How much are moms worth?

Posted by Jessica Valenti at 9:48 AM on May 3, 2007.

It's that time of year again ... when Salary.com lets us know how much money moms would bring in if their work were waged. This year, the company figured out that the 10 jobs moms work would bring in $138,095 a year.

The typical mother puts in a 92-hour work week, the company concluded, and works at least 10 jobs. In order of hours spent on them per week, these are: housekeeper, day-care center teacher, cook, computer operator, laundry machine operator, janitor, facilities manager, van driver, chief executive officer and psychologist. By figuring out the median salaries for each position, and calculating the average number of hours worked at each, the firm came up with $138,095 -- three percent higher than last year's results.

Even mothers who work full-time jobs outside the home put in $85,939 worth of work as mothers, according to Salary.com.

Of course, women's unwaged labor isn't just a U.S. thing; women and girls do 2/3 of the world's work, most of it unwaged. For more information (and some cool stories) check out the work being done with the Global Women's Strike, where women across the world organize strikes to protest the lack of wages for "caring work."

Tagged as: labor, women