A new YouGov survey, sponsored by the Institute for Family Studies with the Wheatley Institute, finds that married women are more likely than their unmarried counterparts to report feeling deep connection and meaning in their relationships and are less likely to report being lonely.According to the Institute for Family Studies, a 2025 Women’s Well-being Survey (WWS) of 3,000 women in the US aged 25-55 found that married mothers reported higher levels of happiness and physical touch, as well as less loneliness, than their unmarried or childless counterparts.
Key findings from the survey include:
• 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
• 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 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
Report co-author Jean Twenge, Professor of Psychology at San Diego State University says: "Pop culture portrayals, online forums and media headlines declaring single women without children are happier than married mothers are simply not true… our study challenges prominent cultural narratives by revealing that marriage and motherhood provide deep emotional and social benefits.”
According to the survey of 3,000 women aged 25 to 55 in the United States, married mothers were also more likely to say that life feels enjoyable most or all of the time.
The study also found that motherhood provides women with a deepened sense of meaning and purpose in life with nearly half of married mothers stating their lives felt meaningful most or all the time, compared to only one-third of single, childless women.
Report co-author Brad Wilcox, Professor of Sociology at the University of Virginia and Senior Fellow of the Institute for Family Studies says:
“This is the first study to focus on touch, family, and women’s happiness, and we find that not only do married women report significantly higher levels of physical touch but also that their experience of regular physical touch seems to help explain why they are happier. Regular real-world touch may matter more in a world where contemporary Americans spend too much time in the virtual world.”
Report co-author Jenet Erickson, a Fellow at the Wheatley Institute at Brigham Young University says:
“While getting married and having children may mean less time hanging out with friends, marriage and children are also associated with other kinds of social engagement, including volunteer work, church attendance, and community connections. In fact, in our study, married mothers are just as likely to say they feel satisfied with their number of friends as other women.”
Click here to read the full report.
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