Recently Legal & General researched to see how much it would cost to replace a Mother. The results worked out that the work a Mum does around the home would cost £30,032 to replace!
Here are a few highlights from the 2011 “Value of a Mum” survey research:
- Even those mums who have part-time jobs don’t hugely reduce the amount of time dedicated to parenting – the value of part-time worker mums is £28,664 compared to the value of those who don’t work, £31,523
- The day to day costs of looking after children have gone up 8.3% over the last two years, rising from £132 a week to £143 and a massive 31% since 1999 when the figure was £109.
The research highlights just how easy it is to underestimate the value of the unpaid work Mums do. Considering mums are increasingly combining this with a full or part-time job, their families are getting pretty good value for their efforts!
The good news from the research is that it’s starting to show an increase in the time mums are spending on themselves (on average, mums have 6.5 hours of quality ‘me’ time a week). This can be so important in helping to keep stress levels down and reminding people what’s most important. The key is to ensure that families don’t take their mums for granted.