Stay-at-home mothers deserve six-figure salary, says research 09/05/2008 - 08:47:56
A stay-at-home mother should be paid nearly US$117,000 (€75,660) a year, according to new research by a Massachusetts firm.
Salary.com's eighth annual survey calculated a mother's market value by studying pay levels for 10 job titles with duties that a typical mother performs, ranging from housekeeper and day care centre teacher to van driver, psychologist and chief executive officer.
This year, the annual salary for a stay-at-home mother would be $116,805 (€75,549) while a working mother who also juggles an outside job would get $68,405 (€44,252) for her motherly duties.
One stay-at-home mother said the six-figure salary sounds a little low.
"I think a lot of people think we sit … home and have a lot of fun and don't do a lot of work," said Samantha Russell, who left her job as pastry chef to raise two boys, ages two and four.
"But they should try cleaning their house with little kids running around and messing it up right after them."
The biggest driver of a mother's theoretical salary is the amount of overtime pay she would receive for working more than 40 hours a week.
The 18,000 mothers surveyed about their typical week reported working 94.4 hours - meaning they'd be spending more than half their working hours on overtime.
Working mothers reported an average 54.6 hour "mom work week" besides the hours they spent at paying jobs.
Ms Russell agreed her job as a stay-at-home mother is more than full-time. She said her "job" brings intangible benefits she would not enjoy in the workplace, however.
"The rewards aren't monetary, but it's a reward knowing that they're safe and happy," Ms Russell said of her sons. "It's worth it all."
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