We did the math on stay-at-home mothers. And the results may surprise you! Stay-at-home parenting is no easy task. And mothers who do this all by themselves, without any external help, are no less than super-heroes.A Stay-at-home mum juggles multiple responsibilities and are experts at multitasking. They handle the cleaning, maintenance and general upkeep of the house. For example they do the laundry, cook meals, drive the kids to school and back, help them with their home work, and occasionally act as a therapist and all-around problem solver.
Well, you might say it’s just what mothers do. But do the math behind how much a stay-at-home mum would actually be making and you’d be surprised to find that replacing her would cost quite a bit of money. There have been a few surveys, studies and analyses published in the past, that try to quantify how much a mom is economically worth.
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Putting a number on a mom’s job doesn’t seem fair. Moms don’t expect to receive a compensation for everything that they do for their families. But in this day and age, when every possible service can be outsourced, finding out how much it would cost to outsource a stay-at-home mum’s work, makes for an interesting analysis.
How much should stay-at-home mums be earning?
We did some research to find out the average rates being charged by various service providers in the UAE for the jobs that a stay-at-home mum handles – cooking, cleaning, doing the laundry, and others. To calculate the annual earnings for each of these categories, we’ve used an average of the price ranges.
Here’s how much a stay-at-home mom would make if she were paid for all her work:
| Job Role | Standard costs for similar work | Average Annual Earnings |
| Cook | AED 800-1,400/month | AED 13,200 |
| Housekeeper | AED 35/hour (part time) or AED 1,500-2,500/month (full time) | AED 24,000 |
| Laundry service provider | AED 600-1000/month (washing & ironing 50-80 pieces) | AED 9,600 |
| Driver | AED 2,500-3,500/month for private chauffeur services | AED 36,000 |
| Private Tutor | AED 100-200/hour per subject (twice per week) | AED 14,400 |
| Day care center worker | AED 10,000-12,000 per 3-month term (5 days/week option) | AED 44,000 |
| Therapist | AED 500-700 per 1-hour session (every other week) | AED 14,400 |
| Total Annual Salary | AED 155,600 | |
Price ranges for many of these services like housekeeping, cooking and chauffeur services will vary based on the frequency and load of work involved. For example, laundry service providers that offer a monthly package for washing/ironing 50 to 80 pieces in the UAE, charge between AED 600 and AED 1000 on average.
Moms are more valuable than you think!
Based on our calculations, stay-at-home mums should be earning a minimum of AED 155,600 annually or at least AED 13,000 per month.
The job roles and work that we’ve tried to quantify here, only make up for the basic responsibilities that most stay-at-home mothers handle in their households. Mums wear many hats, and take on a variety of roles like that of a personal shopper, grooming specialist, hairstylist and party planner amongst others. A stay-at-home mum also manages the household’s finances – preparing the monthly budget and paying the bills.
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But that’s not all. Do you really think that stay-at-home mums work the standard 48 hours a week? Considering the 125% overtime pay for every hour spent working beyond normal working hours and 150% for every hour spent working on a Friday, this figure would be a lot higher. Many fathers reading this may realize that they cannot afford a stay-at-home mum!
[Related: Financial planning in your marriage]