Photo by H. Armstrong Roberts / CORBIS
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Boomers Choose Mom
May & June 2005
A new AARP The Magazine Mother’s Day survey reveals that Mom is twice as popular as Dad
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There are a lot of momma’s boys and girls out there. With
Mother’s Day upon us, a new AARP The Magazine survey
reveals that 40% of Baby Boomers name their mother as their
favorite parent, compared to only 20% who say the same of their
father. Dads aren’t completely left out in the cold
however. Women are more likely than men to name their father as
their favorite.
In a survey of over 1,000 Boomers, AARP The Magazine also
found that 52% of survey respondents felt closer to their
children than their parents were to them, compared to 29% who did
not.
Twenty-nine percent of people are in touch with their mother or
father every day.
“The typical Boomer childhood involved being let loose on
the neighborhood with our bikes, baseballs and probably a lizard
that some kid found down by the pond,” said AARP The
Magazine Editor Steve Slon. “Today’s kids lead
much more structured lives, with Mom or Dad shepherding them to
one activity or another. As a result, they are spending a lot
more time together, and that probably explains why today’s
parents feel closer to their kids.”
However, both men and women are in regular contact with their
parents. Seventy-four percent of people say they currently stay
in touch with their mother or father by phone, email, mail or
personal visits at least once a week; including 29% who stay in
touch every day.
In the battle for TV mom supremacy, Olivia Walton (20%) comes out
on top followed by:
- June Cleever (18%)
- Claire Huxtable (16%)
- Harriet Nelson (9%)
- Carol Brady (7%)
As for the TV moms who played foil to oafish louts, Marge Simpson
comes in at 4%, with the long suffering Edith Bunker registering
just 1%.
Paradoxically, respondents say that their mother most often
played the heavy, but also claim that she was the most fun.
Forty-one percent say that Mom was the primary disciplinarian,
compared to 36% for Dad, while mothers were considered more fun
by a score of 39%-32%.
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Sixty-three percent of people say love was the strongest emotion
they felt toward their mother, compared with 41% who say the same
about their father. “Fathers are much more likely to garner
respect as the dominant emotion,” said Slon.
“I’m not sure there is any concrete reason for this.
With mothers, what can you say? She’s Mom, and it’s
just a very special relationship for a lot of people.”
As for what people plan to get their mom for Mother’s Day:
flowers, taking her out to a restaurant, and candy top the list.
Results from this survey were obtained from a nationwide
telephone omnibus conducted by International Communications
Research between April 13-24, 2005. Responses were gleaned from
1,033 adults, ages 45-59.
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