Find Out How Much Your Parenting Is Worth With This Calculator
When I quit my full-time job many years ago to stay at home with my son, I often thought about the value of my time to our family. I joked with my husband that every time I managed to save a little more at the grocery store because I had time to collect coupons and shop at sales, he might add those savings to my “paycheck.”
Obviously, parenting isn’t just about looking after children. Parents, especially those who stay at home full time, are also cooks, housekeepers, mentors and personal drivers. I knew that my time and effort was worth something, but I would like to quantify it. Now I can.
This calculator by Funky Pigeon answers the question, “If you were paid for every job you do as a parent, how much would you earn?”
Enter your city or state, and how many hours you spend each week doing each of the following “jobs”:
- Cooking
- Cleaning
- Driving
- Education
- Personal assistant
- Laundry
- Nurse
- Psychologist
The tool calculates the total amount you would earn in a year for each job based on the average wage in your area, and then adds it all together to get one annual “salary.”
Is anyone going to pay you this salary? No, they are not. (Well, if you do not structure the thing as it makes the couple .) But it can help to clarify how the work – or should be – divided household. And it’s at least nice to measure all the hard work you do in monetary terms.