A report published by

a report by CafeMom™ 02

© CMI Marketing, Inc., 2011. All rights reserved.

MomIndex 3 Introduction

Part 1:

Mom Quality of Life Index Scores & the State of Mom

Five Dimensions

1. Kids 2. Relationships 3. Self 4. Money 5. World

Results: MomIndex 3

Part 2:

Gen Y versus Gen X: Exploring Generational Differences

1. Values & Outlook 2. Media Use

contents

04

05 07

09 11

13

15

16 19

03 MomIndex a report by CafeMom™ 04

Fall is the season of change, so how much did things change for moms? In our third MomIndex Quality of Life

Survey conducted with 1794 nationally representative moms in November 2010,* the overall national MomIndex

score stayed relatively consistent at 75.1 out of 100 (compared to 75.0 last quarter), keeping moms’ life satisfaction

in the “C” grade range. While the overall score didn’t change much, some interesting changes were noted in the

fi ve key dimensions of Kids, Relationships, Self, Money and the larger World. As kids headed back to school,

moms made some positive strides in the area of Self, though moms’ World outlook continued its downward

trend. Kids and Relationships satisfaction scores were stable, and the Money score was up slightly, though each

of those areas presented new challenges for moms this quarter.

In Part 1, we reveal the latest information and trends in our fi ve MomIndex sub categories:

• Kids: Fall back-to-school routines reduced the time families spent together at meals and recreation by three

hours per week, compared with summer schedules. See how the amount of family time together correlates

with kids’ health - and moms’ happiness.

• Relationships: Moms’ time is constrained and friendships are suffering -- 71% of moms are not satisfi ed

with the amount of time they spend with friends, and 3 in 10 moms say they do not have any friends they

can count on. See who moms are sharing their limited free time with.

• Self: 89% of moms say they’re looking to lose weight, with an average weight loss goal of 21 lbs. Luckily,

the fall gave moms some chance to refocus on healthier lifestyle habits for themselves. Learn what moms’

consider to be their greatest challenges to losing weight.

• Money: Since the economic downturn, 93% of moms have taken actions to stretch their available dollars,

ranging from clipping more coupons to packing more lunches. See which money saving measures topped

moms’ lists.

• World: Following the 2010 midterm elections, moms across the political spectrum are feeling even more

down on their World outlook, with just 16% of moms feeling America is heading in the right direction. The

Economy remains moms’ biggest area of concern, but moms are increasingly worried about a number of

issues including Childcare. Learn what moms around the country are worrying about most.

In Part 2, we explore the generational differences between Gen Y and Gen X moms, from their values and outlook,

to how they approach media use:

• Values & Outlook: Gen Y moms prioritize time with their Signifi cant Others more, while Gen X moms place

more importance on their alone time. Meanwhile, Gen Y moms are generally less likely to help in their

communities, know their neighbors, and vote than their Gen X counterparts.

• Media Use: Digital dominates Gen Y’s media consumption, with the average Gen Y mom spending 17.7

hours/week online and 58% of that generation reporting they never read a newspaper. Gen Y moms are

highly mobile as well, using cell phones 34% more than Gen X moms do. See how Gen Y and Gen X moms

differ in their mobile and social media behaviors.

We are pleased to present this quarter’s MomIndex 3 report and look forward to sharing timely updates and

discussion online at www.facebook.com/momindex and @cafemomindex on Twitter.

introduction

* InsightExpress programmed the survey, captured response data, and weighted the sample of the 1794 moms who completed the survey; results are representative of U.S. moms who are online.

100%

80%

60%

40%

20%

0%

7781

6156

46

34

8277

70

53

3936

84

7267

43

32 32

86

7974

35 33

23

a report by CafeMom™ 0605 MomIndex

kids MomIndex Subscore: 90

Raising kids continues to be the most satisfying dimension of moms’ lives, and only 16% say they are not spending

enough quality time with their kids. Single moms and moms in low-income households making <$25K/year are

the most concerned about time with the kids: 28% of single moms and 23% of low-income moms report they

are not satisfi ed with the amount of quality time with their children.

Fall back-to-school routines impacted the amount of time families spend together at meals and general recreation.

Overall, the average family spends three fewer hours together each week in the fall versus the summer. While meal

time remained consistent around 10 hours/week, time playing together inside and outside declined by roughly 2

hours/week and shared TV time dropped by 45 minutes/week.

Maintaining a healthy lifestyle continues to be a challenge for many families, particularly for those with school-age

kids. 1 in 4 moms of school-age kids (6-18 years old) feel their children are not leading healthy lifestyles, and

this jumps to 1 in 3 for single moms. 18% of moms with kids 6-18 indicate they have at least one child who is

overweight. Families with and without overweight children show some distinct differences in their time together.

Families with overweight children spend 2.6 hours less together each week than other families, including 30

minutes less eating breakfast together and 2.1 hours less of family play.

Most Satisfi ed Moms (“MSMs”), those scoring 90+ on the MomIndex, spend on average 8.4 hours/week more

on family time than families overall, including 3.7 hours/week more on meals together and 4.3 extra hours/week

on indoor and outdoor activities. This trend of MSMs spending more meal and play time with their families than

moms overall was even more pronounced in the summer.

Maintaining discipline with their kids is another challenge faced by many moms. Single moms and 45-54 year

old moms rearing tweens and teens are two groups more likely to fl ag this as a parenting issue.

Moms’ discipline strategies vary by age of child.

Most Popular Discipline Strategies

Child Age 3-5 years Child Age 6-12 years Child Age 13-18 years

1 Giving time outs (91%) Taking away privileges (91%) Taking away privileges (89%)

2Rewarding positive behavior

(87%)Rewarding positive behavior

(88%)Rewarding positive behavior

(72%)

3 Taking away privileges (76%) Giving time outs (74%) Grounding (64)%

More surprising is how a mom’s level of life satisfaction can impact her use

of discipline approaches with her children.

While the overall popularly ranking of approaches is consistent across

MomIndex scoring groups, moms scoring in the 90’s are most inclined

to reward positive behavior and give time outs, while moms with

lower scores are more inclined to scold, ground, and spank

and less inclined to give time outs than other moms.

*Most Statisfi ed Mom (MSM) - moms scoring 90 or above on the MomIndex

35% of moms report

spanking as one of their discipline strategies

Hours Together as a Family

Discipline Strategies by MomIndex Range Scores

40

35

30

25

20

15

10

5

0

Ho

urs

/Wee

k

% o

f M

om

s

Types of Discipline

Summer Fall

24.4 Hours

4.1

4.6

6.5

6.2

3.1

6.6

3.7

8.7

6.6

6.3

3.0

6.4

3.5

8.1

5.5

5.3

6.4

6.3

7.4

9.0

6.43.2

4.5

5.5

4.1

5.8

5.5

6.5

7.7

5.9

28.3 Hours

38.0 Hours

22.6 Hours

25.2 Hours

33.7 Hours

Moms WithOverweight

Children

Rewarding positive behavior

Taking awayprivileges

Giving timeouts

GroundingScolding Spanking

Moms WithoutOverweight

Children

Outdoor Activities

TV

60’s + below

Breakfast

70’s

Dinner

80’s

90’s

Games / Indoor Activities

MostSatisfi ed

Moms

Moms WithOverweight

Children

Moms WithoutOverweight

Children

MostSatisfi ed

Moms

71% of moms are not

satisfi ed with the amount of time they spend with friends

07 MomIndex a report by CafeMom™ 08

relationships MomIndex Subscore: 73

An impressive 85% of moms affi rm that their marriages and partner relationships are strong. However, “we time,”

or the amount of focused quality time couples spend together, has become increasingly constrained since the

last MomIndex survey (MI2). Over half of all moms in relationships-51%- say they do not have enough time with

their partners vs. 48% in MI2, and these moms are spending just 2.5 hours/week of “we time” vs. the 3.9 hours/

week overall MI3 average.

Here’s another indicator that “couples’ time” is the quality time moms are missing most: given an unexpected

hour of free time, more moms would prefer to spend that time with their “signifi cant other” than anyone else --

this preference is notably up from MomIndex 2 when “alone” was moms’ number one choice.

Despite having less quality time with their partners, more moms in relationships agreed they were satisfi ed with

their sex lives – 55% versus the 51% in MomIndex 2. Partner sleep habits and sex life satisfaction are strongly

correlated. While only 43% of these moms report heading to bed at the same time as their partners, this group

was far more likely to be satisfi ed with their sex lives – 68% are happy – far exceeding the 55% average.

Friendships are also feeling the time crunch in moms’ busy lives. Most moms - 71% - are not satisfi ed

with the amount of time they spend with their friends. Moms typically spend 2.8 hours/week

connecting with friends. Approximately 3 in 10 moms say they do not have any friends they

can count on, and 11% do not have a best friend.

When it comes to forging their closest friendships, 41% of moms say their

strongest friendships were made in the years prior to motherhood. 35% said

their BFFs were made in the years post-motherhood, while just 13% indicated

they made their best friendships within 1 year of becoming a mother.

Looking at local communities and relationships, only 1 out of 3 moms say

their neighborhoods improve the quality of their lives. Moms generally have

little interaction with their neighbors – the typical mom interacts with just two

neighbors regularly, and 31% of moms never connect with any neighbors.

Interestingly, 2 out of 3 moms say they have a network of online friends that

improves the quality of their lives. 93% of moms report having online friends,

with the average mom citing 77 such relationships.

Who Moms Would Want to Spend Free Time With9%

36%

28%

27%

% o

f M

om

s

Sex Frequency & Satisfaction by Sleep HabitsSex frequencyLess than once/week

Once/week

2-3 times/week

4-6 times/week

Everyday

% satisfi ed w/sex life

100%

80%

60%

40%

20%

0%We sleep together

and go to bed at thesame time

We sleep togetherand I go to bed fi rst

We sleep togetherand I go to bed

second

I sleep alone

24%

44% 46%65%15%

15% 15%

11%

32%

27% 25%

12%22%

12% 11%11%7%

3% 3% 1%

With my signifi cant other

With my friends

With my kids

Alone

When Moms Make Their Best Friends

Post-motherhood

Pre-motherhood

Do not have a best friend

Within 1 year of 1st child

35%

11%

41%

13%

™ 1009 MomIndex

self MomIndex Subscore: 67

89%of moms are looking

to lose weight, with an average personal weight

loss goal of 21 lbs

As kids head back to school in the fall, moms regain some focus on their personal health. 61% of moms agree

they live a healthy lifestyle, up signifi cantly from the 49% that agreed during the summer. One major component

of this healthier lifestyle is a shift towards prioritizing healthy eating, with 61% of moms saying that eating healthy

is a personal priority, up 8 points from the summer. Slightly more moms are satisfi ed with their “me time” this

quarter – 33% agreed, up from 29% last quarter – which also allows more opportunity to focus on personal

interests and needs.

27% of moms believe they lead a healthy lifestyle, prioritize eating right and exercise 2 or more times per week.

These “Healthy Lifestyle Moms” are often more satisfi ed with their lives overall, feeling more able to balance

priorities and less overwhelmed by stress. They are also more likely to be happy with their appearance, satisfi ed

with their sex lives, and have a strong sense of accomplishment in their lives outside of their kids.

While trends are generally positive in moms’ health, regular exercise and weight loss remain

challenges for many moms. 45% of moms say they rarely if ever exercise, relatively

consistent with the 44% that said so during the busy summer months. 89% of

moms are looking to lose weight, a total of 21 lbs on average for this group.

The top three weight loss challenges for moms are staying motivated (42%

of moms say this is their top challenge), fi nding an approach they can stick to

(23%), and giving up favorite foods (18%), though the order varies somewhat

by weight loss goals.

Moms looking to lose 25 lbs or more say “staying motivated” is their greatest

weight loss challenge and more often stress the need for support from family

and friends to succeed. Meanwhile, more moms looking to lose 10 lbs or less

say “giving up my favorite foods” and “inconvenience” are among their greatest

challenges.

Moms’ sleep habits stayed relatively stable this quarter, with moms getting an

average of 6.4 hours of sleep per night. 11:00pm was the most popular bedtime

for moms, and 6:30am was the most popular time to wake up. Moms who

get more sleep are generally less stressed than their sleep-deprived

counterparts. Among moms who get 8 or more hours a night

of shuteye, 45% report stress fi lled lives versus 62% of

those moms who only sleep 5 hours or less.

a report by CafeMom

Eating right is a top priority

I am happy with the way my life is turning out

I am able to balance the priorities in my life

I am satisfi ed with my sex life

I am satisfi ed with my physical appearance

My life is fi lled with stress and anxiety

I have a strong sense of accomplishment

in my life outside of my kids

I lead a healthy lifestyle

I am satisfi ed with the amount

of free time I fi nd for myself

I am satisfi ed with my

physical appearance

86%

68%

76%

66%

58%

65%

44%

51%

46%

23%

37%

56%

% A

gre

e

% Agree Healthy Lifestyle Moms* Other Moms

Moms Wanting to Lose 10 lbs or Less Moms Wanting to Lose 25 lbs or More

1 Staying motivated (39%) Staying motivated (43%)

2 Giving up my favorite foods (29%) Finding an approach I can stick to (25%)

3 Finding an approach I can stick to (15%) Giving up my favorite foods (15%)

4 Too much of an inconvenience (13%)Lack of support from family and

friends (8%)

5 Causes too much stress (2%) Too much of an inconvenience (7%)

6Lack of support from family and

friends (2%)Causes too much stress (2%)

Top Weight Loss Challenges by Weight Loss Goal

* Healthy Lifestyle Moms are defi ned as moms who agree they lead a healthy lifestyle, agree they prioritize eating right,and report exercising 2x or more per week.

53%

49%

29%

27%

61%

61%

33%

33%

60%

57%

39%

31%

MI1 MI3MI2

70%

60%

50%

40%

30%

20%

3 out of 4 moms are focusing more

on using coupons and fi nding deals since the economic

downturn started

a report by CafeMom™ 1211 MomIndex

money MomIndex Subscore: 63

The economic environment continues to be highly challenging for many families. Job loss has hit 1 in 3 households in

the past year, including 28% of partners and 25% of working moms. Families are not only dealing with unemployment;

reduced incomes are also a widespread reality. 42% of working moms report they are earning less this year, as are

38% of moms’ partners.

Moms who work for themselves or in smaller companies are the most likely to report earning less this year. 54% of

self-employed moms and 35% of those in small companies are making less money.

Despite the job and income losses faced by many, 68% of working moms agree they get a sense of satisfaction from

their jobs. In fact, moms’ job satisfaction correlated highly with the size of the organization where they work, with

smaller companies providing more gratifying opportunities.

Only 46% of moms agree their fi nances allow them to provide for their family needs in the way they want, so moms

are constantly looking to do more with less. 93% of moms have taken actions since the economic downturn began to

stretch their available dollars. Two of the most popular money-saving measures are “focusing more on using coupons

and fi nding deals” (74% of moms) and “buying more generic products” (66%).

Working Moms agree getting satisfaction from their job

Working Moms agree earning less this year

Overall<$25K

HHI

$25K-49K

HHI

$50-74K

HHI

$75K+

HHI

Average credit

card debt*$6605 $5620 $5526 $6899 $8879

43% of moms say their families went through a period in the last year when they needed to rely on savings or other

support besides wages to make ends meet. Managing household fi nances and mounting credit card debt are

issues impacting families at all income levels.

64% of moms are carrying credit card debt, with the average balance among this

group totaling just over $6600. Credit card debt tends to increase with household

income:

Married moms on average carry 27% more credit card debt than their non-married

mom counterparts. Among the 66% of married moms with credit card debt, the

average balance was $6917 vs. the 57% of non-married moms with credit card

debt carrying an average balance of $5442.

* Average credit card debt among those carrying a balance in eachincome group, excludes those with no credit card debt

Self-Employed/Own Business

Family fi nances are on right track

Family does good jobmanaging fi nances

% moms carrying credit card debt

Small Company(<100 employees)

Medium Company(100-1000 employees)

Large Company(1000+ employees)

80%

70%

60%

50%

40%

30%

20%

80%

70%

60%

50%

40%

30%

20%

10%

0%

77%

54%35%

31% 29%

69% 67%60%

Q: Please indicate which actions you are taking dueto the economy: (check all that apply, % agree)

<$25K HHI $25K-49K HHI $50-74K HHI $75K+ HHI

% o

f W

ork

ing

Mo

ms

wh

o A

gre

e

% A

gre

e

Family Finances by Household Income

74%

24%

53%50%

31%

59%

63%

47%

67%70%

57%

39%

63% 64%

73% 71%

9%

Most Popular Money-Saving Actions

43% of Moms cutting backspending on media

Cutting back or cancelling cable tv

34%

51%

29%

18%

66%

29%

22%

51%

29%

Focusing more on using coupons and fi nding deals

Buying more generic products

Going to the hairdresser less frequently

Cancelling magazine subscriptions

Packing lunches instead of purchasing

Scaling back or cutting cell phone plans

Delaying or putting off any possible healthcare

No longer buying coffee in the morning

Postponing whether to have more kids

Carpooling or using mass transit more

Just 12% of moms say they

trust corporations to do the right thing, and only 7% agree they

trust corporations’ advertising messages

a report by CafeMom™ 1413 MomIndex

world MomIndex Subscore: 50

Moms’ world view continues a downward trend this quarter, with just 16% of moms feeling America is headed in the

right direction, down from 19% in MomIndex 2 and 22% in MomIndex 1. Following the 2010 midterm elections moms

still are not feeling understood by the government – 63% said they feel Washington doesn’t understand the problems of

moms like them, up from 60% for the fi rst two MomIndex reports.

In fact, after the 2010 U.S. midterm elections, moms across the political spectrum feel worse about the government,

though liberal moms had the greatest downward shift in World sentiment. In the pre-election timeframe 35% of liberal

moms felt that “The world is changing in ways that will make my kids’ lives better” – that number dropped 8 points to

27% who agree post-election. Conservative and middle of the road moms remain least trustful of the government, with

just 9% agreeing they trust the government to make their lives better.

Additionally, the majority of moms do not feel very positively about political fi gures representing either side of the political

spectrum. Just 35% agreed Barack Obama is doing a good job as President, and just 12% feel John Boehner will be

a positive infl uence as Speaker of the House in Congress. A small minority (18%) of moms feel the Tea Party is helping

America get back on track, and 15% of moms would like to see Sarah Palin become President of the United States.

The still fl oundering economy remains moms’ greatest political worry

(93% of moms are often worried). Other top concerns are Healthcare and

Education (86% of moms worried about each), and Crime, which rose to

85% worried, up from 81% last quarter, pushing Moral Values out of the

top four. Perhaps an early indicator of improving employment prospects,

Childcare was the area that saw the greatest increase in moms worried,

jumping 13 points from 53% of moms concerned last quarter to 66% this

quarter. Regionally, there were some interesting differences in what moms worried about most (see “Top Worries by

Region” map).

There were also some notable jumps in worries by region, in addition to the increased

concern around Childcare. The Western region saw increases in worry about the

Economy (up 5 points from last quarter) and Crime (up 8 points and moving into 2nd

priority for Western worries). The South saw increases in worry around Homeland

Security (up 6 points) as well as Healthcare (up 5 points). More Northeast moms

were worried about Taxes (up 7 points) and the Environment (up 6 points) than

other regions. Meanwhile, Midwest moms had the lowest increases in worries of

all the regions.

In addition to low trust in government, moms also largely distrust corporations.

Just 12% of moms said they trust corporations to do the right thing,

and even fewer (7%) agreed they trust the messages corporations

include in advertising (a stark contrast to the 81% of moms

that said they trust friends and other moms like them

for recommendations).

35%

30%

25%

20%

15%

10%

5%

0%

32%

35%

26%27% 27%

23%

16%

20%

12%14% 14%

9%

15% 15%

11%12%14%

9%

Overall, America is headedin the right direction

The world is changing in ways that will make my kids’

lives better

I trust our government to helpmake my life better

MIDWEST1. Economy & Jobs2. Healthcare3. Crime4. Education

WEST1. Economy & Jobs2. Crime3. Education4. Healthcare

SOUTH1. Economy & Jobs2. Education3. Healthcare4. Crime

NORTHEAST1. Economy & Jobs2. Education3. Healthcare4. Environment

MIDWEST1. Childcare +8%

WEST1. Childcare +13%2. Crime +8%3. Healthcare +7%4. Economy +5%

SOUTH1. Childcare +17%2. Homeland Security +6%3. Healthcare +5%

NORTHEAST1. Childcare +10%2. Taxes +7%3. Environment +6%

% A

gre

e

Liberals - Before Election

Liberals - After Election

Conservatives - Before Election

Conservatives - After Election

Middle of the road - Before Election

Middle of the road - After Election

World View By Political Affi liation

Top Worries by Region

Fastest Growing Worries by Region*

Overall - MI2 Overall - MI3

1 Economy and Jobs Economy and Jobs

2 Education Education/Healthcare

(tied)3 Healthcare

4 Moral Values Crime

* issues that saw an increase of at least 5% in each region since the previous quarter

15 MomIndex a report by CafeMom™ 16

And the third MomIndex Score is…

75.1Gen Y vs Gen X:

part 2

Values & OutlookA closer analysis of values and attitudes expressed by Generation Y moms (18-30 year old respondents) vs their Generation

X counterparts (31-46 year old respondents) reveals a number of key distinctions in terms of how they prioritize personal

relationships and defi ne friendship and community.

Generation Y moms most covet more time with their romantic partners. Given an hour of unexpected free time, the Gen

Y mom’s fi rst choice is to spend it with her signifi cant other. On the other hand, Gen X-er’s top preference is a tie between

time with signifi cant other and alone time. Alone time comes in 3rd for the Gen Y moms and 2nd for moms overall.

Looking at weekly averages of quality time, Gen Y moms spend the same amount of time each week with their partners

that Gen X moms do, but Gen Y moms report having less time to themselves than the Gen X-ers. It is notable that even

with less alone time, Gen Y moms would prefer to have more “we time” over “me time.”

On a scale of 100 points, with 100 representing perfect life satisfaction, this quarter’s MomIndex Score is 75.1,

almost fl at from last quarter’s 75.0, and representing a “C” grade for moms nationwide. While the distributions of

mom scores were relatively stable this quarter compared to last, 1% more moms scored in the 90’s, while fewer

moms scored in the 80’s. Percent of moms scoring in the 70’s, 60’s, and below all stayed fl at from last quarter.

Looking across the subscores for the fi ve dimensions – Kids, Relationships, Self, Money and World – Kids and

Relationships remain stable and positive areas of moms’ lives, with scores of 90 and 73 respectively. The Self

and Money scores both moved upward this quarter, with Self rebounding back up to 67, the same level seen

two quarters ago. The Money score is up 1 point from last quarter, at 63. World is still the lowest area of life

satisfaction, continuing its downward trend this quarter with a score of 50.

Exploring Generational Differences

Gen Y Gen X Moms Overall

1 With Signifi cant Other Alone / With Signifi cant Other (tied)

With Signifi cant Other

2 With Kids Alone

3 Alone With Kids With Kids

4 With Friends With Friends With Friends

Moms Preference Given Unexpected Free Time

Gen Y vs Gen X Satisfaction with Quality Time

100%

80%

60%

40%

20%

0%

100%

80%

60%

40%

20%

0%

100

80

60

40

20

0

With Kids

MI1

MomIndex Kids Relationship Self Money World

MomIndex 76.5 MomIndex 75.0 MomIndex 75.1

MI2 MI3

With Signifi cant Other Alone With Friends

89%

9%

34%

76.5

90

7367 65

56

75.0

90

7365 62

52

75.1

90

7367 63

50

33%

17%

7%

7%

31%

33%

20%

9%

8%

30%

33%

20%

9%

48%

29% 28%

82%

46%

35%29%

%A

gre

e

% o

f M

om

s

Generation Y (ages 18-30)

90’s

MI1 MI2 MI3

80’s

70’s

60’s

<60

Generation X (ages 31-46)

As a mom of young children

with a busy husband in the Navy, Britteny is

short on time. “I do wish that I could have a little more time,” she

says, “I get a couple hours to myself at night after the kids go to bed, but it can be a

challenge when my husband is out to sea.” Despite having limited “me time”

to pursue her own interests, Britteny would choose to spend any avail-

able free time with her husband fi rst. “Since he is in the Navy and

we live so far away from home we never get to spend any time

with just us. It would be nice to get time together,” she

explains.

Staying in touch with friends can also be a challenge. Says

Britteny, “I don’t have any actual friends in this area. I talk to all of

my friends through social networks and text messages.” She plans on

getting more involved in her community once her kids start school. “My kids

are still too young for school, but once they start I’ll help out at their school.” In the

meantime, her neighborhood doesn’t provide her a sense of community. “I don’t really

know anything about any of my neighbors,” says Britteny. “I’ve said hello in passing, but

that’s it.”

Chris lives, as she describes,

in “the middle of nowhere,” but that doesn’t stop

her from getting involved in her community through her kids’ school.

“I volunteer for the high school band, helping with fundraising efforts, work-

ing the concession stand at sporting functions and chaperoning the

band to football games and competitions,” she says. Through

her involvement, she not only gets to help out her kids

and the school, but has also met some of her closest

friends. “I’ve met most of my close friends from being

a band parent, and I get to see them quite a bit through

high school band functions. We are a very tight knit group.”

In addition to seeing friends regularly through band events, Chris also

keeps up with some friends online – “I have a few real life friends who

I went to school with that I keep in touch with through Facebook”.

While Chris stays busy keeping up with her kids and staying in touch with friends, she also

manages to squeeze in “a few hours a week” of alone time. Says Chris, “I get alone time

when the girls are in school, and after my kids and husband go to bed.”

17 MomIndex a report by CafeMom™ 18

Activities moms wish they had more time for:

Friendship is an area many Gen Y moms are looking to strengthen. If they were able to improve one thing in their lives,

Gen Y moms are 28% more likely than Gen X moms to say they would want to “improve my friendships.”

Fewer Gen Y-ers (68%) say they have friends they can count on vs Gen X moms (74%). However, online friends play

a key role in Gen Y quality of life. 71% of Gen Y-ers agree they have a network of online friends that improves the

quality of their lives vs 64% of Gen X-ers.

Offl ine, Gen Y-ers are less engaged in their local communities and less civic minded than Gen X moms. When it comes

to their neighborhoods, 68% of Gen Y-ers indicate their neighborhoods are not improving the quality of their lives vs

61% of Gen X moms. Gen Y-ers are also less likely to interact with their neighbors – 33% never interact with any

neighbors – and in general interact with just two neighbors regularly.

Gen Y moms are far less likely to fi nd time to help others in their local community – only 36% do vs 45% of Gen X

moms. Given a chance to improve one thing in their lives, Gen Y-ers are also less likely than Gen X moms to choose

“make a difference in my community” as their priority area of choice.

Fewer Generation Y moms reported voting in the 2010 midterm elections than their Gen X mom counterparts, and twice as

many Gen Y moms said “they didn’t vote and they didn’t really care” about election results (indicated as “apathetic” in the

charts below). For those 52% who said they did vote, less than half (41%) were satisfi ed with the outcome of the elections.

Fewer Gen Y moms are fi nding satisfaction in their spiritual lives (49% vs 59% Gen X), and Gen Y-ers are generally less

engaged in organized religious services and personal prayer than their Gen X mom counterparts:

• 32% Gen Y attend organized religious services once a month or more vs 39% Gen X

• 51% say they almost never or never attend organized religious services vs 43% Gen X

• 54% Gen Y engage in prayer one or more times per day vs 62% Gen X

• 26% Gen Y never pray or only when they need or want something vs 20% Gen X

Gen Y vs Gen XValues & Outlook

(cont.)

Meet a Gen Y

Mom

Meeta Gen X

Mom

Generation XGeneration Y

72%52%

30%

18%

15%

13%Voted

Did not vote

Did not vote & apathetic

Living far away from friends and family, Britteny relies on her cell phone

to keep her connected. “My cell phone keeps me connected in

every way possible,” she says, “So even when my computer goes

down I can still get on the Internet, and I’m still able to text

my friends and family.” Britteny says she “couldn’t put my

fi nger on a number” for how much time she spends on her

cell phone, but it is “quite a bit.”

Online time is also quite important to her; Britteny considers both the

Internet and her cell phone “my connection to the outside world.”

Connecting with friends is her biggest priority when she goes online.

While on CafeMom, Brittney spends most of her time in the Groups area, making

frequent group posts and replies.

While Chris consumes a variety of media throughout her average day, she

considers her computer the media device she couldn’t live without, and for

good reason. During the several hours a day she spends online, she

explains that the Internet “helps me stay in touch with friends…

we all have busy lives so this is the perfect way to commu-

nicate with them.” Additionally, she gets most of her news

and information online, saying “I fi nd it to be a wonderful

tool to get all different types of information.” She also uses

the Internet for entertainment, playing games on social networks

and watching music videos.

In addition to her online time, Chris also spends some time watching television, listen-

ing to music, and reading the occasional magazine. She says, “I watch TV every once in

a while, mostly real life crime shows. I do have a couple magazines that I subscribe to but I

don’t read them every day. I HAVE to have music in my life or I would come unglued.”

0 5 10 15 20

0 30 60 90 120 150

0 5 10 15 20

0 30 60 90 120 150

19 MomIndex a report by CafeMom™ 20

Generation Y and Generation X moms both rely heavily on media in their daily lives, but there are interesting differences

in the ways they engage and their motivations for doing so. Media use constitutes a large share of the average week for

both generations (49 hours a week for Gen Y moms, 46 hours a week for Gen X moms), but upon closer study, the ways

they use media are very different.

When looking at average media usage, the biggest disparity between generations is in cell phone usage. Gen Y moms

use cell phones 34% more per week (nearly 2.5 hours more) than Gen X moms. Gen Y mobile users are also the

most likely to adopt many leading edge mobile behaviors. Other industry studies on US mobile use have

found that Gen Y-ers are the generation most likely to text (85% of Gen Y-ers text, versus 57% of the

adult US population), access the mobile Internet (37% versus 23%), and visit social networks on

their mobile devices (27% versus 14%).* Gen Y moms are also more than twice as likely to

access Cafemom via mobile device as Gen X moms are.

Media Use Gen Y vs Gen X Activities moms wish they had more time for:

* Forrester Research, The Technology Gap is Widening, September 22, 2010

A Gen Y Mom’s Daily Media Use

A Gen X Mom’s Daily Media Use

Meanwhile, Gen Y moms are spending the least amount of media time each week with print media. On average, Gen Y

moms spend just 1 hour per week reading newspapers and 1.1 hours per week reading magazines. A surprising 58%

of Gen Y moms say they never read the newspaper, compared to 49% of Gen X moms. Similarly, Gen Y moms are less

likely to read magzines – 47% say they never read magazines, versus 39% of Gen X moms.

The amount of time spent online by Gen Y and Gen X moms each week appears to be in a similar range of around 17

hours. However, how they engage online varies greatly. Based on CafeMom site usage, Gen Y moms tend to engage

in more activities where communication is one to many: they are part of more online groups and post considerably more

journal blog posts on CafeMom than Gen X moms do. Gen Y moms are also more likely to seek and give advice in public

forums – in a public Answers online forum Gen Y-ers ask questions more often than Gen X moms. This doesn’t appear to

be just because they are younger moms that are looking for more advice either – they also answer more questions than

Gen X-ers. Gen X moms, on the other hand, tend to lean toward more private communications – they send more private

messages (one to one messages) than Gen Y-ers do. Gen X moms also seem to enjoy more individual activities as a

chance to escape and relax – they spend more minutes playing games than Gen Y moms.

Gen Y vs Gen X Media Consumption

Gen Y vs Gen X Activity on CafeMom

Use the Internet

# Minutes spent playing games

# Private messages sent

# of questions answered

# of questions asked

# of journal posts

17.7

72.5132.1

93.3110.0

121.985.2

135.5

100

82.1

76.3139.7

11.4

9.7

8.1

2.1

17.4

11.2

7.3

7.5

2.3

Watch TV

Use a cell phone

Listen to music (ipod, CD’s, radio, etc)

Read newspapers & magazines

Gen Y

Gen Y

Gen X

Gen X

Hours/Week

Index to CafeMom Average

21 MomIndex a report by CafeMom™ 22

Laura Fortner

EVP, Marketing and Insights

CafeMom

laura@cafemom.com

Steven Armour

VP, Research

CafeMom

sarmour@cafemom.com

Kristina Tipton

Director, Marketing

CafeMom

ktipton@cafemom.com

Amanda Guzman

Manager, Research

CafeMom

aguzman@cafemom.com

™

Launched in late 2006, CafeMom 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 CafeMomDedicated to the moms and kids in our lives.