For Mother’s Day, here is a look at American moms’ experiences juggling work and parenting responsibilities during the COVID-19 outbreak, based on data from Pew Research Center surveys.

In the early months of the pandemic, there was an increase in the share of mothers who said they preferred not to work for pay at all. In an October 2020 survey, about a quarter (27%) of mothers with children younger than 18 at home said that at that point in their life, the best work arrangement for them personally would be not working for pay at all, up from 19% who said so in a summer 2019 survey.

Employed moms were more likely than working dads to report experiencing professional hurdles during the pandemic, according to the same survey. 

In general, mothers view themselves as shouldering more child care duties than their spouses or partners do, while dads are more likely to say these responsibilities are evenly shared, according to the survey.