Comments on: A Mother’s Love is Worth $117,000 Per Year

By: KrisUnderwood

KrisUnderwood — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 16:01:59 +0000

Hazard pay…labor pay….that’s great!

They come out with this thing every year and it never says anything new. It’s quite silly and ridiculous. I had to write something on it myself.

Linked to your post, BTW.

By: Mrs. Micah

Mrs. Micah — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 19:36:18 +0000

What gets me is when in a divorce, the husband and SAHW assume that he deserves more of the money because he “earned” it all. They may not come out and say it, but it clouds both their judgments.

Damn wrong, however. He might not be able to afford that $117k worth of care a year, but he’d sure as hell have to spend a lot more money if he didn’t have a live in housekeeper and someone to care for any children (a SAHW/M is much more than a housekeeper and babysitter but she fills those needs as well). The money they have as a couple is dependent in part on how much money her presence there saves them.

So while a mom’s love and care whether she’s at home or work are really priceless, I hope that this sort of thing will help women in particular feel their own value.

By: pSerendipity

pSerendipity — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 18:49:09 +0000

I’m probably in the minority here, but what was the problem with the article? It simply stated what the value is for a mom’s duties and how much a working mom is paid on her job. What was so deep about it?

As an aside — remember when Pilar did the exact same thing on Prime Time Love? LOL

By: JT

JT — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 18:21:35 +0000

I am currently a SAHM and I agree that this amount is ridiculous. However, the idea of attaching a monetary value to “my job” is not necessarily bad, especially if someone is trying to decide whether or not to keep working or stay at home. BUT, in my analysis, I am only considering direct savings by not working, such as:
1. The avoidance of paying for quality daycare: (in my area, this runs roughly $45/kid/day, or about $25k over a yr for 2 children).
2. Savings from always cooking at home/not eating out, taking careful advantage of grocery sales instead of grabbing whatever, and spending a lot less $ on clothes/dry cleaning/etc. Also less gas/transportation costs. I’m going to ballpark this one at $8k, higher than some maybe but I previously had a long commute.
3. Savings from not paying taxes on salary $ earned, and also savings from my husband’s income being taxed in a lower bracket than if I were working. For us, this is around $12k.

So for us for now, I would need to earn more than $45k to come out ahead. Which is right about what I was making when I left after having child #2…. Obviously, no one is handing me $45k for the responsibilities I have, but I AM saving our family about that amount by doing what I do.

By: Donna

Donna — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 15:34:19 +0000

In total agreement with the hazard pay, and mine are all under 9. heh.