How well do you know your mother?

How often do people call their parents?

We all know we should get in touch with our parents as often as we can, but life can sometimes get in the way or we can even forget – no doubt everyone has been told by their parents they should call more at least once in their lives.

To see how often children around the world call home, we asked, “On average, how often do you talk to your mother on the phone, or via video call?”

It seems the majority of us call home at least once a week, but our participants in the Philippines are more dutiful than most, with over half of all respondents calling their parents every day!

While most people in the US still call home regularly, the average is lower than the other countries surveyed – with just under one in ten calling less than once a year.

How often do people visit their mothers?

While phone calls are a great way to keep in touch with family, nothing can replace seeing them in person and giving them a big hug! While plenty of people might live near or even with their parents, lots of people (particularly our customers, many of whom live abroad) might only get a chance to see their mothers every now and then. That’s why Mother’s Day is a great excuse to make the journey!

So what did our survey tell us? We asked, “On average, how often do you see or visit your mother?”

Again, well over half of all our respondents see their mothers at least once a week. People surveyed in the Philippines see their mothers the most, with more than six out of 10 seeing them every day. This shows a difference between cultures as in the Philippines living with parents is much more common, while in the US and Australia children tend to move out at a younger age. Australian respondents see their parents the least, with over one out of 10 seeing their parents less than once a year – perhaps due to people moving away from their home city or even country.

How often do people buy their mothers gifts?

People celebrate Mother’s Day in their own special ways, but buying gifts is a really common way to say “Happy Mother’s day!” Many WorldRemit customers use us to send or organize the sending of gifts for their families back home, throughout the year.

But how common is buying gifts for your mother? We asked, “when was the last time you bought your mother a gift?’.

It seems the majority of people have purchased presents for their mothers in at least the last six months, which is unsurprising considering it was Christmas not so long ago! For this question there was less of a divide between our three countries –  presents and gifts are popular wherever you live it seems!

Do children know how old their mothers were when they were born?

On to the questions that really ask, “How well do you know your mother?”

Most moms could probably tell you how old they were when they had each one of their kids – it's not something you normally forget! But for the kids, it's not always so easy, although if you know your parents date of birth you can always work it out.

So we asked, “Do you know how old your mom was when you were born?” The vast majority of people did.

Do you know how old your mother was when you were born? Half points if you had to sit and work it out in your head!

Do children know their mom’s favorite musical artist?

Someone's personal taste in music is a part of their personality, and what makes them unique. If you were trying to get to know someone new, you’d probably ask. “What kind of music do you like?” and you almost certainly know the favorite artists of your best friend or romantic partner.  

But what about your mother’s music taste? You probably have picked this up during your childhood, but you might not know their absolute favorite singer or band unless you’ve asked. So we put the question to our survey, “Do you know your mother’s favorite singer, band or other musical artist?”.

Although there was a bit of variation between our three countries, around 90% knew their mom's favorite artist. What we didn’t get to check is if our respondents were in fact correct, or just thought they were!

What about you? Do you know your parents' favorite musical artist? Either way, ask your mom the next time you speak to her (maybe on Mother’s Day) even if it's just to check that you were right.

So knowing your mom's favorite band or artist is a good start, but when was the last time, if ever, you listened to them together? Mother’s Day is all about spending quality time with each other and putting on her favorite tunes and listening together is a great way to do that.

At least we think so! We asked our survey, “When was the last time you listened, with your mother, to her favorite singer, band or other musical artist?”

The answers were quite split, although our respondents from the Philippines on average had listened to music with their mothers fairly recently, perhaps due to  more people living with or near their parents. However, on average across all three countries, one out 10 of us have never done this, so put on some Elton John, or whoever their favorite might be, and spend some quality time with your mom this year!

Do people know their mother's favorite treats?

Moms can often be so busy working or looking after everyone else in the family that they can forget to look after themselves! On the occasions they do, moms might treat themselves with their favorite food, drink or perhaps just some time to themselves curled up in front of their favorite tv show. We asked in our survey, “Do you know your mother’s favorite way of treating herself?”:

While the majority of respondents did, again more of our Filipino segment answered yes than our Australians and Americans - both of which had almost exactly the same split between yes and no.

What is Mother’s Day for if not treating your mom to her favorite thing? Be it her favorite chocolate, flowers or a nice relaxing day at the spa. But should we only treat them when an occasion comes around? Why not surprise them with treats and gifts all year round, you know they deserve it!

We asked our survey, “When was the last time you treated your mother to her favorite treat?”

Unsurprisingly, our Filipino segment comes out on top with almost seven out of 10 people treating their mothers to something at least once a month. The US is not far behind at just under five out of 10, while less than four out of 10 of our Australian segment had treated their moms in the last month.

What about you? If distance is a factor in how often you can treat your parents, you can use WordRemit to send money transfers in minutes, so they can help themselves to their favorite thing more often, all thanks to you.

How many people know their mothers favorite film?

So we’ve talked about music, but what about your mom's favorite film? Do they love the classics from when they were growing up, or are they a fan of the latest blockbusters? If you know your mothers favorite movies, what do you think of them, do you take film recommendations from her?

We asked our customers, “Do you know your mother’s favorite movie?” Apparently, this one stumped more people than music or treats! While our (you guessed it) Filipino segment did the best, there were a lot more across all three countries. So, the next time you see her, make sure you ask your mom what her favorite film is!

Or better yet, why not sit down and watch your mom's favorite film with her? If you're seeing her for Mother’s Day, it's a great excuse to let her choose the movie you watch.

But how common is watching films with your mom? When was the last time you watched a film with your parents? We asked our survey, “When was the last time you watched a movie with your mother?”

As we’ve seen plenty of evidence throughout this survey, the family-oriented culture of the Philippines means far more of our Filipino respondents had recently watched a movie with their mothers than their American and Australian counterparts.

How many people know their mothers favorite type of flower?

Flowers might just be the classic gift for Mother’s Day, and the chances are that if you're reading this you’ve probably bought your mother flowers on more than one occasion.

But does your mom have a favorite type of flower, and if so would you know what it is? Chances are your mom would be happy with flowers of any kind. But if you don’t know if she has a preference, why not find out?

We asked our survey, “ Do you know your mother’s favorite flower?”

But flowers don’t have to just be for Mother’s Day, they’re always a nice surprise or way to say thank you.

So we also asked, “When was the last time you gave your mother flowers?”.

Of all our respondents, our Australian segment gives their mothers flowers the least, and again Filipinos the most.

How many people know their mother’s favorite hobby?

Finally, we wanted to find out how many people know their mothers favorite pastime or hobby, whether it's curling up with a good book or running marathons.

We asked our survey, “Do you know your mother's favorite pastime or hobby?” The majority of people did know, with more than ⅘ of all participants saying yes.

While knowing your mothers favorite pastime is a fairly low bar, what about taking part in their hobbies with them? How easy this is totally depends on your mom. Going on hikes or cooking with her is simple enough, but if your mom is into extreme sports maybe it's best just to watch!

We asked our survey,“‘When was the last time you took part in your mother's favorite pastime or hobby?”

Unsurprisingly, this was less common than a lot of the other things we asked about in the survey. Even more unsurprisingly, our Filipino segment still came out on top! Just over half of all Fillipinos surveyed had taken part in their mothers favorite pastime in the last week - compared to just over 1/10 for the Australian segment.

Give back to your mom this Mother’s Day with WorldRemit

It seems we could all take some time to make sure we get to know our mothers a little better, and make sure we spend quality time with them. Mother’s Day is always a great excuse to do this, but if you live abroad and can’t get home to see your mom this year, you can use WorldRemit to send your love from afar.