Stay at home mom

When my husband and got pregnant we realized that it would be better for me to be a stay at home mom instead of working. Recently I was speaking with someone and they asked me my families 5 year plan. I told them about that my husband would continue working and go to school, we might move and I might have another kid, resulting in me continuing to be a Stay-At-Home-Mom until my children are in school.

I was shocked when they responded "So, you are just not going to be a productive member of society anymore?"

I had so many responses come to my brain, all angry, that I froze. Luckily for them, my sister-in-law changed the subject. I could not believe that someone would say that to me. I am a hard working woman, I am not just watching Disney movies. I am taking care of my family and trying to give my children (the next generation) a strong foundation. This person also told me in a previous conversation that they could not understand why I don't have anytime to make all of my families food from scratch (apparently making my babies food from scratch does not count).

I thought to myself, "They are crazy. They don't have kids and don't know what it is like. One day, they will figure it out." I spoke with other mothers (stay-at-home and working) and they were outraged that people would think so little of my life choice.


I found a wonderful article about the worth of being a stay at home mom at https://www.forbes.com/sites/jennagoudreau/2011/05/02/why-stay-at-home-moms-should-earn-a-115000-salary/#49f151aa75f4.

Why Stay-At-Home Moms Should Earn A $115,000 Salary

Think you can't put a price on motherhood? According to a new survey by Salary.com, a division of human resources consultant Kenexa, moms should be charging $115,000 per year for their work.

In the tenth annual Mom Salary Survey, researchers examined 6,616 mothers and attempted to value their work by breaking down motherly duties into 10 separate titles: Day Care Center Teacher, CEO, Psychologist, Cook, Housekeeper, Laundry Machine Operator, Computer Operator, Facilities Manager, Janitor and Van Driver.

Call it continuing fallout from the global recession, but in 2011 stay-at-home moms' estimated wages dropped. This year, results indicate that stay-at-home moms would earn a base salary of $36,968 plus $78,464 in overtime, totaling $115,432--down $2,424 from last year's estimation of $117,856. Meanwhile, moms that work outside the home earned a “mom” base salary of $39,763 plus $23,709 in overtime, adding $63,472  on top of their day jobs.

"We see [Mom] as the compilation of 10 jobs in one person," said Evilee Ebb, general manager of Salary.com. "The breadth of Mom’s responsibilities is beyond what most workers could ever experience day-to-day. Imagine if you had to attract and retain a candidate to fill this role?”

According to the survey, the typical stay-at-home mom works almost 97 hours a week, spending 13.2 hours as a day-care teacher; 3.9 hours as household CEO; 7.6 hours as a psychologist; 14.1 hours as a chef; 15.4 as a housekeeper; 6.6 hours doing laundry; 9.5 hours as a PC-or-Mac operator; 10.7 hours as a facilities manager; 7.8 hours as a janitor and 7.8 hours driving the family Chevy.

Salary.com aimed to market price Mom in the same manner it prices a job. For 10 titles, a nearly 100-hour work-week and a six-figure annual rate, moms may be the most valuable workers in the country.