Work done by stay-at-home parents worth €50,000 salary, survey finds

The work done by stay-at-home parents is worth a salary of almost €50,000, a new survey has found.

However, eight in 10 people polled across Ireland think it is valued at less than €28,000.

New research analyses the average real world worth of the jobs stay-at-home parents do for the family and in the home, such as cooking, cleaning and driving children to and from activities.

The calculations worked out at a value of €47,933 per annum.

But 80% of people surveyed by insurers Royal London underestimate the worth of stay-at-home parents by a whopping 60%, putting it at around €28,000 per year.

However, spokeswoman Sarah Murphy said the lockdown has opened many people’s eyes to the reality of how much work is involved in stay at home parenting.

She said: “The question was put to respondents before the country went into lockdown, and before thousands of parents became stay-at-home mams and dads as a result – often while trying to juggle the responsibilities of another job as well.

“It would be interesting to see, if we ask the same question next year, if the results are very different as a result.”

While the number of men staying home to mind their kids doubled from 4,900 to 9,200 between 2006 and 2016, women still make up 98% of homemakers.

Unsurprisingly, women estimated the value at €4,000 higher than their male counterparts - €29,000 compared to €25,000.

Those in Connacht estimated the highest value (€30,000), followed by Dublin (€29,000), the rest of Leinster (€29,000), and Ulster (€27,000).

Respondents in Munster estimated the lowest value for the role (€26,000).