Stay-at-Home Mom Worth

Dear Dr. Dave and Dr. Dee,

After our child was born last year, my husband and I decided that I should quit work and focus on the family. I had always worked full-time up until having our son. Although I work hard at keeping our son happy and healthy, and the home nice, I feel undervalued. Is this because I am new to staying home full-time, or is this how all moms feel?

Signed,

Unappreciated

Dear Unappreciated,

Many moms feel unappreciated or undervalued, but working women who become stay-at-home moms especially feel undervalued because their self-worth had been tied to a "paycheck."

Stay-at-home moms make special sacrifices, perform many necessary duties, and have important responsibilities. In essence, a mom's worth is priceless.

Salary.com has come up with an estimated fair wage for the typical stay-at-home mom with two children. For example, a stay-at-home mom is worth over $100,000. Salary.com uses a combination of salaries based on the top jobs that you would have to pay other people to do the same work as a stay-at-home mom such as housekeeper, day care teacher, van driver, and teacher.

However, stay-at-home mom's are still not adequately compensated with this salary.com wage because moms with small children are on call 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and stay-at-home moms do not get any benefits such as pension plans.

For fun, salary.com provides an online "Mom Salary Wizard" where a Mom Paycheck can be created based on age of children, number of children, hours performed for various duties, and where one resides.

For more information on stay-at-home mom's salary, go to http://www.salary.com/mom-paycheck/