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A Stay-at-Home Mom’s Job Is Worth at Least $160,000, Study Says

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What do you think is a reasonable salary for stay-at-home moms? We’re talking a six-figure salary, according to a new study.

The smarty-pants at Salary.com created an easy-to-use tool that calculates a stay-at-home parent’s salary by asking users to record how many hours per week they spend playing different roles like housekeeper, cook, janitor, and laundry machine operator. Then, the program multiplies the number of hours and the hourly rate based on your zip code to determine the number on your paycheck. Salary.com found that the average salary for a stay-at-home parent should be roughly $162,581 for working a whopping 96 hours per week.

For every person out there saying, “that’s too much,” there’s a stay-at-home parent somewhere saying “darn straight!” It’s easy to discount the efforts of stay-at-home moms and dads; how long can it take to do laundry, right? But really, stay-at-home parents deserve to be appreciated for all they do day in and day out — often without monetary compensation. 

Salary.com has been publishing the results from their survey each year, and the numbers have only increased. The going rate in 2016 was $143,102, and that went up to $157,705 in 2017. 

“I’m a stay-at-home mom. Back when I worked, I felt like my job was my break away. Get to have adult conversation. Have some time to just sit and breathe. Focus on tasks that were predictable. Being at home 24/7 is challenging sometimes. So unpredictable and emotionally and mentally even physically takes all [you’ve] got. Somedays, spiritually, I’m praying, “Please give me the strength to get both these monkeys to bed.” It’s worth it. Don’t get me wrong, I love my little dudes. I’m choosing to be home. But I personally do find it harder to be home than to go to my job,” one stay-at-home mom wrote on a Facebook post about Salary.com’s tool.

So, the next time you’re stay-at-home-mom friend cancels on dinner plans because she has to be with her kids, don’t get angry. Instead, bring dinner to her, because lord knows she deserves it!

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