New report on mothers' mental health from Count on Mothers and Inseparable

Pulse Check 2026 surveyed 2,818 U.S. mothers on cost, insurance, schools, and the online world

Mothers are usually the people who notice first. They see the change in a child’s mood, make the calls, fill out the forms, and sit on hold with the insurance company. A new report from Count on Mothers and Inseparable, Pulse Check 2026, asks what that costs them. The survey reached 2,818 U.S. mothers in May 2026, weighted to reflect mothers nationally, with a margin of error of plus or minus 2.3 points. Here is what stood out to us.

Mothers are running low.

Half of all mothers (50%) said taking care of their own mental health was difficult in the past 30 days. That number rises to 70% when a child needed mental, emotional, or behavioral support, and to 78% when that support came only after significant barriers. Among mothers with a child under 4 at home, it was 57%, compared with 46% of mothers with no child that young.

The obstacle mothers named most often was time (49%), well ahead of cost (16%). One in five spends more than five hours in a typical week on paperwork, calls, and coordination for their family’s health, childcare, and school needs. Asked in their own words about their biggest concern for their family, 41% of those who named one said financial stress.

Coverage on paper is not care in practice.

Among mothers who said a child needed support, 47% got it only partially, only after significant barriers, or not at all. More than half (56%) ran into at least one insurance problem, and 34% ran into two or more. Mothers with employer or private insurance were the least confident of any group that their plan covers mental healthcare, with only 48% completely or moderately confident. And 44% of all mothers delayed or avoided care because of cost in the past year.

Schools are trusted, but hard to reach.

Of the eleven institutions measured, schools ranked first on trust, though only 36% of mothers reported complete or moderate trust, and no institution reached 40%. Among mothers who rated school access, 45% said it was difficult to reach a counselor or mental health professional there.

Mothers want guardrails online.

A majority of mothers are very or extremely concerned about every category of harmful online content the survey measured, including cyberbullying (55%) and content encouraging self-harm (54%). About 77% support a law requiring social media and AI companies to take reasonable steps to protect children, with majority support in every political group, from 73% of conservatives to 82% of liberals. Meanwhile, 65% have little or no trust in AI companies to act in the best interests of children and families.

A few cautions on reading the data.

Everything here is mother-reported, and the survey shows associations, not causes. A mother’s own strain and her child’s care experience move together, but the data cannot say which comes first. The 2025 edition used a different instrument and sample, so it can be compared in direction only, not in exact numbers.

Why we’re sharing it.

The takeaway for us is simple. The gap between having care available and being able to use it is where families get stuck, and mothers are absorbing much of that gap themselves. Better data helps. Wave 2 of the survey will repeat this instrument and report in February, which will allow real comparison over time.

You can read the full report from Count on Mothers and Inseparable here: Pulse Check 2026