6.8%
MOMS (KIDS <18) IN THE 118TH CONGRESS
1.1%
MOMS (KIDS <6) IN THE 118TH CONGRESS
59
MOMS OF MINOR CHILDREN NEEDED TO ACHIEVE PROPORTIONAL REPRESENTATION
There is a baby boom in Congress, but not for women.
11 congressmen welcomed newborns in the last year alone, but only 11 women have ever given birth while serving in Congress.
Men outnumber women in the 118th Congress at about 2.5 to 1. This ratio is fairly consistent across groups of congressmen and congresswomen by parental status; however, we see considerable differences in two groups:
-
For members of Congress who do not have children, the gender gap is much narrower—less than a quarter of that among men and women overall.
-
For parents of children under the age of 6, dads outnumber moms nearly 9 to 1.
Politics of Parenthood
Reaching Proportional Representation:
118th Congress
Mothers of minor children are grossly underrepresented in Congress. Only 6.8% of all congressmembers are moms with minor children, and just 1.1% of congressmembers are moms with children under 6.
Key Findings
While 22.9% of members of Congress are dads of minor children — even though only 15% of U.S. adults are fathers to minors — just 7.2% are moms of minor children, despite making up 18% of the adult population. This means dads of minors are significantly overrepresented, while moms of minors are dramatically underrepresented in Congress.
Parents of Minor Children as a Percentage of all Congressional Seats
*including the six non-voting delegates from U.S. territories and the District of Columbia.
THERE IS A BABY BOOM IN CONGRESS—BUT NOT FOR WOMEN.
Only 14 women have ever given birth while serving in Congress. Only one sitting member of Congress has given birth in the past year.
In the 119th Congress:
-
Dads of minors outnumber moms of minors 3:1.
-
This gap triples to 9:1 for parents of children under six.
Representation of dads vs. moms
The research presented here is long overdue, but it is just the beginning of our collective understanding of the experience of being both a legislator and a caretaker. While Vote Mama Foundation’s analysis focuses on the intersection of motherhood and political participation, it is our intention for this data to benefit all those working toward an equitable and accountable political system.
Representation of moms of minor children has increased by 8.3% since the 118th Congress, underscoring the progress that has been made and the persistent gap in representation.
In this iteration of Vote Mama Foundation’s Politics of Parenthood report series, we provide an updated analysis of the parenthood status of all members of the 119th Congress with updated demographic profiles.
Figure: Number of parents in the 118th U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate by parental status and age of youngest child.
Among the 541 members of the 118th U.S. Congress (including non-voting members), just 37 are moms with children under the age of 18. Only 3 of these moms are serving in the Senate, where they are outnumbered by dads of minors 7 to 1.
From the start of 2022 to early 2023, 6 Republican and 5 Democratic congressmen have welcomed newborns, but not a single congresswoman has given birth or adopted a child. While there are only 6 congresswomen with kids under the age of 6, there are nearly 9 times as many congressmen with kids under 6.
There are only 39 moms of minors in the 119th Congress, making up 7.2% of all Congressmembers.
Moms of minor children make up 8.0% of the House and just 4.0% of the Senate–even though women comprise 28.0% of the House and 26.0% of the Senate.
Formal leadership roles are essential for shaping the legislative agenda, coordinating party strategy, and influencing policymaking. Some of the most notable positions are Speaker of the House, Majority Leader, Minority Leader, and committee chairs. These representatives are key decision-makers and have the ability to influence other members of Congress.
As of March 2025, moms of minor children held zero of the 46 formal leadership positions across both chambers.
Our findings among LGBTQ+ members of Congress remain consistent with those from the 118th Congress: of the 13 LGBTQ+ members, only one is a mom of minor children. There are no openly bisexual or transgender parents, nor openly gay fathers currently serving in Congress.
Politics of Parenthood
Demographics
"Too many elected officials just don’t face the same challenges most Americans deal with every day, and as a result, Congress is often late to recognize the top issues for families. Most members of Congress don’t shop for groceries, nervously watching the prices add up at checkout. Most members of Congress aren’t living on a single income while trying to afford the extra child care necessary to be in DC. Most members of Congress don’t wake up before dawn to prepare a week’s worth of meals for their kids, before commuting 9 hours into work. The harsh reality is that Congress isn’t built for single parents, and our lack of representation will continue until Congress removes the outdated traditions and structural obstacles that make it hard for single parents to serve.”
KATIE PORTER, FORMER U.S. REPRESENTATIVE (CA-47)
29 states have no mamas of minor children representing them in Congress.
Data includes all members in the first session of the 119th Congress as of February 2025.