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Mothers want 'words of appreciation' and 'time together' instead of flowers: survey

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Approximately 60% of mothers want to spend time with their children on Mother's Day (May 14), according to the results of a survey carried out by Rakuten Research Inc.

In the survey, 400 mothers aged 30 to 69 from all over Japan were chosen from the pool of around 2.3 million monitors registered with Rakuten Research.

Overview of Survey Results

“Flowers” are the most common gift received on Mother’s Day, with more than 40% of respondents answering they had received flowers. About 65% of mothers in their 60s replied that they had received flowers.

When respondents were asked about gifts they had received on Mother’s Day, “flowers” garnered the largest response (40.5%), followed by “words of appreciation from children” (37.3%), and “sweets” (32.0%). By age group, “flowers” was highest among mothers in their 60s (65.0%), with the proportion declining in younger age groups (48.0% among mothers in their 50s, 35.0% among mothers in their 40s, and 14.0% among mothers in their 30s).

When respondents were asked about what gift they would like to receive on Mother’s Day, responses differed from the gifts they had actually received. “Words of appreciation from their children” was the highest at 41.0%, closely followed by “time with their children” (40.0%) indicating that mothers hoped to receive sentiments instead of things. Less than 10% wanted to receive flowers, suggesting a gap between what they receive and what they want.

When respondents were asked if they wanted to spend time with their children on Mother’s Day, approximately 60% (59.1%) said “yes” (total of those who replied they “want very much to spend time together” and “want to spend time together if possible”). A minority of 4% replied that they “want to spend time apart” (total of those who “want to spend time apart if possible” and “want to spend time apart”). By age, the highest response for “want to spend time together” was from mothers in their 30s with the proportion declining the higher the age group.

When respondents were asked whether receiving gifts on Mother’s Day felt like a ritual, 86.3% replied “not really” and “not at all,” suggesting that mothers look forward to Mother’s Day every year even though it is a traditional event.

When respondents were asked if they would be happy to have a celebration even if it was after Mother’s Day, over 90% replied “yes” (59.3% said they would “certainly be happy” and 31.3% said they would be “somewhat happy”), suggesting that even if it was after Mother’s Day, mothers would be happy to have a celebration.

© Rakuten Research

©2024 GPlusMedia Inc.

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When respondents were asked if they wanted to spend time with their children on Mother’s Day, approximately 60% (59.1%) said “yes” (total of those who replied they “want very much to spend time together” and “want to spend time together if possible”). A minority of 4% replied that they “want to spend time apart” (total of those who “want to spend time apart if possible” and “want to spend time apart”). By age, the highest response for “want to spend time together” was from mothers in their 30s with the proportion declining the higher the age group.

30's "want to spend time together" no doubt, many if not most in that age category have young children, and these young (relatively) mother's are probably out working their butts off to care for their children. This is a no brainer I would think.

Funny though that the number of mothers, overall, that "want very much to spend time together" is rather low in my opinion.

But then surveys like this can be read any different numbers of ways.....

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I would think the mothers who want to spend the most time with their children would be those who are older and whose children have likely already left, but I can also see young(er) mothers wanting to spend more time with kids who are still little kids, too. And I think as long as the flowers come WITH the sentiment, there is no problem, but just doing the mandatory carnation thing is pretty meaningless, and very commercial. I always used to do something original before I came to Japan way back when, now I am very much like zichi above, calling pretty often, and spending more time talking with her (and sending cards) on Mother's Day and her birthday.

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