The physical and emotional health of a child’s mother can affect her ability to care for her children and can influence the health and well-being of the family as a whole. Overall, the mothers of 58.9 percent of children rate both their physical and emotional health as “excellent” or “very good.” The mothers of two-thirds of children (66.3 percent) report that their physical health is excellent or very good. The percentage of children whose mothers’ mental health is excellent or very good is slightly higher (71.4 percent).

Mothers’ physical and emotional health improves with increased income. While the mothers of only 34.3 percent of children with family incomes below the poverty level report excellent or very good health, mothers of more than half (48.8 percent) of children with family incomes between 100 and 199 percent of poverty report this level of health. Of children with family incomes between 200 and 399 percent of FPL, 65.8 percent have mothers who report excellent or very good health, as do the mothers of 76.6 percent of children with family incomes of 400 percent of FPL or more.