Stay-at-home-Moms deserve high pay, analysis shows...

[Catchawave]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/economy_mothers_dc;_ylt=AorwbbaTvp91N7AKhllj2Tus0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTA2bm5xNHVjBHNlYwNtcA--

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The old adage that "a mother's work is never done" remains as true now as ever. Today's stay-at-home Moms are learning what their predecessors always knew -- they'd be making a lot of money doing their job outside the home.

Just in time for Mother's Day, an informal study conducted by Web site Salary.com shows that stay-at-home moms would earn an average of $131,471 annually, including overtime, if they received a paycheck.

A sampling of the 5.4 million stay-at-home mothers were asked to come up with job titles that fit a general description of their daily routines.

The titles -- which reflected the most time-consuming parts of their day -- include day-care center teacher, van driver, housekeeper, cook, chief executive officer, nurse and general maintenance worker, the survey showed.

Of course, a stay-at-home parent does not work typical office hours. The hypothetical median salary is based on a 100-hour work week and assumes caring for at least two children of school age.

more :)

[mzmolly]

1. Good info ... and just in time for Mothers Day.

:toast: Nominated.

[mzmolly]

2. BTW, you should consider posting in GD?

:hi:

[kimchi]

3. I was gonna ask for 40k.

Which is what a couple I met at the park pay their nanny!

[benny05]

4. and I wish they got more

I chose not to be a mom, but I respect those who choose to be, as long as they raise their children to take responsibilities. Many kids today only care about their cell phones, etc. This comment is not directed to DU'ers, but all parents.

[halobeam]

5. I knew I was being ripped off!!!

well, the money does rot, but the experience is priceless.

I look forward to grandparenting. :-)

[Pachamama]

6. When I used to work FT, I made more than that & worked 1/2 as much as I do

now as a fulltime stay at home mom of two kids under 5. Going back to work would be a vacation compared to my work and daily schedule now.

Personally, I think that number should be closer to $200K annually....

But one note: This work is so much more rewarding than anything I used to do when I was in the "work world".... :hug:

[CoffeeCat]

8. I relate!!

I stay at home with two children ages 4, 5. They are 15 months apart.

I agree. Working outside the home was a vacation compared to this. Ohhhhh...what I wouldn't give for an hour lunch break at a restaurant with girlfriends! Or how about grabbing some coffee in the break room and chatting it up with co-workers for 15 minutes--before I go back to my desk to work my brain, make some calls to the media and write some fun stuff.

I'm not complaining! I LOVE staying at home and I'm feel blessed every day to be a part of my children's lives. However, the job is non stop at a frenetic pace. You must be emotionally and psychologically in top form and be ultra patient and prepared for anything--every nanosecond.

Making breakfast takes on new meaning when you're a stay-at-home mom! My 4-yr old will want to help stir the eggs, so I must supervise so she doesn't get raw egg on her hands. Then we must wash her hands, and that is supervised--otherwise the soap ends up smeared on the counter and poofed up into big bubbles in the sink. So I run all over the house, looking for her step stool so she can reach the sink. Meanwhile the eggs are burning. I turn down the eggs, locate the step stool, wash, dry and now she decides that she wants to help put peanut butter on the toast. Smearing pb on toast, should take 5 seconds, but she takes 10 minutes to glob on a big plop of peanut butter that sticks in the middle of the bread. My 5 year old is screaming, "Why is it taking so long? Please mommy please! I'm starving!", as I try to cool down the eggs so they don't burn their mouths. I also must chop up the eggs into small pieces, so they won't choke. Grapes are cut into quarters!

I place one plate in front of my 5 year old and return to find my 4 year old painting peanut butter on the cat's tail. I take the plastic knife from her and repeat the hand washing once again and explain that kitties don't need their tails coated in peanut butter. I know get a 10-minute dissertation (and yes this is all one sentence) "But Mommy, kitties lick themselves when they take baths so I was helping Comet to have a snack while he takes his bath then he doesn't have to go all the way to his bowl to get a snack if he gets hungry while he's taking a bath so he just can eat the peanut butter and it's right there for him when he gets hungry during his bath." Up she goes, to the table--and they proceed to eat breakfast when the doorbell rings.

Ahhhh...it's the UPS man. I sign the clipboard and I'm just about to hand it back when my two kids appear and proceed to scream lines from Sponge Bob Squarepants at the UPS man, "WANNA HEAR A BATHROOM JOKE? WANNA HEAR A BATHROOM JOKE? DO YOU? I'M PATRICK THE STARFISH! HOW LONG...HOW LONG HAVE I BEEN UGLY?? PEOPLE FROM TEXAS ARE STUPID! HOWDY YA'ALL! HOWDY YA'ALL!". The UPS man grabs the clipboard, runs away and tears out of our neighborhood. I shepherd the kids back to the table, as they wipe their peanut-butter and egg-encrusted hands on the upholstered couch on the way back to their chairs.

Finally seated again, my oldest reminds me that she likes "sprinkle cheese" (shreds) on her eggs and not "flat cheese" (slices). Ever try to remove melted cheese shreds from scrambled eggs? It ain't pretty. I perform the cheese surgery and all is well.

Too bad the cat--the one with the peanut butter soaked tail--is perched on a living room chair--violently swishing his tail back and forth--looking at a squirrel outside, through the window. Swipes of peanut butter adorn my eggplant-colored chair.

I wipe it off as my children finish their breakfast. All of this before 9:00 am!

No more Spongebob, that's all I can say! :)

[leftofthedial]

7. I value stay-at-home parenting so highly

that I worked two or three jobs most of the last 18 years.

I am highly suspicious of the salary cited in the article. $130K? No way. Nearly all the jobs cited make less than half that.

The basic thesis is good. That role is undervalued.

[Telly Savalas]

9. $130K based on a 100 hour work week.

Which rests on the assumption that for the 60 or so hours that the stay-at-home parent has the other parent as a partner, that the other partner isn't doing anything. This assumption is highly insulting in cases where it's not true, and a major social problem in much more dire need of reporting in the cases where it is true.

Also, it's curious that Salary.com only surveyed female stay-at-home parents. I guess parenting is "women's work" in their eyes.

[leftofthedial]

14. me (the non-stay-at-home parent) being insulted aside

I think the claim that a stay-at-home parent is worth a $130K salary is ridiculous on its face and serves as fuel for ridicule by those who oppose valuing the houseparent.

[Mizmoon]

10. I cannot tell a lie

I loved staying home. It was a cakewalk compared to my previous executive job. Every day I felt like I was getting away with something by not having to work in an office.

:shrug:

[tigereye]

12. working with your child at home

is much harder than working at work. No contest. The hardest job you don't get paid for... doesn't seem right, does it?

[underpants]

11. Aside from day care costs I'm not buying any of this

I do all of our laundry, cleaning, dishes, etc. and it is just a matter of organization and not sitting down to watch TV. I learned that from my mother who always brushed off the "work of housewives"-as a "single mother" of two where ever we lived was always immaculate and that included the period when she worked a second job at Sears. I asked her about this and she said,"The biggest problem is sitting around eating bon bons and watching TV".

I have yet to see where she is wrong.

[SKKY]

13. My wife does OK for being a Stay at home mother...

The Military doesn't pay me crap. They do however pay her around 54K plus full medical/dental/etc. So, I'd say she's doing OK.