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 $134,121 for executing all of her daily tasks based on a 100-hour work week. Salary.com used a combination of salaries based on what you would have to pay other people to do the same work as a stay-at-home mom. For example the national average salaries for: 1. Day-care Center Teacher $26,891 2. Van Driver $30,762 3. Housekeeper $18,750 4. Cook $31,099 5. CEO $612,623 6. General Maintenance Worker $29,656 Salary.com Stay-at-home Mom Base Pay (40 hours): $45,697 Plus Mom Overtime (60 hours): $88,424 TOTAL Stay-at-Home Mom Salary: $134,121 Salary.com also feels that stay-at-home mom's are still not adequately compensated with this salary because moms 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 that were not listed above such as counselor, educator, tutor, entertainer, laundress, nurse, or accountant. For mothers who work outside the home, Salary.com feels they should earn the 60 hours of mom overtime in addition to her work paycheck. For more information on stay-at-home mom's salary, see "WHAT IS A MOM WORTH? WORKING MOM vs. STAY AT HOME MOM SALARIES FOR 2006," www.salary.com |
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| Self Esteem Challenges |