Rapid Pulse Survey of Mothers in the UAE | June 2025
Key Findings
Identity, Ambition & Purpose
Women with substantial professional experience—83% with 5+ years, including 50% (18 respondents) with over 10 years—are making deliberate decisions to pause, pivot, or reframe their careers in early motherhood. While only 17% remain in full-time employment, these decisions are not signs of diminished ambition but strategic, values-based responses to the demands of caregiving and systemic barriers.
Motherhood Redefines Identity
- 64% say they see themselves differently.
- 25% feel more intentional.
- 17% report feeling more isolated.
These emotional and identity transformations are not side effects—they are central to how women experience motherhood, work, and the space between.
Ambition Persists—Its Pathways Are Changing
- 25% report their purpose has fundamentally shifted.
- 17% are temporarily adapting how they pursue their goals.
- 11% have made lasting changes in how they work.
These responses reflect a dynamic approach to ambition—one shaped by caregiving intensity, clarity of purpose, and the structural flexibility (or lack thereof) around them.
Motherhood Deepens Purpose
- 53% say they feel more purpose-driven since becoming mothers.
This finding echoes a broader cultural narrative: motherhood clarifies what matters. Women are not stepping back—they are stepping differently, with greater intention, self-awareness, and purpose.
Support Systems Are the Enabler—and the Barrier
- 19% have no care support.
- 31% rely on part-time helpers.
- 19% use a live-in nanny.
Despite Dubai’s relative affordability and access to domestic help, significant gaps remain. Many women rely on informal or patchworked support systems, underlining that availability is not the same as accessibility or adequacy.
Mothers Are Making Active Career Decisions
- 64% have taken a career break.
- 19% have reduced working hours.
- 11% returned to work with increased ambition.
These are not passive outcomes—they are conscious strategies for women to be ambitious, on their own terms. Women are reshaping their professional lives to fit into their larger lives, to reflect their caregiving responsibilities and long-term aspirations.
Structural Supports Are Urgently Needed
To pursue purpose while remaining present parents, women identified:
- 53% need reliable childcare.
- 47% want flexible work options.
The message is clear: motivation exists—what’s missing is infrastructure. Change must happen at multiple levels: policy, organizational design, and domestic arrangements.
Conclusion: Motherhood doesn’t require less ambition. It demands better systems.
The women in this study are not less ambitious—they are ambitious on new terms. Motherhood has not stalled their purpose—it has refined it, restructured it, and in many cases, re-energized it.
But ambition alone is not enough. To thrive, mothers need systems redesigned around their realities. This means rethinking how we support care, flexibility, partnership, and purpose—not as trade-offs, but as foundations.
Sample Size: 36 respondents
Method Note: This was a self-administered survey conducted in-person during a weekday morning event for mothers. As such, responses may under-represent full-time employed women unable to attend due to scheduling or caregiving constraints.
To build on these early insights, we’re now expanding this research into a larger and more representative survey to better understand the evolving state of motherhood and ambition in Dubai. Reach out if you’d be interested in participating.
