Exploring sentiments towards motherhood among Southeast Asian women

Motherhood has a profound effect on the lives of many women and with Mother’s Day approaching this Sunday, we’ve released the results of our ‘Sentiments towards Motherhood’ study, which explores what women across 4 Southeast Asian countries think about the possibility of motherhood, and some of the considerations they have before deciding to enter this new phase of life. The study was conducted in April 2022 with N=500 women without children each in Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia and the Philippines.  

Indonesian women are most receptive towards motherhood

• 73% of Indonesian women foresee themselves to have at least 1 child in the future, likewise for 50% of women in The Philippines

• Meanwhile, much fewer women from Singapore and Thailand are certain about having kids, with only 34% and 29% respectively foreseeing themselves to become parents in the future

• More than a third are uncertain, indicating ‘Maybe’ (39% and 43% respectively in Singapore and Thailand)

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26-30 years old the preferred age to enter motherhood 

• More than half regionally (excluding those who don’t intend to become mothers) want to become mothers between the ages of 26 to 30; slightly more in Indonesia (23% compared to 11% regional average) want to become mothers between 21-25 years old

• Nearly 6 in 10 want up to 2 children; with a skew towards Indonesian and Filipino women who want 3 or more children.

Top reasons for wanting children: 

• It is meaningful to raise a child (69%)
• To experience motherhood (67%)
• I think that a family is only complete with kids (57%)
• I find children cute or fun to be with (56%)
• To have someone to accompany/ take care of me when I’m old (56%)

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Furthering support for women to understand motherhood

Adjusting to life with a new baby can be enormously challenging and will take time. Entering motherhood requires one to be prepared - and to prepare - for many factors; as “natural” as childbirth is, in reality, parents have to be well-informed about parenthood to ensure that children can grow up in the right environment

The key considerations for motherhood highlighted in this study are: 

• Childcare expenses (64%)
• My health or my partner’s health (63%)
• My job security (or my partner’s) (62%)

Mental health care before and after childbirth emerged as top area that women want to learn about (66%) (eg. postnatal depression, which has been talked about more commonly recently), followed by ‘infant/childhood development’ (65%) and ‘finance management’ (65%)

Featured on adobo magazine.

Methodology

Based on a Milieu Insight survey with N=500 women without children each in Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia and the Philippines, conducted in April 2022.