A Mother’s Worth

May 8, 2018 By: The Farmers Bank

As we celebrate Mother’s Day this coming Sunday, I am blessed to still have my 94 year old mother. She still lives at home, in fairly good health and still as sassy as ever. She has seen a lot of changes in her years. She likes to look at pictures and hear stories from Facebook but don’t ask her to use one. She has a flip phone but it will always be safe sitting on the charger beside her chair. Heaven forbid she actually put it in her pocket and take it with her when she goes out!! She grew up on a farm, worked as a Rosie-the-Riveter during WWII, raised four daughters and was a good wife. She was both a stay-at-home mom and worked a public job. When my father died in 1973 she worked for 30 years to pay off the mortgage on their newly purchased home. She has done it all.

I have done a little research to see what she and all mothers are worth. We know that we can’t value the love and kisses mothers give to their children but what would it cost if there were no mothers out there and fathers had to hire someone to do all her jobs. Here’s what I found a mother’s various jobs to be valued at in today’s world (according to Salary.com):

• Janitor – $9.66 an hour – 7.8 hrs/week – $75.35 /week
• Cook/Nutritionist – 13.13 – 14.1 – 185.13
• Psychologist – 38.59 – 7.6 – 293.28
• Laundry – 9.62 – 6.6 – 63.49
• Driver – 14.76 – 7.8 – 115.13
• Computer Operator – 15.29 – 9.5 – 145.26
• Facilities Manager – 31.39 – 10.7 – 335.87
• Day Care/Teacher – 12.98 – 13.2 – 171.37
• Housekeeper – 9.86 – 15.4 – 151.84
• Chief Executive Officer – 50.13 – 3.9 – 195.51

So what would mom’s paycheck look like? On average a stay-at-home mother spends approximately 96.60 hours weekly doing motherly jobs equaling $1,732.23 a week or $90,075.96 a year. Working moms do “mom jobs” approximately 55.9 hours per week, in addition to their regular jobs. Their earnings would be approximately $63,471 a year. These figures do not include overtime (mothers average a 13.8 hour day—sometimes many more).

Having been a mother for 42 years, I can’t remember ever receiving a check for mothering, but I have gotten lots of wildflowers, drawings that hung on my refrigerator for years, chocolates, roses, etc., but my favorite gifts along the way are the heartfelt “thanks”, visits from my children and the words “I love you”. I would, however, be agreeable to a check in any amount. I saw the most awesome purse the other day on QVC!!!

Happy Mother’s Day to all mothers! We are “very blessed and highly favored”.