Only 38% feel part of a supportive village
Research by Medibank and Women’s Agenda found 98% of mothers have experienced loneliness since having children, while only 38% feel part of a genuinely supportive “village”.
Released earlier this year in Sydney, the Motherhood Index found mothers spend most of their time in parks and playgrounds. However, only 5% form genuine friendships there.
According to the study, most support still comes from partners and informal networks rather than the broader community.
Tinybeans, a private family journal and photo-sharing app used by parents worldwide, said the findings match one of the problems it was founded to address. The app aims to help new parents stay connected with grandparents, siblings and friends, even when they live in another city or country.
Motherhood Index findings
Tracy Cho, Interim CEO of Tinybeans, tied the research to her own postpartum experience. “I experienced this loneliness deeply postpartum. We lived far from grandparents, aunts, and uncles. Even our closest friends were plane rides away,” Cho said.
Cho said sharing family updates on Instagram or WhatsApp had started to feel like work. She contrasted that with a private sharing model built for relatives to respond in their own time.
Tinybeans says parents can privately and securely share photos, videos and everyday moments with invitation-only circles. Features also include personalised prompts and simple email digests for relatives who do not use mainstream social media often.
“Tinybeans lets you share without the pressure of immediate noise or response, while still giving family the space to engage on their own time,” Cho said.
For children, Cho argued that wider family contact matters too. She said more loved ones can witness milestones and “middlestones” so a child’s story is grounded in the people who love them.
In 2023, the U.S. Surgeon General published research on an epidemic of loneliness. That research found traditional social media can deepen the isolation and loneliness it claims to solve.
Meanwhile, Tinybeans presents its platform as an alternative to public posting. The company says it has more than 150,000 five-star reviews across the Apple App Store and Google Play.
Families around the world have shared hundreds of millions of memories on the platform, according to Tinybeans. Those figures underline the scale of a service built around one issue raised by the Motherhood Index: many mothers still lack a wider, dependable village.
