YourOpinion Survey Results & News

Mum’s the word!

Between mobiles phones, Facebook and Skype, it is now easier than ever before to contact our loved ones. That said, knowing how easily a child can be contacted, creates an expectation of more regular contact for Mother’s everywhere.

In the week before Mothers’ Day, as part of the fortnightly Omnibus survey we asked 1,500 Your Opinion members about their relationship with their mother and the importance to them of Mothers’ Day. The results are this survey are summarised below:

Average frequency of communication with our mothers

Daughters communicate with their mother on a more regular basis than sons, 78% of female’s state they are in touch at least once a week compared to 59% of males.

Contact with our mother seems to decline as we get older. 84% of 18-24 year olds say that they communicate with their mothers at least once a week, the highest proportion amongst all age demographics.

Those with children in the household to have more regular contact with their mothers, our research shows that on average they have are in contact approximately 20% more times than those without children. This may be a result of an increased sense of ‘family’ and that grandkids provide a renewed bond and revitalise ties.

Who initiates the contact?

We asked who tends to instigate the contact with their mothers and we found that mothers are twice more likely to initiate the contact with a male offspring than a female, just 11% of females say that there mothers initiate contact with them (26% claim they make the contact and 63% acquiesce that it’s a 50/50 split), however, 20% of males admit that it’s down to their mother to keep in touch.

Just 15% of the 18-29 age group claimed they were the lead instigators in making contact with their mothers compared to 28% of the 30-49 year olds, 44% of the 50-64 and 53% of the 65+.

There was also found to be a significant differences between urban dwellers and those living rurally, with 30% from metro areas claiming that they are the ones to initiate contact compared to 22% of those who live rurally.

Preferred method of communication

Face to Face is the preferred method of communication, particular for females. 58% of us overall chose face-to-face as the way the most prefer with their mothers. The telephone is more preferred amongst males, 26% than females (21%).

Accept your mother as a ‘friend’ on Facebook?

A cursory glance of the Facebook homepage reveals the slogan “Sign Up – It’s free and anyone can join”. Those older, and perhaps slightly more cynical, users may doubt the truthfulness of this claim. Of course, anyone with an email account is eligible to join, but will those internet savvy Mother’s really be accepted by their children? ‘Insidefacebook.com’ reports that Women over 55 have been the fastest growing user segment, up 175.3% in the last 120 days.

Our findings demonstrated that Facebook is a reflection of real-world relationships and identity. An overwhelming 71% said they would accept their Mother’s Facebook request. That said, this idea was least popular with 18-24 yr olds with 20% declining. Those that weren’t interested cited reasons such as privacy concerns.

Perceptions of Mothers’ Day

Like anniversaries and birthdays, Mother’s Day is a day you don’t really want to forget. Yet our survey found that one in four Aussie males treat mother’s day as any other day. A further 1 in 5 (19%) believe that Mothers Day is just another ‘Hallmark’ occasion and exists only for commercial purposes.

Females have a much higher regard for Mothers’ Day, 3 out of 4 of women (73%) acknowledge the day and will show their appreciation with a card or a gift.

We also found that women on average are likely to spend more on gifts for their mothers than men.

Nearly half (44%) of the sample intends to call their mums’ on mothers’ day and just over 1 in 4 plan to take them out for a meal. Flowers are still a perennially popular gift, particularly with women, where 1 in 3 (34%) say they will buy flowers.

1 in 3 of all respondents will buy a card and add a personal message. As a sign of the times 1 in 10 of us plans to say ‘happy mothers’ day’ by text message.

Overall relationship with our mothers

We asked respondents to describe how close a relationship they have with their mother. On the whole most Australians enjoy a strong relationship with their mothers, 3 out of 4 describe their relationship as at least close, with 3 out of 10 (30%) would describe as ‘Very close’ and 1 in 7 (14%) say that their mother is one of their best friends. Females are found to have a even stronger relationships with their mothers with 1 out of 5 saying that they are best friends with their mum.