The Cost of Being a Mom [Infographic]

The next time you see your mom, be sure to tell her “Thank you”! You may not recognize the true value of her everyday duties which include everything from: raising sleepy babies, toddler temper tantrums, silent teenagers and cleaning up your mess. All of this take some serious skills. In fact, the “job” of a stay-at-home mom is actually equivalent to the duties of over 50 different paid professionals. Think about the salary you would have to pay for a personal chef, nanny, financial planner, accountant, therapist, personal taxi and personal stylist. How does she do it? Early mornings and sleepless nights.

Stay-at-home moms usually don’t have the option to clock out after work, take the weekends off or take leave for holidays. There is no such thing as two weeks paid off or sick days in her world. Moms put in an average of 96.5 hours per week with 46.5 of those hours being in overtime. That’s an average of 41% overtime each week. Now that is some serious overtime! So how much is your mom’s time worth?

Although she may love and cherish being paid in hugs and kisses, the cost of being a stay-at home mom comes at a price. In fact, the cost of being a stay-at-home mom is approximately $119,606 per year. Depending on what city you live in it can be a cost as high as $147,517. That is well above the national average income. Is the price she paid to stay home with you starting to add up now?

So the next time you see your mom, remember her job is you and she is counting on you to be worth her investment. Even after taking on multiple professional roles and spending endless overtime hours, if you asked your mom the cost she paid to stay-at-home, she’d say priceless.

Cost of Being a Mom