CafeMom and 'Good Morning America' Track the Quality of American Moms' Lives With the MomIndex

NEW YORK, June 21 /PRNewswire/ -- CafeMom, the #1 website for moms, has developed a proprietary new index to measure and track the quality of moms' lives on a quarterly basis across major dimensions of their lives. The results were featured on ABC's "Good Morning America" (http://abcnews.go.com/video/playerIndex?id=10969314) as part of a new content-sharing partnership between the two organizations.

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As a site where millions of moms come to connect on a daily basis about their kids, interests and more, CafeMom is uniquely positioned as an authority on moms that can track and understand moms' life satisfaction.

The most striking finding from the MomIndex study was how satisfied moms are with family relationships close to home versus how frustrated moms feel with the state of the broader world, said CafeMom EVP, Laura Fortner.  "Moms are most positive about raising kids and their surprisingly strong relationships with their spouses.  As they look beyond their immediate surroundings, though, moms are far less satisfied with their lives.  Moms are dealing with high levels of household financial stress and are distrustful of the government and large institutions to solve their problems and address their needs."

The CafeMom research team led by Laura Fortner and Steven Armour -- the team that developed the Digital Mom report last year with Razorfish -- conducted the first quarterly survey with a nationally representative sample of 2000 moms.  Insight Express programmed the survey, captured response data, and validated weighting of the sample.

"Moms are amongst the most important and influential groups in our society," said Jim Murphy, senior executive producer of ABC's "Good Morning America."  "An ongoing analysis of how moms are doing in their lives is incredibly valuable and something we look forward to sharing with our audience going forward."

MomIndex Study Highlights

The Index score itself is based on mom responses to questions across 5 key dimensions:  self, kids, relationships, money, and the larger world.  Each mom completing the survey received a score out of 100 points, with 100 indicating perfect life satisfaction. CafeMom also asked an additional battery of questions about moms' lives for greater perspective and to explore further themes.

Overall: The average score was 76.5 or a C+; 9% of moms scored 90% or better, representing an "A" grade.

Self: Moms generally feel good about themselves, except for how they look, and lack time for themselves.

• Only 31% agree they are happy with their appearance. 
• 61% of moms surveyed indicate they do not have enough free time for themselves, and only 39% agree they feel challenged and able to express their talents.

Kids:  Moms report raising kids to be the aspect of their lives going best, and have a surprisingly positive outlook on their children's future.

• 96% believe their children are growing up with the right values and 81% feel they are spending enough quality time with their children.

Relationships: 85% of moms report their relationship with husbands or significant others are strong despite limited focused time together.

• Connections with friends and neighbors are limited; moms are spending significantly more time connecting with online friends each week.

Money: Money continues to be the major source of anxiety for moms.  1 in 5 moms reported family income was impacted in the past year by job loss.

• Nonetheless, 76% share a positive outlook that her family's financial situation will be better next year.

World & Government: Moms are frustrated with the state of the broader world, and remain distrustful of the government and corporations to address their needs.

• 22% believe America is headed in the right direction and 14% trust government to help improve their lives.
• 7% agree corporations understand their needs and work to make their lives better and only 6% trust the messages in brand advertising. 

A few themes on how to improve quality of life also emerged from this first MomIndex study:

• Happiness with your kids is necessary but not sufficient on its own for high life satisfaction for moms.
• Although income and quality of marriage can be important factors, three paths to an improved quality of life emerged:
• Connections:  strong relationships outside her household including bonds with friends, extended family, local community, and online friends strongly impact life satisfaction for the better.
• A sense of control in day to day life:  Moms who feel they are in control of the issues they face day to day have higher life satisfaction.
• Ability to express talents:  Moms that feel challenged and make a difference outside the immediate family have higher life satisfaction.

For more detail about the MomIndex including how moms scored across each dimension, insight into the three paths to higher quality of life, and implications for marketers please see the full report at www.cafemomindex.com.

About CafeMom

Launched in late 2006, CafeMom (www.cafemom.com) is the #1 site on the internet for moms and the premier strategic marketing partner to brands that want to reach moms in a rapidly changing digital environment.

By moms, for moms, CafeMom offers moms Conversation, Advice, Friendship, and Entertainment. CafeMom is also the leader in developing custom programs for leading brands that want to connect with and understand moms online. Through programs that allow leading brands to join the consumer conversation, add value to moms' lives, and get members talking about sponsor brands in an authentic and viral way, CafeMom has become a strategic partner to leading mom companies like General Mills, Target, P&G, Nestle, Kohl's, Johnson & Johnson, Kmart, Unilever, and dozens of others.

CafeMom (CMI Marketing) lead investors are Highland Capital Partners and Draper Fisher Jurvetson. CMI was founded by Andrew Shue and Michael Sanchez.

About ABC's "Good Morning America"

ABC's "Good Morning America, the Emmy Award-winning morning news program, features the anchor team of Robin Roberts, George Stephanopoulos, Sam Champion and Juju Chang. The broadcast airs live Monday through Friday from 7:00-9:00 a.m., ET on the ABC Television Network. Jim Murphy is the senior executive producer and Tom Cibrowski is the executive producer of ABC's "Good Morning America."

SOURCE CafeMom