This Mothers Day is arriving with a motherload of fresh research on the how our families are changing.

We have seen more older moms. In another twist, older moms are more likely to keep working after having children than younger moms, according to an analysis of federal data by former Bureau of Labor Statistics economist Charlotte Yee.

In 2004, 67 percent of moms age 30 to 44 were in the labor force after having their first child, compared with 56 percent of moms in the 20 to 24 age range, according to the analysis.

We also aren't seeing a trend of moms opting out of the workforce, a topic I wrote about today in The myth of the stay-at-home mom.

This week the Labor Department also offered us a snapshot of how married moms and dads spend their time.

- "In households with children under 18, married mothers who were employed full time were more likely to do household activities -- such as housework, cooking, or lawn care --on an average day than were fathers who were employed full time (89 versus 64 percent)."

"In households with children under 18 where both spouses were employed full time, mothers spent an average of 2.1 hours per day doing household activities, while fathers spent about 1.4 hours."

"On an average day, 71 percent of these mothers and 54 percent of these fathers spent time caring for and helping household children. Mothers spent more time providing this care than did fathers--1.2 hours per day versus 0.8 hour (49 minutes) per day." -- Labor Department report, Married Parents' Use of Time 2003-2006, 5/8/08.

There is a lot more family data to crunch, and we'll get to it next week. Now it's time for Sports Center and bed.