The Value of a Mum’s Domestic Household Chores is £31,500 a Year While Dad Would get £24k
- Mum’s spend 71 hours a week helping the house run smoothly
- Value of a Dad’s domestic contribution is £24,000 per year
- Dad’s help with household chores for 53.5 hours a week
It would cost a massive £31,500 to replace a Mum’s contribution to domestic chores over the course of a year, according to new figures released in Legal & General Retail Protection’s 2013 ‘Value of a Parent’ report.
The report, which surveyed parents with at least one child aged 18 or under living with them, along with new and expectant Mums, looked at the monetary value that can be attributed to parents’ domestic chores including cleaning, cooking and household shopping.
Bearing in mind the cost of raising a child and the ‘hidden’ expense of domestic work, it is important that parents consider how best they can plan to protect the financial future of their families
The value of a Dad’s contribution around the house is significant too, climbing 13 per cent, from figures recorded in 2011, to £24,000 a year.
The findings also revealed that the average cost of raising a child to the age of 18 is now £154,440, up 15 per cent from 2011, and the average day-to-day cost of raising a child is £8,580 per year.
Bonnie Burns, Product Director for Legal & General’s Retail Protection business, said: “We all know what a herculean job most parents are doing bringing up their children.
“Our report highlights exactly how important that role is and the value all these odd jobs bring to a smooth running home.”
UK Mums also spend 71 hours a week ensuring the home runs smoothly while Dads spend 53.5 hours, and new and expectant Mums are ‘on duty’ for 72.5 hours a week.
Bonnie added: “Most parents also underestimate the value of the unpaid work they do by a massive 55 per cent. Clearly the financial value of a parent to a family is much higher than you might think and is taken for granted by most, even those doing the work!”
Despite the rising cost of childcare, nearly three quarters of parents said they felt in control of their finances, and 71 per cent of parents also said their top financial priority is to ensure their children are looked after if they were unable to due to death or illness.
However, less than a third of parents surveyed have a will or any critical illness cover in place, and even fewer have income protection or family income benefit.
New and expectant Mums underestimated the cost of raising a child by 59 per cent. While dads in the Northeast were the most helpful around the home contributing £33,925 of work per year compared to £32,711 from Mums.
Bonnie said: “It’s concerning therefore to see that while most parents we surveyed regard providing for their children as their top financial priority only a minority have adequate protection in place should they be unable to look after them due to illness.
“Bearing in mind the cost of raising a child and the ‘hidden’ expense of domestic work, it is important that parents consider how best they can plan to protect the financial future of their families.”
What price would you put on household chores, as a parent? Tell us in the comments below or tweet us @FemaleFirst_UK
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