Dear Dr. Dave and Dr. Dee,
After our child was born last year, my husband and I decided that I should quit work and focus on the family. I had always worked full-time up until having our son. Although I work hard at keeping our son happy and healthy, and the home nice, I feel undervalued. Is this because I am new to staying home full-time, or is this how all moms feel?
Signed,
Unappreciated
Dear Unappreciated,
Many moms feel unappreciated or undervalued, but working women who become stay-at-home moms especially feel undervalued because their self-worth had been tied to a "paycheck."
Stay-at-home moms make special sacrifices, perform many necessary duties, and have important responsibilities. In essence, a mom's worth is priceless.
However, Salary.com has come up with an estimated fair wage for the typical stay-at-home mom with two children of $116,805. Salary.com used a combination of salaries based on the top 10 jobs that you would have to pay other people to do the same work as a stay-at-home mom such as housekeeper, day care teacher, van driver, and teacher (2008).
Stay-at-home mom's are still not adequately compensated with this salary because moms with small children are on call 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and stay-at-home moms do not get any benefits such as pension plans. In addition, mothers perform other chores and responsibilities in addition to those 10 figured in the mom salary (salary.com, 2008).
For mothers who work outside the home, Salary.com listed their at-home salary as $68,405 in 2008, which is in addition to their salary outside the home (2008).
Salary.com provides an online "Mom Salary Wizard" where a Mom Paycheck can be created based on age of children, number of children, hours performed for various duties, and where one resides.
For more information on stay-at-home mom's salary, go to http://swz.salary.com/momsalarywizard/htmls/mswl_momcenter.html