boston.com— The work of a stay-at-home mother has an annual monetary value of $138,095, up 3 percent from last year, according to a survey out today.
May 2, 2007View in Crawl 4
Dear wife: I can't afford you anymore. You are fired. I will pick up your responsibilities, delegate some to the kids, and contract out the sex. You are welcome to bid on that contract.
Dogstar you get right to the heart of exactly why these numbers are flawed. You're counting essentially ever single waking minute of a stay at home mom's day as work. Now you can say that Moms certainly do a lot of work, maybe even more than 8 hours a day, but they're not working ever single minute they're awake. They're not working when they're getting dressed, eating lunch, taking a shower, watching TV, ect... Furthermore, not all of the work they do has the same value. Cooking dinner is not worth the same as driving kids to school or the same as cleaning a bathroom.A recent economic study (that's a real economic study not some puff piece like this) from the Univeristies of Texas, Humbolt, and Brussels found that in industrialized countries the average woman does 4.5 hours of "house" work per day and 3.4 hours of professional work (the average man did 5.2 hours of professional work and 2.7 hours of "house" work, the exact same total of work as women by the way). At those rates $138k a year is not $26.53/hr as you claim but $84/hr. I think that's just slightly over valuing the real economic worth of the kind of work being done.
@dogstar0125: My wife is terrific and, as I said, I think it's great we have the luxury of her being able to stay home with our daughter. However, I disagree that she's doing work worth $26.63/hour for 16 hours per day. Much of what she does is invaluable, just as I'm sure she'd agree is the time that I spend with her and/or with my daughter. But the rest of the stuff that adds up to $138,000/year such as chauffeur is not. If I supply the car and pay for gas, I wouldn't pay someone $26/hr to drive me around town. Also, we don't pay our cleaning person $26/hr to clean our house. The fact of the matter is, it's an invalid comparison. When my wife is spending time with our daughter it cannot be measured in dollars (just like my time with my daughter). The rest of the work she does taking care of our home and family is NOT worth $138,000 per year.
Nicely said. This "study" tries to quantify motherhood in dollars by comparing the tasks to paying jobs. But the true value in motherhood is being a mother, to which there is no comparison and no value can be attached. If one were to look at the tasks performed alone, one could easily hire someone for far less than $138,000 per year. As you said, for $100K, people would be lining up at the door. And, what if you told these people you'd provide them with health insurance, a car, a home to stay in, spending money, and pay for all groceries and clothing?
I work a full time job and I pay half of the bills. I also come home and do the washing,cleaning,cooking and ironing for my husband and I. My kids are all grown and married. When they were at home childcare was added to this list. I never get anything extra from my husband unless it is my birthday, anniversary, valentine's day or mother's day and most of the time these occasions gets me a $50.00 bill in a card. And by the way I do the carpets, mop the floors, do most of the painting. My husband runs a business on the side from his regular job...He has never once offered me a penny when he has made good. H e says I work too and he shouldn't have to give me anything...I try to explain to him that the things I do to keep the house going should be worth something. I would say I am worth 138,000 dollars and more. He has never even paid for my part of a trip when we go on vacations. Do you men realize we wash your dirty underwear while you come home and sit your behinds in front of the TV without a care in the world because you know as wives we have taken care of everything for you...
staxofmaxMay 3, 2007
What about working dads who then come home and bust their ass helping to keep house as well? I'm pretty sure that would qualify as overtime.
johnagainMay 3, 2007
Dear wife: I can't afford you anymore. You are fired. I will pick up your responsibilities, delegate some to the kids, and contract out the sex. You are welcome to bid on that contract.
digitalomnivoreMay 3, 2007
Not really, I've had better.
tonich03May 3, 2007
I'd kill you in real life.
fuzzybunnyMay 3, 2007
Dogstar you get right to the heart of exactly why these numbers are flawed. You're counting essentially ever single waking minute of a stay at home mom's day as work. Now you can say that Moms certainly do a lot of work, maybe even more than 8 hours a day, but they're not working ever single minute they're awake. They're not working when they're getting dressed, eating lunch, taking a shower, watching TV, ect... Furthermore, not all of the work they do has the same value. Cooking dinner is not worth the same as driving kids to school or the same as cleaning a bathroom.A recent economic study (that's a real economic study not some puff piece like this) from the Univeristies of Texas, Humbolt, and Brussels found that in industrialized countries the average woman does 4.5 hours of "house" work per day and 3.4 hours of professional work (the average man did 5.2 hours of professional work and 2.7 hours of "house" work, the exact same total of work as women by the way). At those rates $138k a year is not $26.53/hr as you claim but $84/hr. I think that's just slightly over valuing the real economic worth of the kind of work being done.
Closed AccountMay 4, 2007
@dogstar0125: My wife is terrific and, as I said, I think it's great we have the luxury of her being able to stay home with our daughter. However, I disagree that she's doing work worth $26.63/hour for 16 hours per day. Much of what she does is invaluable, just as I'm sure she'd agree is the time that I spend with her and/or with my daughter. But the rest of the stuff that adds up to $138,000/year such as chauffeur is not. If I supply the car and pay for gas, I wouldn't pay someone $26/hr to drive me around town. Also, we don't pay our cleaning person $26/hr to clean our house. The fact of the matter is, it's an invalid comparison. When my wife is spending time with our daughter it cannot be measured in dollars (just like my time with my daughter). The rest of the work she does taking care of our home and family is NOT worth $138,000 per year.
Closed AccountMay 4, 2007
Nicely said. This "study" tries to quantify motherhood in dollars by comparing the tasks to paying jobs. But the true value in motherhood is being a mother, to which there is no comparison and no value can be attached. If one were to look at the tasks performed alone, one could easily hire someone for far less than $138,000 per year. As you said, for $100K, people would be lining up at the door. And, what if you told these people you'd provide them with health insurance, a car, a home to stay in, spending money, and pay for all groceries and clothing?
covet1Aug 25, 2007
I work a full time job and I pay half of the bills. I also come home and do the washing,cleaning,cooking and ironing for my husband and I. My kids are all grown and married. When they were at home childcare was added to this list. I never get anything extra from my husband unless it is my birthday, anniversary, valentine's day or mother's day and most of the time these occasions gets me a $50.00 bill in a card. And by the way I do the carpets, mop the floors, do most of the painting. My husband runs a business on the side from his regular job...He has never once offered me a penny when he has made good. H e says I work too and he shouldn't have to give me anything...I try to explain to him that the things I do to keep the house going should be worth something. I would say I am worth 138,000 dollars and more. He has never even paid for my part of a trip when we go on vacations. Do you men realize we wash your dirty underwear while you come home and sit your behinds in front of the TV without a care in the world because you know as wives we have taken care of everything for you...