How Much Is Mom Worth?

$138K A Year For Stay-At-Homes, $85K Additional For Working Mothers, Says Salary.com

(CBS/AP)  Most of us would agree that a mother's job is priceless.

But the folks at Salary.com take time every year to figure out how much the actual work is worth.

This year, they say the work of a stay-at-home mom would command an annual salary of more than $138,000. That's up about 3 percent from last year, but not as much of an increase as employers predict for their workers: 3.9 percent.

For working mothers, the amount is put at more than $85,000 this year. That is on top of any money earned in the workplace.

Much of the theoretical salary, by the way, is figured on overtime.

"Mom works multiple jobs and rarely gets a break from the action, working an average of 52 hours of overtime," said Bill Coleman, senior vice president and chief compensation officer at Salary.com, in a press release.

According to the Salary.com survey, stay-at-home moms work a 92-hour workweek while working mothers logged 49 hours, or nine hours more than their formal workweek.

By the way, Mother's Day is May 13 this year.

[bookwerm314]

The value of a woman, working out of the home or not, far exceeds the ability to insure them!
If you are married, and something happens to your wife, and she is not working, it would be prudent to have life insurance on her so that you could at least attempt to replace the job she did, if not her role and love.
However, Insurance companies rate the max insurance coverage at 40x income. Well, guess what, if they are not working out of the home, there is no "income". Our insurance companies say that moms have NO VALUE in their eyes!
This is sick.
They only judge how much you can insure based on how much you make, barring some minor amount.
What is the "real" replacement cost of the services provided, for an infant, for the life of the mom? Huge.
But even the practical cost, of paying a live in Nanny to watch the kid, a housekeeper to clean, stuff like that, and we are talking at least 50K for 20 years or so!
That is $1,000,000
Not even accounting for inflation!
Guess what you can insure a "mom" that isn't working for?
About $100,000.
That is quite a mismatch.
There is no reason in the world why this limit should exist. You pay the money for the insurance, you should be able to insure. But they are "protecting" themselves for unjustified payouts.
Unjustified my butt.

[bluehart-2009]

Wonder what the pay is for a stay at home mom who also home schools their children? Would that also include the salary of a teacher plus the benefits? Boy, I'd really be making the big bucks.

Money can buy a lot of things, but it can't replace the precious time I have every day with my beautiful, intelligent daughter. We have home schooled for four years. I get to teach her the values I want her to learn, not the trash she would be picking up in public school. I don't have to worry will some crazed student decide to shoot up the school and kill my child. I choose being at home and am very proud to be a stay at home mom.

My hats off to those mothers who do work outside the home and then still come home and put in another five plus hours before going to bed. You are very hard working ladies and deserve much more than you receive!!!

[ericsma]

Darkmeat4...I am guessing that you are not a parent! However, I am the mother of a beautiful 8 month old boy. I also work full time for a nation-wide internet company. Oh, and guess what else, I am also a full-time college student! I am 20 years old and I do anything and everything that I possibly can do for my son. Did I also happen to mention that I am a single parent? It is people like you who do not give credit to people like me. I wish that I could receive government assistance and child support and all that goes along with that, but I just so happened to have been married to a lazy bum who doesnt know how to work or pay for his responsibilities! So why dont you sit down and take a minute to think about all the things your mother did for you. All the sacrifices she made for you and things she was willing to give up to make you happy!! You seem to be a selfish little *** to me. Why dont you call your mother and say I love you and see how much that means to her. A "love you" from my son is more than enough for me. Give credit where credit is due! You have no idea the responsibility it takes to be a single parent, let alone the other things some of us decide to take on to become better financially stable and make a good life for our children. There actually are those of us out here who put everything they have into being the best parent they can be and we get no recognition for it. This is our recognition, just leave it be and let us feel good about it for a minute!!

[susieq_13]

It's obvious Darkmeat 4 has no clue what a mom does. I bet he wouldn't last one day doing all we mom's have to do. What an idiot!

[bluehart-2009]

darkmeat4, in all your wisdom, think a stay at home mother would deserve IF she received pay?

And for your information, stay at home mothers are not, as you put it, "functionally retarded lazy". I happen to have a Bachelors Degree in Education. Besides being responsible for my daughters' education, I also take care of EVERYTHING at home.

Most men put in their 8 hours a day and then come home and sit on their a** in front of the tv or computer (which is probably what you do) while the wife cooks meals, does dishes, picks up after their 'hard working husbands' and the children, bathes the children, helps with homework, does laundry (including HIS stinking clothes), runs errands and so on. Need I say more?

You must be one of 'THOSE' men that see no value of a woman unless she is on her back. What a moron you are. If you're married, I feel sorry for your wife. She married an idiotic, chauvinistic, pig for a husband.

[bluehart-2009]

Couldn't have said it better, ericsma and susieq_13! You sound like fantastic mothers and women to me. You go girls!!!

And to ericsma, I wish you the very best as you raise your little boy, educate yourself and become the best mom and woman you can be. I am sure there are numerous women who are doing the same thing you are. Congratulations to each and everyone!

What a load of garbage. This is one of the most sexist articles I have seen. Shame on Salary.com for only interviewing women.
This assumes that only women raise children. What about men who are stay at home or single parents- no value there I suppose. Salary.com list mothering as 10 jobs in one, most jobs require a variety of functions to be performed. One does not get paid for each of them seperately- it is expected as part of the job. I would like to have my additional roles as chauffeaur, tutor, photographer, coach, mentor, handyman, companion, sperm donor, etc, etc. added to my 60-75 hour workweek. There is no dollar amount that can be attached to parenting. it is a 365/24/7 job that is undertaken in love.-the value of which far exceeds any monetary value that could possibly be placed on it. And, yes, I am a father of three boys and have often done all of the parenting chores. I for one would love not to have to work a "real" job and have the time and freedom my (non-income earning) wife does every day. This smacks of the whining, morally bankrupt rantings of non-working women who seem to need to attach a dollar figure to their lives in order to find their own value. What a shame.

[bookwerm314]

Jeez, you are nasty guy Mr. ThePiasa with your statements, and are really off base.

Yes, men do this work also, to be sure. I do the cooking and cleaning, the wife feeds the baby and changes it, and works full time.

But you are so wrong about the real cost of replacement of this role. Yes, in an ideal world is a task of 'love', but what about you as a widower?...
See the post below about insurance, and if your wife died, and didn't have any income from her household work, you could not get life insurance to fund a replacement for her.
So you are full of a bunch of hooey, since you are unpleasant in demeanor, might be hard for you, father of 3 boys, widower, and a bit of a bite to your verbage, to remarry? So, without a free "family love slave" to do all the household work, how much would you have to PAY!!??
That is the "value" of the work, the replacement cost for the duties. And it is not low. EVen a legal nanny from a foreign country at $300/week won't work the kind of hours you wife does.

[jmacnny]

As a single, 21 year old mother of a 2 year old who works full time and goes to school full time as well, I think it is nice to be recognized for what we do. Being a parent is the hardest job in the world. Especially being a single parent. It is thankless, it is neverending, there are no sick days or vacation days or paid holidays off. But it is the most amazing, most rewarding, and most fulfilling job ever! And we do it for the lack of pay and lack of recognition because ehen we come in the door at the end of a long day and your son or daughter is there to greet you, that is more then enough pay!

[mountainzen]

She's worth even more if she puts out...the garbage.

[vancouverboo]

The time has come for the IRS to impute this income to the husband. And make him pay income taxes on it.
Fair is fair all you married heterosexuals. with your special. low tax rate.

[sdb101-2009]

Don't worry, the Japanese will invent robots that'll cost 1/3 as much and handle 10 times the workload.

[dogsoul]

"This smacks of the whining, morally bankrupt rantings of non-working women who seem to need to attach a dollar figure to their lives in order to find their own value. What a shame."

Amen - $138k? Puh-lease... talk about a pandering article... So any man or childless woman who makes 70k a year (a pretty decent & difficult to attain salary compared to most) is worth about half the theoretical pay of a stay-at-home mom. It's not enough that we acknowledge how difficult & important the job of motherhood is - we have to say it's double (and sometimes triple) what men & childless women do... why not just say it's worth a million dollars a year so they can feel all warm & fuzzy inside.

[bluehart-2009]

"The time has come for the IRS to impute this income to the husband. And make him pay income taxes on it.
Fair is fair all you married heterosexuals. with your special. low tax rate.
Posted by vancouverboo at 03:11 PM : May 03, 2007"

Impute imaginary income and pay income taxes on something you don't have? You've got to be kidding. How do you suppose paying taxes on something you don't have as being fair?

As far as income goes, we live on what would be considered low income and we get by. We are not materialistic and do not have to have every new gadget and toy to keep us happy. Yes, I could go and work a job and make more money and pay more taxes, but I CHOOSE to be at home.

As far as the tax break for married couple goes, quit bitc*ing and get MARRIED to someone of the opposite *** and you'll get the tax break that you so apparently covet. Or shut up and live the lifestyle that you CHOOSE to live and pay taxes.

[hypnotoad72]

As the average American wage is $30k/yr, with the cost of living being around $18k - and that's discounting the cost of education, and with people thinking our economy is doing well (meanwhile jobs are said to be lost because it's a drag on the economy?)...

$138k is too much. Especially when some people will abuse the system for their own gain.

[gaye5]

I wonder if this includes the number of times a stay at home mum goes into the schools to help out with lunches or helping with the reading etc of the children whose mum are working...

Someone worked out that it costs a working mum who has children in care too much to go to work, and she actually gets not much more than staying home, but because the expenses are invisible they dont realise..
She has to buy more and better clothes, makeup, hair, shoes, stockings etc to represent herself well, then here in Australia she has to pay the tax of a single person and her husband doesnt get tax exceptions, she has to pay petrol, wear and tear on her car, and other car or travel expenses. Then most mothers no longer do their own cooking nor do they sew, or knit everything is brought to make it easier for the working mother.. take all this and much more into consideration, and what is the mother really making...???
And worst of all, we haven't considered the emotional trauma of a child in day care, where he cant stop the bullying and neither can the carers.. no on is there to tell him that he is loved and to cuddle him when he is hurt, and he is toooo young to tell Mummy that he is scared, is it really worth all this...

[b4its2late]

Thank you. I had a very bad day at work today but this mad me laugh. $138, ooo a year???? What moron came up with this? More than most executives, salespeople, highly skilled trades, job that require 4 years of college BEFORE you can start training for a job...what a joke. Besides there are 12 million illegals that will clean, cook, babysit, grocery shop, run errands and watch the soaps like housewives for $7.oo an hr...what a joke

[slipster01]

So, when can I expect the Democrats at salary.com to start paying my wife's salary? If they insist she's worth over $130,000 a year, then they need to pay her.

Studies like this are a worthless waste of time.

Why not calculate how much a child's salary should be?

Or a homeless person? Lord knows, you couldn't pay me enough to risk my life living on the streets in the middle of winter, so their salary worth must be huge!

[slipster01]

I wonder how much welfare pays? I still see an awful lot of 'down-and-out out-of-work' families with 2 cars.

I work, and I have to ride a scooter because I can't afford a new car. Not to knocj the scooter, though, it's a sweet little ride, 70 MPH and 70 MPG.

[earthmover_9]

darkmeat4, ericsma said, %u201Cbut I just so happened to have been married to a lazy bum..." You accused her of %u2018putting out%u2019 before she got married. Maybe you need to learn how to read.

I don%u2019t think there really can be a true estimate of what a mother is worth. I know mine was irreplaceable. So what if some number crunchers came up with a figure of what they think a stay at home mom would receive if she got paid. What%u2019s the big deal?

Maybe it just chaps your a$$ that the guesstimate is more than you make?

Women are special because of who they are AND because they can bring into this world a new life%u2026 but not without the help of sperm. Some men are real fathers, some are just sperm donors. AND women do NOT just %u2018c r a p out a kid%u2019 as you put it. If you are a married man, and have kids, I sure hope that isn%u2019t how you look at the birth of your own children. You said, %u2018children are the reward%u2019, but it doesn%u2019t sound like that%u2019s how you look at them.

I feel sorry for your cat. Maybe you should take her and the kittens to the pound. They%u2019d probably be better off.

I%u2019m an old man. Too old to stand by and read what you, some smart a$$, wet behind the ears, little punk, spews about women and not say anything. Thank God for your mother, or be sorry your daddy didn%u2019t just shoot you out on the floor.

[earthmover_9]

darkmeat4, ericsma said, %u201Cbut I just so happened to have been married to a lazy bum..." You accused her of %u2018putting out%u2019 before she got married. Maybe you need to learn how to read.

I don%u2019t think there really can be a true estimate of what a mother is worth. I know mine was irreplaceable. So what if some number crunchers came up with a figure of what they think a stay at home mom would receive if she got paid. What%u2019s the big deal?

Maybe it just chaps your a$$ that the guesstimate is more than you make?

Women are special because of who they are AND because they can bring into this world a new life%u2026 but not without the help of sperm. Some men are real fathers, some are just sperm donors. AND women do NOT just %u2018c r a p out a kid%u2019 as you put it. If you are a married man, and have kids, I sure hope that isn%u2019t how you look at the birth of your own children. You said, %u2018children are the reward%u2019, but it doesn%u2019t sound like that%u2019s how you look at them.

I feel sorry for your cat. Maybe you should take her and the kittens to the pound. They%u2019d probably be better off.

I%u2019m an old man. Too old to stand by and read what you, some smart a$$, wet behind the ears, little punk, spews about women and not say anything. Thank God for your mother, or be sorry your daddy didn%u2019t just shoot you out on the floor.

[earthmover_9]

darkmeat4, ericsma said, %u201Cbut I just so happened to have been married to a lazy bum..." You accused her of %u2018putting out%u2019 before she got married. Maybe you need to learn how to read.

I don%u2019t think there really can be a true estimate of what a mother is worth. I know mine was irreplaceable. So what if some number crunchers came up with a figure of what they think a stay at home mom would receive if she got paid. What%u2019s the big deal?

Maybe it just chaps your a$$ that the guesstimate is more than you make?

Women are special because of who they are AND because they can bring into this world a new life%u2026 but not without the help of sperm. Some men are real fathers, some are just sperm donors. AND women do NOT just %u2018c r a p out a kid%u2019 as you put it. If you are a married man, and have kids, I sure hope that isn%u2019t how you look at the birth of your own children. You said, %u2018children are the reward%u2019, but it doesn%u2019t sound like that%u2019s how you look at them.

I feel sorry for your cat. Maybe you should take her and the kittens to the pound. They%u2019d probably be better off.

I%u2019m an old man. Too old to stand by and read what you, some smart a$$, wet behind the ears, little punk, spews about women and not say anything. Thank God for your mother, or be sorry your daddy didn%u2019t just shoot you out on the floor.

[earthmover_9]

darkmeat4, ericsma said, %u201Cbut I just so happened to have been married to a lazy bum..." You accused her of %u2018putting out%u2019 before she got married. Maybe you need to learn how to read.

I don%u2019t think there really can be a true estimate of what a mother is worth. I know mine was irreplaceable. So what if some number crunchers came up with a figure of what they think a stay at home mom would receive if she got paid. What%u2019s the big deal?

Maybe it just chaps your a$$ that the guesstimate is more than you make?

Women are special because of who they are AND because they can bring into this world a new life%u2026 but not without the help of sperm. Some men are real fathers, some are just sperm donors. AND women do NOT just %u2018c r a p out a kid%u2019 as you put it. If you are a married man, and have kids, I sure hope that isn%u2019t how you look at the birth of your own children. You said, %u2018children are the reward%u2019, but it doesn%u2019t sound like that%u2019s how you look at them.

I feel sorry for your cat. Maybe you should take her and the kittens to the pound. They%u2019d probably be better off.

I%u2019m an old man. Too old to stand by and read what you, some smart a$$, wet behind the ears, little punk, spews about women and not say anything. Thank God for your mother, or be sorry your daddy didn%u2019t just shoot you out on the floor.

[earthmover_9]

darkmeat4, ericsma said, %u201Cbut I just so happened to have been married to a lazy bum..." You accused her of %u2018putting out%u2019 before she got married. Maybe you need to learn how to read.

I don%u2019t think there really can be a true estimate of what a mother is worth. I know mine was irreplaceable. So what if some number crunchers came up with a figure of what they think a stay at home mom would receive if she got paid. What%u2019s the big deal?

Maybe it just chaps your a$$ that the guesstimate is more than you make?

Women are special because of who they are AND because they can bring into this world a new life%u2026 but not without the help of sperm. Some men are real fathers, some are just sperm donors. AND women do NOT just %u2018c r a p out a kid%u2019 as you put it. If you are a married man, and have kids, I sure hope that isn%u2019t how you look at the birth of your own children. You said, %u2018children are the reward%u2019, but it doesn%u2019t sound like that%u2019s how you look at them.

I feel sorry for your cat. Maybe you should take her and the kittens to the pound. They%u2019d probably be better off.

I%u2019m an old man. Too old to stand by and read what you, some smart a$$, wet behind the ears, little punk, spews about women and not say anything. Thank God for your mother, or be sorry your daddy didn%u2019t just shoot you out on the floor.

[earthmover_9]

opps... sorry for the numerous times this was posted. The dang computer kept telling me I had to wait to post.

[colonieny]

MEN WATCH YOUR WALLET SHE"S BEEN THINKING while you be working...


Woman are paid by society in many ways, not all through money. There is leisure time between chores, time that women get to use as they want. They can sit when they want, lie down, take a nap, read a book, go for a jog, all between times of actually being productive in the home. This is a great advantage for women, and while men are stressed ALL day, women can pace themselves, and even go to the spa. Men can't do that, no way.
Women also have many chores that we delagate to men, once the brute comes home. Sure we could take out the trash, but hey !
Women thiink they deserve more, and so does the law, in fact the trend today is for women to divorce the husband just before an early retirement, so that the man has to work by law until he virtually drops dead to support her, ha ha ha. She of course has "no skills" other than being a good long range planner. Gets 1/2 ov everything, including pension, and does not, Does not have to take care of any of his dirty laundry ever again. Men get sick before women in older age, she knows that too. Time to head to Europe, with gal pals to revisit the 60s.
Well, I hope I have shared just why women in America are so beloved, underappreciated and certainly underpaid.
from Colonie NY...

[earthmover_9]

darkmeat4, you make me laugh. You're a real piece of work.

I NEVER said, nor implied, that I think women should rely on welfare and keep popping out kids, not pooping like you said, in order to get paid.
Moron.

You must not be able to read or comprehend very well. Or you're pulling stuff out of your a$$.

As far as your cat is concerned... Sorry to hear she's a slu$ and didn't use protection and had s$x outside of marriage and you now have a ton of unwanted brats. (Isn't that kinda what you said to ericsma?) Couldn't have been me. I'm too old to get it up anymore. So don't come looking for me for 'child' support!!! Who's the sicko? Sorry bud, but I've never been into fu$king animals. Takes a sick mind to suggest that.

BTW, shouldn't YOU be responsible for keeping your cat in when she's in heat, or get her spayed? Especially since you are complaining so much about the 9 kittens.

[oleander8]

Men remarry at a much higher rate than women do. For men, there are advantages to having a wife.

For women, it's more laundry and she has to cook.

[asor1-2009]

ColonieNY, did I read your post correctly? If so, you are on drugs or are just plain hatefully stupid. My Mom worked from early in the AM to late PM, she washed, hung clothes outside, ironed, sewed, cooked, preserved food, cleaned house, walked to the market, took excellent care of us 4 brats and a thousand other kind things. No pay of any kind was expected. I loved her with all my heart and would gladly give her my entire salary today if she were here.
The USPS should have a stamp in honor of 'just plain Moms'.

[ezillyamused]

asor1:
Sounds to me like ColonieNY is nothing but a bitter, lonely old man who's wife got sick of his BS, left and got what she deserved. 1/2 of everything, except he got to keep ALL of his dirty laundry!

[colonieny]

asor1 and Ezlilly, I guess when the facts of life are too tough to challenge, you would attack me personally. Asor, you are talking about y our mother, another generation - the best generation. Not so today. And EZ, do you support women after divorce, going out and supporting themselves fully ? I doubt it. How far of a feminist are you.

Most married men have to put up with so much BS after marriage, including near celibacy and verbal abuse, that they feel imprisoned because of the divorce laws so favoring the female, and the women know it. That is not how it was for the WWII generation moms and dads.
These are the cold facts. By the tone of your note, I would bet you are never married, divorced , collecting free cash and cruising, and a total B to your man. Come on , you know I am right. I bet your are capable or working but spend the day on the computer, lazy lucky you.
I am not saying all women are this way in America, but a very high % of Baby Boomers have been taught to expect it all. That is why is has been called the ME generation. And now they are carping to be paid to watch Oprah and Jerry ? Come on.

[afmca]

This type of study just perpetuates the "I am a victim mentality." Most working Moms became Moms voluntarily. If they didn't realize that taking care of the child would actually take additional time, she was clueless. This scenario is the same for a married woman - her day is longer taking care of her husband. Hopefully she does this for love; not compensation. As a Working, Married Dad I know my after work hours are as filled with child rearing and home chores as my wife. After 25 years ahe has yet to threaten to go out on strike. I doubt the modern married working dad is the neanderthal of old. If the same study was done for working Dads, I would think the salary difference would be slight at the end. btw Father's Day is June 17th.