This Mother’s Day, Let’s Make Space for Real Stories of Moms On-Screen

This year, the Mother’s and Father’s Day season in the United States coincides with a surge of attention to pronatalism—a push to incentivize some people to have more children and larger families. Yet in a country that claims to value freedom and fairness, many people still have neither. Financial realities and gendered expectations interfere in ways that make parenting difficult or impossible. 

The United States still offers no nationally guaranteed paid workplace leave for new parents, caregivers to loved ones, or people with their own medical needs—despite mounting evidence that paid leave improves health, well-being, and financial resilience for both people and businesses alike. 

We’ve also failed to address child care access, cost, and quality for working families. In 2023, the cost of childcare for two kids exceeded the cost of rent in every state and the District of Columbia (DC). And, in 39 states and DC, infant care cost more than in-state public university tuition, according to Child Care Aware. For many families, care options—whether through a child care center; family, friend, and neighbor care; or a parent’s decision to stay home—are neither accessible nor affordable due to high costs and living, as well as the limited availability of child care spots. 

These care gaps both reinforce—and are reinforced by—a gender-based wage gap that grows with parenthood due to the so-called “motherhood penalty.” This means that many women’s wages are often inadequate to cover or contribute to household expenses. In two-parent heterosexual families and among opposite-sex siblings, women are more likely to be default caregivers, as the financial hit from their reduced wages is typically smaller. Over time, this contributes to lower lifetime earnings, interrupted time in the paid workforce, and reduced savings—including compromised retirement security, especially for mothers. 

While caregivers face mounting pressures and cultural stigma with minimal support, political leaders have failed to adopt solutions that provide freedom and fairness for families, deprioritizing or ignoring the policies that would help families to feel more supported. 

These economic and structural factors affect our lives and take a toll. Yet for too long, culture—much like our politics—has treated the toll without much nuance. Fortunately, this is beginning to change. The cultural zeitgeist that portrays moms as either content to be homemakers or as frazzled, overworked, and dissatisfied—staple caricatures for years—is becoming more complex and reflective of the real factors that sow stress and resentment. 

“[Viewers] want stories that show both women and men succeeding at home and at work, with more support.”

We’ve seen this shift in recent stories: moms turning feral from after trading a professional identity for the loneliness of suburban parenting (Amy Adams in last year’s Nightbitch), leaping into a multiverse under the pressures of work and elder care (Michelle Yeoh in the 2022 Oscar-winning Everything Everywhere All at Once), and exploding into a road-rage fueled game of cat and mouse driven by the pressures of entrepreneurship and parenting (Ali Wong in Netflix’s 2023 award-winning series Beef). These escapist narratives, though fantastical, capture the real problem in a way that gives visibility to frustration and rage—much like Boston mothers going to a field to scream during the COVID-19 pandemic. But while they express the problem,  they do little to offer solutions. 

Audiences want more.

According to a 2024 survey of 1,720 streaming viewers in the United States and social media analysis conducted for New America’s Better Life Lab by the research firm MarketCast, 84 percent of viewers want to see their real-life work, family, and care challenges reflected on screen. About 60 percent of the viewers surveyed—equivalent to 47 to 49 million people—say they want stories that show both women and men succeeding at home and at work, with more support and access to workplace and public policy solutions. Storylines that include work, family, and care elements generate more audience engagement online, with viewers relating content to their own lives and encouraging others to watch.

As a cultural force, entertainment is uniquely positioned to surface hidden policy failures and normalize alternative models of care, work, and gender dynamics—through characters and stories that resonate. 

We’re already starting to see improvement. The most recent television season offers promising examples:

• ABC’s new show High Potential portrays Morgan (Kaitlin Olson), a single mom of three and high-performing police investigator who negotiated a child care stipend as part of her compensation package and pays her ex-husband for providing care to their children—showing both that men can be competent caregivers and the economic value of care work. Her coworkers and boss support her when she encounters work-family conflicts, and she often talks about her children at work.
• FX’s The Bear featured a stand-alone episode (“Napkins” in season three) focused on Tina (Liza Colón-Zayas) as she navigates job loss, parenting pressures, and worries about household finances.
• CBS’s The Neighborhood (season seven) shows Marty (Marcel Spears), a hands-on dad who takes the paid parental leave available at his job so his child’s mother can return to work, modeling equitable caregiving and workplace support.
• MAX’s new show The Pitt depicts Cassie (Fiona Dourif), a second-year emergency department physician and single parent recovering from addiction. When she encounters a patient facing homelessness and the potential loss of her children, she offers guidance on available support services.

“These escapist narratives, though fantastical, capture the real problem in a way that gives visibility to frustration and rage.”

Research shows that holistic, work-family-care narratives on screen are rare, but when they do appear, they are powerful, popular, and deeply resonant. In a media environment where visibility can drive cultural legitimacy, these portrayals do more than entertain—they educate, validate, and potentially mobilize. That’s the goal of our entertainment initiative, Re-Scripting Gender, Work, Family, and Care, which provides data, resources, and advice to creatives and amplifies stories that advance realistic, authentic, and aspirational narratives about work, family, and care.

At a time when parenting comes with real and daunting challenges, media that reflects reality—and shows what support could look like—can help people feel seen, supported, and less alone. That’s a Mothers Day gift that can last.

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