Study Reveals How Much American Moms Would Make A Year If They Were Paid For The Work They Do Around The House
The role of a mom is often overlooked, but by breaking down the actual costs of their labor, it really puts things into perspective.
Prostock-studio | Shutterstock Motherhood is often referred to as a "thankless job," mostly because of the lack of acknowledgment that comes along with it. Whether they're a working mom or a stay-at-home mom, the load can often end up being the same, and compared to other jobs, mothers never receive any financial compensation or even days off from the title of having to take care of another human being and keeping the house together.
However, a recent study from Insure.com did the math and quantified the amount of work and effort mothers put in every day. Not only is this quite costly, but it also really puts into perspective how overlooked the role of a mom can sometimes be.
A study found the average annual income of American moms if they were paid for the work they do around the house.
According to Insure.com's Mother’s Day Index for 2024, if America’s mothers were paid for their work around the house, they would have earned an annual salary of $140,315 over the past year. The data indicated that moms' wages increased by 5% from last year’s Mother’s Day Index, which found that the work mothers did was equivalent to a salary of $133,440.
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Researchers used the fair market value of real work. Using the Bureau of Labor and Statistics to find out how much money, on average, each task a mom takes on daily and set an hourly rate for that task. For example, they determined a cook's hourly rate and then multiplied that number by the hours moms spend cooking. They did that for each task, from tutoring to housecleaning.
"For instance, we estimated that a mom could spend 14 hours a week cooking. Cooks, according to the BLS, make $16.31 an hour. For cooking 14 hours a week for 52 weeks, Insure put mom’s annual compensation for preparing meals at $11,874. The editors then added the pay for cooking with the salaries for the common jobs moms do and came up with an annual salary figure," the study revealed.
In the past, people expressed interest in actually paying moms for their work.
A plan proposed by Girls Who Code founder Reshma Saujani, in an op-ed for The Hill, questioned if moms should receive a $2,400 monthly stipend for their, sometimes invisible, labor. In 2020, Saujani had called on then-President-elect Biden to create a "task force dedicated to implementing a Marshall Plan for Moms" during his first 100 days.
Along with the stipend, Saujani wrote that the plan should include "long overdue" parental leave, affordable childcare, and pay equity. She added that it should be implemented by a task force led by a designated "caregiving czar."
While Biden clearly never followed up on Saujani's proposal, it definitely opened up the conversation about how bogged down too many mothers are from having to juggle their unpaid responsibilities with everything else in their lives.
The invisible labor of motherhood takes quite a toll on women.
A 2019 study published in the journal Sex Roles found that 90% of married or partnered moms felt solely responsible for their children and household, and 8 out of 10 moms reported that they were the ones responsible for dealing with their children’s teachers and school. Similarly, an in-depth study from Gallup and Motherly’s Annual State of Motherhood Study revealed that women are still overwhelmingly the go-to parents, no matter how busy their professional lives are.
Sixty-six percent of moms say they’re the parent expected to address childcare crises, compared to just 22% of dads. Moms are also twice as likely as dads to turn down promotions, cut back hours, or consider leaving their jobs altogether because of family obligations.
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On top of that, Moms who juggle personal and professional responsibilities daily are 81% more likely to experience burnout than those who don’t.
Saujani acknowledged that the proposal wouldn't solve all of the problems faced by moms, but she pointed out in the op-ed that it would at least “begin to abate” the "gross disregard for the value of mothers’ unpaid, unseen, unappreciated labor."
However, simply having the government openly acknowledge that not only is motherhood quite a difficult and overwhelming task, but it's also a full-time job that should be properly compensated could be quite a monumental step forward.
Nia Tipton is a staff writer with a bachelor’s degree in creative writing and journalism who covers news and lifestyle topics that focus on psychology, relationships, and the human experience.