Only half of women talk to their mother every week

The bond between mother and daughter is said to be one of the strongest there is.

But far from keeping in close contact in order to share in each others’ lives, it seems today’s women are content to keep conversation with their mothers to a minimum.

A study has found that only half of women speak to their mothers at least once a week. Surprisingly, young women were the most likely to speak to their mothers on a daily basis.

The survey, commissioned to mark the 70th anniversary of Woman’s hour, left presenter Jane Garvey ‘shocked’ at the lack of communication between mothers and daughters these day.

The 52-year- old said she typically speaks to her mother four or five times a week, and sometimes twice a day.

And she added that her mother is happy to discuss even the most ‘dreary’ aspects of her life.

‘Talking to your mother didn’t seem very frequent,’ she said. ‘It obviously depends on where you live, where your mother lives, and how old your mother is.

‘But I do speak to my mum and my dad at least four or five times a week, and sometimes we go through a patch of communicating two or three times a day.’

Speaking during a live broadcast on Radio 4, she added: ‘As you get older, it is a plain fact that no one is as interested in my life or my kids’ lives as my mother is.

‘If I’ve got a really dreary piece of news about the domestic situation, I can think of one person who will really soak it up, and that’s her.

‘Obviously she is nearly 83 and I’m 52, so we have reached the point where I am giving advice more than she is. But she might disagree with that. And if it comes to cooking, she’s giving me advice.’

The poll of 1,000 women found that young people speak to their mothers most regularly.

Among 18 to 24-year- olds, 72 per cent said they communicate with their mothers on a daily basis. however, this figure drops to 37 per cent when the results are collated for all age groups.

Combined with the 18 per cent of women who said they spoke to their mother only on a weekly basis, it meant that just 55 per cent spoke to their mothers at least once a week. The survey also found that women are more presenter and Daily Mail columnist Dame Jenni Murray suggested this result could not be the full story.

‘Maybe [their mothers] just said they were happy’, said the 66-year-old.

‘Mine did. She always said she was happy but I knew she wasn’t. That is why I persuaded her to get a job and that’s when she became really happy.’

The survey also showed a rise in female employment, with 60 per cent of women surveyed saying they were employed compared to 31 per cent in 1951. Most women cited self-respect as the key motivation to work, over money and colleagues. Women also appeared more positive about marriage compared with 1947, with 42 per cent saying that men and women gave up equal amounts of freedom when married.

This represented a marked increase from a Gallup survey in 1951, when only 25 per cent of all respondents – female and male – felt the sacrifices were equal.

When asked to say which negative word they would least like to be associated with out of ‘stupid, fat or boring’, most women chose ‘stupid’.

Young people were most likely to choose ‘fat’, and members of the studio audience yesterday blamed advertising for increasing body image problems.