Mothers of Small Children Make Up Less Than an Eighth of U.S. State Legislators

Women living with children under the age of 18 account for approximately 18% of the adult population in the U.S., but women with kids that age make up just 8.3% of state legislators, according to a new analysis.

The research, compiled by Vote Mama Foundation, an organization working to increase the numbers of mothers in government, also found that just 2.8% of all state legislators are women of color with children under 18. Only three states — California, Nevada and Virginia — have reached proportional representation for mothers of minors.

The gap is particularly pronounced among mothers of very young children. Just six state legislators have a youngest child who is an infant or toddler, according to the research, compared with 276 whose youngest child is in middle or high school.

Still, overall, these numbers mark an improvement from 2022, when the Vote Mama Foundation last collated such data. There are now 614 mothers of minors serving in state legislatures, up from 386 in 2022 — an increase of 228, or 59%.

Despite those gains, the organization estimates that another 630 mothers of children under 18 would need to be elected to state legislatures across the nation for their representation to become proportional to their share of the adult population.

Commenting on the findings, Liuba Grechen Shirley, founder and CEO of Vote Mama Foundation, described the progress as encouraging, but noted that progress is “not the same as parity.”

“Mamas of minor children, particularly mamas of color, remain underrepresented in the rooms where decisions are made about childcare, maternal health, education, and so much more,” she said. To continue the trajectory of progress, the organization is recommending a number of policy changes aimed at making legislative office more accessible to parents. Among other things, it is calling for legislators to be paid a livable wage, for their benefits to be brought in line with those offered in other jobs, for government infrastructure to be made more family-friendly, and for remote or proxy voting options to be made available.

“If we want policies that reflect the realities of families,” said Liuba Grechen Shirley, we need legislators who have that lived experience.”