SAHMs are "Worth" $138,000 Annually. Like They'll Ever Get It.

Web Round Up - 5/4/07 « On The Fly - A Parenting Blog

Web Round Up - 5/4/07 « On The Fly - A Parenting Blog — Fri, 04 May 2007 17:00:43 GMT

PingBack from http://onthefly.wordpress.com/2007/05/04/web-round-up-5407/

re: SAHMs are "Worth" $138,000 Annually. Like They'll Ever Get It.

HDCS — Fri, 04 May 2007 05:27:45 GMT

Well in my house, I seem to do everything, including the yard work and vehicle maintenance in addition to the usual housework. And I'd happily take half of that.

re: SAHMs are "Worth" $138,000 Annually. Like They'll Ever Get It.

Airwick — Thu, 03 May 2007 19:02:17 GMT

If you look closely at the links at the bottom of the salary.com page hosting this ... you'll see the link for the stay-at-home-Dad calculator as well ... but don't worry ... its full of gender bias as well:

1) Dad's supposedly don't do housekeeping ... but we do "General Maintenance Work"

2) We also get to do Groundskeeping (sure, maybe more guys end up mowing the lawn, but what about gardening shouldn't that show up somewhere on Mom's timesheet?)

3) We are also supposedly slackers who only work 81 hours a week rather than the 91.8 that moms work (of course, you can edit your hours for both Mom's Dad's timesheets) - but as a default, it assumes that Dad is just a slacker for the extra 10.8 hours a week.

But anyway ... its all just a joke and PR for salary.com anyway ... they released it last year in time for mothers day ... and then released the Dad-version in time for Father's day. But of course ... none of the media coverage even mentions us poor neglected SAHD's ... sigh ...

re: SAHMs are "Worth" $138,000 Annually. Like They'll Ever Get It.

Thu, 03 May 2007 17:38:12 GMT

...because when *men* do the same work, *they* get paid. Just ask your local househusband.

re: SAHMs are "Worth" $138,000 Annually. Like They'll Ever Get It.

viciousrumours — Thu, 03 May 2007 17:06:08 GMT

Yeah, they forgot:

Plumber, Nurse Practioner, Tutor, Coach, Editor, Proofreader.... they missed a BUNCH of things. *laughs* Nice to know I'm worth so much though. Think I can use that to get a home loan?

re: SAHMs are "Worth" $138,000 Annually. Like They'll Ever Get It.

birdfourth — Thu, 03 May 2007 16:35:28 GMT

Actualy, Rahab, the study isn't pointless. It's informative. If SAHParenting were paid, this is how much they would earn and a percentage of that would be socked away into their social security funds. But as the laws and social convention currently are, $0 gets added to their total earnings every year that a parent stays at home.

Maybe a percentage of that amount could be automatically applied to our lifetime earnings so that we don't have that gaping hole from earning no wages. Social Security is still calculated on an individual basis, so it's not like the working parents' earnings are divided in half and applied to the stay at home parents.

Perhaps this study could also be an argument for raising the maximum contributions to IRAs for non-earning parents. As it is now, it's $4,000 -- a far cry from the max amount allowed to be added to a 401K for the working spouse.

re: SAHMs are "Worth" $138,000 Annually. Like They'll Ever Get It.

Rahab — Thu, 03 May 2007 16:05:50 GMT

I never said "his money" It is both of their money. Hence she is getting "paid" just not directly. Her contributions are valuable they just aren't traded on the market. I've been both a stay at home and work away from home mom. Yeah they both involve work, so does being alive in general. Perhaps we should factor in the cost of gestating as well - the going rate is about 20,000 for a surrogate.

This study is still pointless regardless of who paid for it. It's like Chris Rock says, Don't brag about stuff you are supposed to do. Everyone has jobs to do around the house, whether a parent, a single person, or what not, and no one should expect a paycheck for it or special accolades.

re: SAHMs are "Worth" $138,000 Annually. Like They'll Ever Get It.

whysofma — Thu, 03 May 2007 14:42:57 GMT

Rahab: This study was done by salary.com, a publicly held company. None of your tax dollars went to this. If you're a salary.com stock holder, you could complain to the management and board about the pointlessness of it.

Actually I am married to a SAHM, and you should be careful in your characterization of my wages as "his money." It's both mine and my wife's money, regardless of whose work literally brought it home.

re: SAHMs are "Worth" $138,000 Annually. Like They'll Ever Get It.

Rahab — Thu, 03 May 2007 14:21:23 GMT

How much are all the repairs, yardwork, renovations etc done by fathers and husband worth? We'll never know because they won't waste more of our tax dollars on something so poitless as this study was but for men.

When the husband works the SAHM gets to spend the money he brought in and live in teh house his money bought so it's nonsense that she doesn't get paid. You'll notice you never hear the term "working dad" even though millions are just that.

re: SAHMs are "Worth" $138,000 Annually. Like They'll Ever Get It.

Sarah, Goon Squad Sarah — Thu, 03 May 2007 13:19:00 GMT

Man, I'd take a pay cut and use it to pay a cleaning service and I'd still have money left over.

I'd strike with you, but I'm worried about the laundry that will pile up and my children rotting in their own filth.

Plus, they don't know how to work the TiVo yet.