A Woman's Worth

As a stay-at-home mom, what’s your worth?  The bad news is: This year, less than usual.

Earlier this month, Salary.com released the results of its 10th annual survey on the subject.

It found that stay-at-home moms should earn $117,856 and that mothers who also  work outside the home would earn an additional $71,860 above their regular salary for doing what they do as  moms. But the recession impacted the results, dragging those numbers down by 4% for stay-at-home mothers and 6% for working moms.

Furthermore, the survey found that moms rack up more than 96 hours a week of work when combining a full-time job, mom hours, and mom overtime — four hours more than last year, meaning everyone is working more, for less. 

The  salary figures were based on the time women spent on what were identified as the 10 most popular job functions of a mother. Salary.com established its figures by considering the market value for those tasks, which include laundry machine operator, janitor, van driver, computer operator, housekeeper, day care center teacher, cook, chief executive officer, psychologist, and facilities manager.

The survey also found that moms are spending more time this year on tasks such as preparing meals, making sure the home stays in good repair, and shuttling the family to activities.