents who eat breakfast and dinner, respectively, with their mother every day. The corresponding percentages who eat with their father were 30 percent and 64 percent. <http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/children/009412.html>