This question is really hard because the stay-at-home mom is the main fabric of the entire family. The job of the stay-at-home mom is a job that is a 24 hour a day position, no holidays or vacations because she does all of the household tasks. Some of these tasks include raising children,being on call and handling errands with no set work hour. If a monetary worth were placed on the jobs that stay-at-home moms did, the worth would be in the millions of dollars, an amount equivalent to the income of a business CEO.
The CEO of the home
Stay-at-home moms are the CEO’s of the home, they have to physically and emotionally manage the entire household; which includes budgets, households tasks, and raising children. Stay-at-home moms are the nurses when everyone gets sick, or they are the coaches for their kids activities. These moms work many hours to keep the household running efficiently so that the spouse doesn’t have to worry about the operation of the home. Many of the skills that a stay-at-home mom uses are job skills that are used in many external paying jobs that include handling financials, teaching children, problem solving, organizing and managing tasks. Stay-at-home moms learn to prioritize many of the tasks to know which is to be completed first.
Fighting perceptions
Stay-at-home moms have to fight perceptions that they really don’t have a real job since they don’t earn money. It is due to that fact that stay-at-home moms are taken for granted and occassionally acknowledged for all their hard work around the home. Stay At Home Moms should be respected and appreciated because of their sacrifices. If a single person with children had to hire a person to do all of the household tasks and errands that a stay-at-home mom would do; they would have to pay that person about 12-15 dollars an hour. Depending on the job done and the hours needed, the salary could be higher if inclusive with health benefits. Some household workers are hired for specific duties such as a nanny or live in housekeeper.
The second perception is that stay-at-home moms watch soap operas, eat chocolates all day and don’t work as hard as the bread winner of the household. This whole idea has been around for many years, during the sixties and seventies and decades before. Due to this perception, an argument was created by the business world as to why woman shouldn’t be allowed to work outside the home. During the 1960’s and 1970’s more women started to work outside the home, because of this perception, it made woman’s rights more difficult. The attitude about women in the workplace was that they didn’t have the skills, or the abilities to do a man’s job. Today, that has been proven wrong; since now there are more women in the workplace than men due to the job fields that have been affected in this economy like construction.
Technology helps stay at home become work at home
Decades before stay-at-home-moms would perform the tasks of managing the home and family; moms were limited to these duties. Since the invention of the Internet, the affordability of office equipment and computers, many people can work from home. As a stay-at-home mom, if they chose to work as well, this is an added task that brings more work and additional income to the household. Stay-at-home moms not only have the option to only raise their children and manage their homes ,but operate or work for businesses;if they chose. Many stay-at-home moms may create an opportunity on their own by choosing to operate eBay auctions, blog for a living and freelance many home based jobs for large companies.
When evaluating what a stay-at-home mom’s job is really worth, consider what you would have paid your mom after the years of raising and managing you. If you are a stay-at-home mom; what would you ask for a salary, and think about what you are worth compared to a person hired to do household chores inside home? It is possible you are worth ten times that amount because of all of the things stay-at-home moms do that aren’t factored.
There is no amount of pay that could recompense the hours that a stay-at-home mom spends taking care of her family; when a child gets nursed back to health after a surgery or illness. Baking a cake for a PTA meeting or a school bake sale, taking the time to make a home craft gift for a family member or friend. There is no pay for these actions that any mom would do for her family, it’s the quality time spent that is priceless.
Stay At Home moms are an essential asset to the whole family and should be regarded as such; the same as moms that work outside the home. Moms that decide to remain at home or work outside the home play important roles in the entire family development and each should not be judged as being more important than the other.