Editing Mother (section)

==Social role==
{{See also|Sociology of the family#Sociology of motherhood}}
[[File:Sikkim 1.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Sikkimese people|Sikkimese]] mother with child]]
[[File:Percentage of birth to unmarried women, selected countries, 1980 and 2007.png|upright|thumb|Percentage of births to unmarried women, selected countries, 1980 and 2007<ref name="non_mar1">{{cite web|url=https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/databriefs/db18.htm|title=Changing Patterns of Nonmarital Childbearing in the United States|work=CDC/National Center for Health Statistics|date=May 13, 2009|access-date=September 24, 2011|archive-date=September 6, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110906063823/http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/databriefs/db18.htm|url-status=live}}</ref>]]
[[File:Mother and children. Mahabalipuram.jpg|upright|thumb|Mother and children ([[Mahabalipuram]], India)]]
The social roles associated with motherhood are variable across time, culture, and social class.<ref>{{cite journal|doi=10.1111/j.1741-3737.2000.01192.x | volume=62 | title=Conceiving and Investigating Motherhood: The Decade's Scholarship | journal=Journal of Marriage and Family | year=2000 | pages=1192–1207| last1=Arendell | first1=Terry | issue=4 }}</ref> Historically, the role of women was confined to some extent to being a mother and wife, with women being expected to dedicate most of their energy to these roles, and to spend most of their time taking care of the home. In many cultures, women received significant help in performing these tasks from older female relatives, such as mothers in law or their own mothers.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://biology.unm.edu/fasmith/Web_Page_PDFs/Smith_Brown_1996.pdf |title=The Changing Role of Women in North American Mammalogy |publisher=Biology.unm.edu |access-date=2015-07-01 |archive-date=2016-03-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304104934/http://biology.unm.edu/fasmith/Web_Page_PDFs/Smith_Brown_1996.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>
[[File:Olga Engdahl 1951.jpg|thumb|upright|Olga Pearson Engdahl was ''American Mother of the Year'' in 1963.<ref>[http://www.americanmothers.org/past-national-mothers-of-the-year Website list] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110323130748/http://www.americanmothers.org/past-national-mothers-of-the-year |date=2011-03-23 }}</ref>]]

Regarding [[women in the workforce]], mothers are said to often follow a "[[mommy track]]" rather than being entirely "[[career women]]". Mothers may be [[Housewife|stay at home mothers]] or [[Working parent|working mothers]]. In recent decades there has been an increase in [[Stay-at-home dad|stay at home fathers]] too. Social views on these arrangements vary significantly by culture: in Europe for instance, in German-speaking countries there is a strong tradition of mothers exiting the workforce and being homemakers.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.ined.fr/fichier/s_rubrique/26128/540.population.societies.2017.january.en.pdf|title=Has childlessness peaked in Europe?|website=Ined.fr|access-date=17 December 2017|archive-date=21 February 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170221105932/https://www.ined.fr/fichier/s_rubrique/26128/540.population.societies.2017.january.en.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> Mothers have historically fulfilled the primary role in raising children, but since the late 20th century, the role of the father in child care has been given greater prominence and social acceptance in some Western countries.<ref>[http://pascal.iseg.utl.pt/~cisep/conferencias/conferencia_20021016/Papers/kjeldstad55.PDF] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130815170110/http://pascal.iseg.utl.pt/~cisep/conferencias/conferencia_20021016/Papers/kjeldstad55.PDF|date=August 15, 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ucgstp.org/lit/gn/gn064/fathersimportant.htm |title=ucgstp.org |publisher=Ucgstp.org |access-date=2015-07-01 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080225030354/http://www.ucgstp.org/lit/gn/gn064/fathersimportant.htm |archive-date=2008-02-25 |url-status=dead }}</ref> The 20th century also saw more and more women entering paid work. [[Mothers' rights]] within the workforce include [[maternity leave]] and [[parental leave]].

The social role and experience of motherhood varies greatly depending upon location. Mothers are more likely than fathers to encourage assimilative and communion-enhancing patterns in their children.<ref>{{cite web |author=Ann M. Berghout Austin1 and T.J. Braeger2 |url=http://fla.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/10/30/181 |title=Gendered differences in parents' encouragement of sibling interaction: implications for the construction of a personal premise system |publisher=Fla.sagepub.com |date=1990-10-01 |access-date=2011-10-27 |archive-date=2008-09-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080904200612/http://fla.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/10/30/181 |url-status=live }}</ref> Mothers are more likely than fathers to acknowledge their children's contributions in conversation.<ref name=speech/><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Hladik |first1=E. |last2=Edwards |first2=H. |year=1984 |title=A comparison of mother-father speech in the naturalistic home environment |journal=Journal of Psycholinguistic Research |volume=13 |pages=321–332 |doi= 10.1007/bf01068149|s2cid=144226238 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Leaper |first1=C. |last2=Anderson |first2=K. |last3=Sanders |first3=P. |year=1998 |title=Moderators of gender effects on parents' talk to their children: A meta-analysis |journal=Developmental Psychology |volume=34 |issue= 1|pages=3–27 |doi= 10.1037/0012-1649.34.1.3|pmid=9471001 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Mannle |first1=S. |last2=Tomasello |first2=M. |year=1987 |chapter=Fathers, siblings, and the bridge hypothesis |editor-first=K. E. |editor-last=Nelson |editor2-first=A. |editor2-last=vanKleeck |title=Children's language |volume=6 |pages=23–42 |location=Hillsdale, NJ |publisher=Erlbaum }}</ref> The way mothers speak to their children ([[Baby talk|"motherese"]]) is better suited to support very young children in their efforts to understand speech (in context of the reference English) than fathers.<ref name=speech>{{cite web |url=http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Fathers%27+speech+to+their+children:+perfect+pitch+or+tin+ear%3F-a0107202406 |title=Fathers' speech to their children: perfect pitch or tin ear? |publisher=Thefreelibrary.com |access-date=2011-10-27 |archive-date=2012-10-19 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121019065505/http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Fathers%27+speech+to+their+children:+perfect+pitch+or+tin+ear%3F-a0107202406 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Since the 1970s, [[in vitro fertilization]] has made pregnancy possible at ages well beyond "natural" limits, generating ethical controversy and forcing significant changes in the social meaning of motherhood.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jacob-m-appel/motherhood-is-it-ever-too_b_233916.html |title=Motherhood: Is It Ever Too Late? &#124; Jacob M. Appel |publisher=Huffingtonpost.com |date=2009-08-15 |access-date=2015-07-01 |archive-date=2015-07-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150702113016/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jacob-m-appel/motherhood-is-it-ever-too_b_233916.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/07/17/getting-pregnant-after-50_n_238704.html |title=Getting Pregnant After 50: Risks, Rewards |publisher=Huffingtonpost.com |date=2009-08-17 |access-date=2015-07-01 |archive-date=2015-07-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150702101334/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/07/17/getting-pregnant-after-50_n_238704.html |url-status=live }}</ref> This is, however, a position highly biased by Western world locality: outside the Western world, in-vitro fertilization has far less prominence, importance or currency compared to primary, basic healthcare, women's basic health, reducing infant mortality and the prevention of life-threatening diseases such as [[polio]], [[typhus]] and [[malaria]].

Traditionally, and still in most parts of the world today, a mother was expected to be a [[married]] woman, with birth outside of marriage carrying a strong [[social stigma]]. Historically, this stigma not only applied to the mother, but also to her child. This continues to be the case in many parts of the developing world today, but in many Western countries the situation has changed radically, with single motherhood being much more socially acceptable now. For more details on these subjects, see [[Legitimacy (family law)]] and [[single parent]].

The total fertility rate (TFR), that is, the number of children born per woman, differs greatly from country to country. The TFR in 2013 was estimated to be highest in [[Niger]] (7.03 children born per woman) and lowest in [[Singapore]] (0.79 children/woman).<ref name="cia.gov">{{cite web|url=https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2127rank.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070613003803/https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2127rank.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=June 13, 2007|title=The World Factbook|work=cia.gov}}</ref>

In the [[United States]], the TFR was estimated for 2013 at 2.06 births per woman.<ref name="cia.gov"/> In 2011, the average age at first birth was 25.6 and 40.7% of births were to unmarried women.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/births.htm|title=FastStats|work=cdc.gov|date=20 October 2021|access-date=10 September 2017|archive-date=12 November 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191112144911/https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/births.htm|url-status=live}}</ref>