Survey Exposes Morning Madness: 90% of Aussie Mums Carry School Morning Load

Here at MorganiseMe™ HQ, we're on a mission to uncover the real story behind the morning hustle for parents of primary school-aged kids across Australia.

In our first-ever annual survey conducted in Term 4, 2023, we delved into the roles and responsibilities that make up the school morning mental load in households nationwide.

Brace yourself – the results didn't just surprise us… they shocked us!

Key findings

In Australian ‘Mum and Dad’ households (where the family unit includes two biological parents living in the same house) -

Administrative tasks

97.7% of mums indicated that they usually handle administrative tasks such as responding to notes or emails from the school, including communication with teachers, RSVPs for excursions, and setting reminders, all or most of the time. Conversely, 0% of the dads in the households surveyed had this responsibility all or most of the time.

Packing school bags

88.6% of mums reported consistently shouldering the responsibility of ensuring that the youngest primary school-aged child has all the necessary items packed in their school bag for the day ahead. In contrast, 0% of the dads in the households surveyed had this responsibility all or most of the time.

School uniforms

86.3% of mums stated that they bear the responsibility of laundering and washing school uniforms all or most of the time. 0% of the dads in the households surveyed had this responsibility all the time, and only 2.2% indicated doing it most of the time.

Getting dressed and ready

75.6% of mums reported having the responsibility of getting the youngest primary school-aged child ready, which includes tasks such as finding the uniform, getting dressed, brushing teeth, and doing hair, all or most of the time. In contrast, 0% of the dads in the households surveyed had this responsibility all or most of the time.

Organising lunches

72.7% of mums indicated that they bear the responsibility of packing school lunches or handling the ordering and organising payment for lunches all or most of the time. Conversely, 0% of the dads in the households surveyed reported having this responsibility all the time, with only 9% of dads indicating they do it most of the time.

Breakfast preparation

63.6% of mums reported having the responsibility of preparing breakfast for the youngest primary school-aged child all or most of the time. 0% of the dads in the households surveyed claimed this responsibility all the time, and only 9% of dads indicated doing it most of the time.

Waking children up

52% of mums reported having the responsibility of waking up the youngest primary school-aged child all or most of the time. 0% of the dads in the households surveyed claimed this responsibility all the time, and only 4.5% of dads indicated having this responsibility most of the time. It will come as no surprise that many of the children wake up themselves!

Who took the survey?

• A total of 57 parents participated in our inaugural Australian Primary School Parenting Survey.

• The survey was promoted via our social media channels (Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and TikTok), via our mailing list of existing MorganiseMe™ users and via the Australian School Mums Facebook group. We offered a $100 supermarket prize draw as an incentive to participate in the survey. 50% of respondents had previously heard of MorganiseMe™ and 50% had not.

• 96.5% of respondents were female.

• 76.6% of respondents were age 35-44; 19.3% were age 45-54; 5.2% were age 25-34; and 1.7% were age 55-64.

• Respondents were from across Australia, including 50.8% from South Australia, 15.9% from New South Wales, 15.9% from Victoria, 8.7% from Queensland,, 5.2% from Western Australia and 3.5% from Tasmania.

• 63.1% of respondents had two children, 19.2% had three children, 14% of respondents had one child; and 1.7% had four or more children. 2% didn’t answer the question.

• Respondents had children across all age groups including pre-school, reception/Year 1/Year 2, Years 3-6, and Year 7 and beyond.

• 80.9% of respondents lived in a household where there were two biological parents (Mum and Dad). 8.7% of respondents said they were a single Mum. 1.7% lived in a Mum and Dad co-parenting arrangement (living separately) and 1.7% had two parents in the household - a Mum and stepdad. 3.5% said their household type was something different to what was on the list of options, and 3.5% didn’t answer the question.

• The results presented in this blog post are based on the 80.9% of respondents who lived in a household with two biological parents (Mum and Dad).

Our response?

Capitalising on these eye-opening insights, MorganiseMe™ has seized the moment to unveil its latest app update. The spotlight? A game-changing multi-user log-in feature.

No longer confined to just Mum, now Dad, grandparents, or even the kids themselves can step up and share the responsibility of remembering it all in the morning!

Upon witnessing the survey results, our founder, Becky Hirst, was left utterly astounded. In her words, she passionately exclaims, “The findings of our research may not come as a shock, but they should serve as a call to action! We believe that the morning chaos can be transformed into a collaborative effort, allowing mums to share the load with the rest of the family. With the new multi-user login feature, we are creating a tool that fosters teamwork and makes school mornings less stressful for everyone."

Read our media release here.