And of course, we all know there are worth more than what the article indicated.

Here again were the jobs used for comparison: “housekeeper, day-care teacher, cook, computer operator, laundry machine operator, janitor, facilities manager, van driver, chief executive and psychologist”.

I think one would be hard-pressed to argue that these aren’t highly strained analogies. Would your state certify every mother as a clinical psychologist? Would AOL hire every mother as a computer operator? Would a five-star restaurant hire every mother as their chef? Would Pepsi want every mother for their CEO?

It’s clear that they broke down the average mother’s day into hours spent accomplishing each role and tried to find comparable professions, but the problem is that even in the comparable professions the level of training and professional responsibility is not the same. Consider the scaling factors alone in translating the CEO position in an average company with the position as the family’s chief executive, especially given the average family’s negligible revenues. 🙂

I’m inclined to believe that the most comparable role listed is that of day-care teacher, although in-home daycare operator would be even better. So, just ask my mom what she makes in that position and you’re probably pretty close to the market value of mothering.