Study Finds Stay-at-Home Moms Should Earn More Than $160,000 for Caring for Their Kids

While many would agree it’s hard to put a monetary value on the efforts of a stay-at-home parent, a new study has contributed to the opposite side of the conversation in a quantifiable way — to the tune of $162,581.

These 2018 results, gathered by Salary.com, saw researchers select “a handful of jobs that reflect a day in the life of a mom” and add it all up using the site’s stay-at-home-parent Salary Wizard tool.

Example “hybrid roles” the findings cite are bookkeeper, tailor, public school teacher, dietitian, coach, logistics analyst and many more.

Notably, the “salary” from the site’s annual calculations has seemed to be on a steady rise over the past couple of years — up from $143,102 in 2016 and $157,705 in 2017, based on a whopping 96 hours of work per week.

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In a 2017 post on Facebook, WUSA 9 asked followers whether they thought the number at the time — $143,102 — was too much or too little a value to put on a stay-at-home mom’s worth.

“I am not a SAHM, but I know some that are worth every penny and more,” one woman commented while another said, in a similar vein, “It should be more than that, not only what we do but how much we spend on these kids!”

A third opined the money was “way too much,” adding, “Yes, it is a lot of work and worry to be a stay at home mom. But … wealthy people hire a butler for $38,000 annual salary. A maid for $35,000. And lawn care for $20,000 a year. All that together is still much less than $143,000.00 🤔”

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Fathers chimed in too. As one dad remarked, “I’m a single dad that has to work and do all the house chores as well so how much am I worth and who’s going to pay me?”

“I think it must be great to have someone to take care of you while you do what you would be doing anyway and don’t have to be employed and if women feel that unhappy about spending their time with their families then why did they have a family in the first place?” he continued.

Salary.com states that the research is conducted “to honor all the moms out there who work their hardest day-in and day-out,” adding, “We would like to recognize both professional and stay-at-home moms on their unwavering dedication to their families and other responsibilities.”