Working Mothers Day Date in the current year: May 10, 2024

According to a 2018 survey of 2,000 American mothers with children aged between 5 and 12 conducted by Welch’s, an average mother starts her day around 6:30 AM and doesn’t conclude all her duties (work, childcare, household chores) until roughly 8:30 PM. This means that millions of mothers across the nation work 14 hours a day, seven days a week. This amounts to a 98-hour workweek, making it equivalent to working 2.5 full-time jobs without days off.

Mothers with children under the age of 18 make up 70% of the total female workforce in the United States. They make substantial contributions to increasing the strength of the American family and national economy, often at the cost of personal sacrifice because between all their duties they have little to no time left for themselves.

Working Mothers Day was launched in 2018 by Girl Scouts Heart of the South, a regional council of Girl Scouts of the USA that serves 59 counties and more than 5,000 girls in north Mississippi, west Tennessee, and Crittenden County, Arkansas. The inaugural Working Mothers Day was held on May 11, 2018; it is celebrated on the Friday before Mother’s Day and thus can fall on the first or second Friday of May.

The main goal of Working Mothers Day is to encourage girls to reflect on everything their mothers have to juggle between their work, family activities and community involvement, and show their appreciation for working mothers and the sacrifices they make. On the occasion of the holiday, Girl Scouts reach out to local, regional and national businesses and organizations and encourage them to do something special to honor working mothers.

Of course, Working Mothers Day isn’t just for Girl Scouts: everyone can participate in this celebration of women who balance the demands of motherhood and their careers. You can celebrate the holiday by doing something nice for the working mothers in your life: write them a letter of appreciation, send them a gift card, treat them to lunch, etc.

If you’re a working mother yourself, this is a perfect day to take a break and let yourself be pampered by your family and friends. You can also plan a get-together with other working moms to celebrate your accomplishments and share experiences; even if your receive support from your family and coworkers, no one will understand the challenges of juggling motherhood and career better than other working moms.

If you want to show your support for Working Mothers Day and raise awareness about the holiday, you can wear something green and post about the observance on social media with the hashtag #WorkingMothersDay.

Working Mothers Day should not be confused with National Working Moms Day, which is celebrated annually on March 12. It was launched by the nonprofit organization Working Moms of Milwaukee in 2020 to celebrate millions of mothers who work while raising their children.