Holiday Calendar

National Working Mom’s day

Next celebratedFriday, March 12, 2027

An appreciation observance on March 12 recognizing mothers who balance paid work and raising children, and the challenges they face in the workforce.

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Last updated March 18, 2026 · by the Holiday Calendar TeamHave an update or spot an error?
YEARLY DATEMarch 12
OBSERVED INUnited States
CATEGORYRelationships
SUBCATEGORYMother
ORIGIN

Institutional Initiative

FOUNDING ENTITY
Working Moms of Milwaukee
FIRST OBSERVED
2020
“Working Moms of Milwaukee, founded in 2017 by Susannah Lago, launched National Working Moms Day in 2020.
HOW THE HOLIDAY CAME TO BE

A Milwaukee support group made its own national day.

Working Moms of Milwaukee, a support organization founded in December 2017 by Susannah Lago, launched National Working Moms Day in 2020. The day was registered with the National Day Calendar in 2021 for annual observance on March 12.

View Official Announcementvia Working Moms of Milwaukee
INTRO

A young holiday with a surprising wartime backstory

The United States has come close to universal childcare exactly once. It happened during World War II, and it did not last. National Working Mom's Day honors the mothers at the center of that history and the working mothers who came after.

The day itself is far younger. It asks people to notice the mothers who hold down a paycheck and a household at the same time. Behind the appreciation sits a hard fact: in the United States, raising children still costs mothers at work in ways it does not cost fathers.

That gap is what gives a simple appreciation day its edge.

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ORIGINS

Working Mom’s day history

INTRODUCTION

Most American mothers work for pay. For much of the country's history, they did it with almost no public help.

The path to National Working Mom's Day runs through that gap. It starts with a wartime emergency and ends with a support group in Wisconsin.

CHAPTER 01

The wartime experiment

When the United States entered World War II, factories needed hands, and mothers took the jobs. Someone had to watch their children while they worked.

Congress answered with the Lanham Act, which paid for temporary day-care centers so those mothers could stay on the line. When the war ended, the federal money dried up, and the centers closed within months.

CHAPTER 02

A day made in Milwaukee

No comparable system returned in peacetime. The recognition that eventually came was smaller, and it started far from Washington.

Susannah Lago founded Working Moms of Milwaukee in December 2017 as a community for working mothers. The group launched National Working Moms Day in 2020. That same year, Lago was named to the Milwaukee Business Journal's 40 Under 40.

Recognition followed quickly. In March 2021, the day was added to the National Day Calendar for observance each March 12. The City of Milwaukee issued its own proclamation the same month.

A day for working mothers now had a fixed place on the calendar. It was built not by a government, but by the mothers it honors.

TIMELINE

Timeline

Working Moms of Milwaukee forms

Susannah Lago founded the Milwaukee support organization for working mothers in December.

The group launches the day

Working Moms of Milwaukee created National Working Moms Day to recognize working mothers across the country.

Added to the National Day Calendar

On March 11, the day was registered for annual observance every March 12.

Milwaukee proclaims the day

The City of Milwaukee issued a proclamation recognizing Working Moms Day on March 12.

National press campaign begins

Working Moms of Milwaukee issued a national press release promoting the observance.

BY THE NUMBERS

National Working Mom's day by the Numbers

73.9%
US mothers in the labor force, 2025
93.7%
US fathers in the labor force, 2025
62.5¢
Mothers' pay per fathers' dollar, 2022
~80%
Gender pay gap tied to motherhood

GOOD TO KNOW

Surprising facts about National Working Mom's day

Wartime childcare reached hundreds of thousands of kids

At its height, the federal program cared for an estimated 550,000 to 600,000 children of working mothers.

Parents flooded Washington to save the centers

When the centers faced closure, parents sent 1,155 letters, 318 wires, and 794 postcards to the Federal Works Agency.

Families paid pennies a day for it

Parents were charged roughly 50 to 75 cents per child per day, with the government covering the rest.

Only about two dozen national days make the cut

The National Day Calendar receives roughly 20,000 applications a year and approves just 20 to 25, and Working Moms Day cleared that bar in 2021.

WHY THIS DAY MATTERS

Why National Working Mom's day Matters

EQUITY

Mothers earn less than fathers in every U.S. state.

Working mothers are paid less than fathers in every U.S. state, according to the Institute for Women's Policy Research. National Working Mom's Day fixes a single date on a gap that follows mothers everywhere they work.

RECOGNITION

It reached a state legislature

In 2025, the New York State Assembly adopted a resolution urging the governor to proclaim Working Moms Day. That moved the observance from a support group's idea into a state government's official record.

CAREERS

It names a cost that grows with each child

Each child under five is projected to cut a typical mother's earnings by about 15 percent, research finds. The day draws attention to a penalty that adds up quietly across a career.

GET INVOLVED

How to Observe National Working Mom's day

EDITOR'S PICK

Thank a working mother directly

Tell a mother in your life that you see the two jobs she carries. A specific, spoken thank-you lands harder than a quick social post.

SHARE

Share the day with #WorkingMomsDay

Post a tribute using the hashtag and tag @WorkingMomsDay, both run by Working Moms of Milwaukee. The founding group started the campaign and still promotes it each March 12.

READ

Read up on the motherhood pay gap

Spend a few minutes with the research on why mothers earn less than fathers. The Institute for Women's Policy Research breaks the numbers down state by state.

COVER

Cover part of a mother's workload

Offer something concrete, like a work shift, a school pickup, or an afternoon with the kids. Practical help does more than a greeting card.

ASK

Ask your workplace to mark it

Suggest that your employer recognize working parents on March 12. Companies and organizations already run events and promotions tied to the day.

Test your knowledge

How well do you know National Working Mom’s day?

1 / 9

Which organization launched National Working Moms Day?

Answer

No. It is an unofficial observance, not a federal or state public holiday, so schools, banks, and offices stay open. It has been recognized through a city proclamation and a New York State legislative resolution, but those are honors, not a paid day off.

COLOPHON

Sources

How we know what’s on this page. References, not endorsements.

7sources
5primary records
5independently dated
Primary records
New York State Assembly2025
Assembly Resolution K188 (2025): Working Moms Day
The 2025 resolution urging the governor to proclaim Working Moms Day, with the day's origin.
View source
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics2026
Labor force participation rate was 73.9 percent for mothers and 93.7 percent for fathers in 2025
2025 U.S. labor-force participation rates for mothers and fathers with children under 18.
View source
Working Moms of Milwaukee2021
Working Moms Day is now NATIONAL Working Moms Day!
The founding group's announcement of national recognition and the National Day Calendar approval odds.
View source
Working Moms of Milwaukee2022
Moms Across the Nation Celebrate Each Other on National Working Moms Day
Press release on the 2020 launch and how companies and mothers mark March 12.
View source
Working Moms of Milwaukee
Susannah Lago
Profile of founder Susannah Lago and the City of Milwaukee's 2021 proclamation.
View source
Additional coverage
Institute for Women's Policy Research2022
Motherhood Is Hard, Pay Penalties Make It Harder
Analysis of the motherhood pay penalty, the mother-father pay ratio, and its share of the gender gap.
View source
HISTORY
The US Funded Universal Childcare During World War II, Then Stopped
How the WWII Lanham Act funded federal childcare for working mothers, then ended it.
View source
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