The estimated annual salary of a stay-at-home parent has been calculated to be €57,140, according to new research.
The analysis was carried out by pension and life insurance provider Royal London Ireland.
The salary figure for a stay-at-home parent is up from an estimated €54,590 in 2023 and €40,560 in 2015, when the company first undertook the same research.
The study analysed the typical daily tasks and responsibilities of stay-at-home parents and researched the cost of employing someone to do these jobs, based on current wage data.
The responsibilities assessed for the analysis included childcare, cooking, cleaning and driving children to activities.
A survey of 1,000 adults, conducted as part of the research, showed that almost nine in ten people underestimated the monetary value of a stay-at-home parent.
Just 11% of respondents valued the cost to employ someone to perform the duties of a stay-at-home parent at over €50,000.
Almost a third of respondents estimated the value of a stay-at-home parent’s work to fall between €20,000 and €30,000.
The survey found that women are almost three times more likely than men to accurately value stay-at-home parenting.
According to the most recent census data for Ireland, there were 272,318 stay-at-home parents in 2022 and 90% of them were women.
“I believe the role of the stay-at-home parent is greatly appreciated by many people,” said Karen O’Flaherty, Senior Propositions Executive of Royal London Ireland.
“However, when it comes to gauging their financial “worth”, there remains a significant 43% gap between people’s perception of the homemaker’s economic contribution and the reality of the likely cost if they had to pay someone to carry out the jobs a homemaker does on a day-to-day basis,” Ms O’Flaherty said.
“Stay-at-home parents have a diverse range of responsibilities – including childcare, household management, budgeting, emotional support, and handling children’s transportation needs – yet the full value of their work often goes unrecognised,” she added.
Article Source – Stay-at-home parent role valued at annual salary of €57k – study – RTE