What's a Mom Worth? Many Think Her Unpaid Labor Should Top $100K
If you tried to put a dollar amount on everything moms do in a day, the number would probably shock you. In many ways, America has been founded on the unpaid labor of women, moms, per usual, picking up most of that slack.
From childcare, cooking and cleaning to scheduling doctors’ appointments or cleaning up scraped knees, working and stay-at‑home mothers alike are doing the physical and emotional labor that would cost thousands per month to outsource otherwise. So, if you were going to put a real number on paying moms professionally, what would that look like?
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Well, in a recent MoneyLion survey of 1,000 people, almost half thought the annual salary should be six figures. Though it’s hard to determine the economic value of something that has been taken advantage of since the beginning of time, think about what you pay for babysitters, nannies or childcare in general.
So, what’s a mom actually worth in 2026? The answer says a lot about how work, money and unpaid labor are truly valued.
‘If Motherhood Were a Paid Profession, How Much in Annual Salary Do You Think Mothers Should Be Worth?’
What a great question, survey. Overall, MoneyLion found that 46% of respondents felt Mom should bring in a paycheck of at least $100,000 a year. Not to mention that over 28% felt it should be higher than $150,000 annually. The latter is a pretty solid living, and more than twice the current national average salary of about $65,470.
About 36% of people felt $50,000 to $100,000 was appropriate, and 17% valued mothers at less than $50,000.
The results get a little more granular when you look at the breakdown of responses by gender. For example, the highest percentage of men (41%) felt that between $50,000 and $100,000 was fair compensation. Among women, the highest percentage (35%) felt mothers should earn at least $150,000 a year.
How Different Generations Value Unpaid Labor
The role of unpaid labor can wear a lot of hats. Even though unpaid labor doesn’t show up in your bank account, it has a huge impact on every family member’s financial situation. Without all those little pieces of work, daily tasks or unseen labor, many families would either spend far more or struggle to maintain their current lifestyle.
So while it may not be “income” on paper, unpaid labor plays a critical role in wealth building, budgeting and financial stability. If you hired professionals for each of these roles, the costs would add up quickly. So, how do different ages view the value of these common tasks?
Overall, though with varying percentages, every age group landed on an annual salary falling between $50,000 and $100,000 seeming right. The highest percentage agreeing to this pay bracket belonged to those age 18 to 24 at nearly 46%.
Around 21% of those age 35 to 44 thought mothers should make $100,001 to $150,000 a year.
About 32% of those between 55 and 64 felt Mom should rake in over $150,000 annually.
The highest percentage of those who felt the job of motherhood was worth less than $50,000 a year were 45- to 54-year-olds -- at about 22%.
What a Stay-at-Home Mom Would Earn (You Know, If They Were Paid)
What is a stay-at-home mom’s salary? When you break it down by job duties, the number gets real fast. Here are a few key takeaways from what those estimates could look like:
Childcare alone can cost $10,000 to $20,000 per year per child depending on location
House cleaning services can run $150 to $300 per visit
Meal prep or personal chefs can cost hundreds per week
Administrative tasks like scheduling, budgeting and planning mirror roles that can often pay over $20 per hour
Put it all together, and some estimates put the annual value of a stay‑at‑home mom’s work at over $100,000 when calculated based on market rates. In other words, moms are doing the equivalent of multiple full‑time jobs, just without the paycheck. That’s quite eye-opening, even to the 21% of 35- to 44-year-olds who thought it was worth less than $50,000 annually.
Final Take: The Long-Term Financial Tradeoffs
So, what’s a mom worth? Well, the bottom line is that despite its massive economic impact, unpaid labor often isn’t treated as “real work” in financial conversations, and that can get very complicated. While a mother’s work obviously has real value, it can come with real long‑term downsides for moms, in purely financial terms.
Some of the biggest challenges include:
Lost wages and career growth
Lower lifetime earnings and fewer opportunities for raises
Not being financially independent enough to leave bad situations
Reduced retirement savings and Social Security benefits
Less access to employer benefits like health insurance or 401(k) matches
Over time, these tradeoffs can create a significant wealth gap, especially for women who step away from the workforce for extended periods. This feels especially economically crazy when you factor in that many people feel the work they do outside the office is worth upwards of $100,000 a year.
Though no one agrees on everything, at least conversations around financial literacy, caregiving and work-life balance can evolve in 2026, with one thing becoming quite clear. Unpaid labor shouldn’t be invisible anymore, and that line of credit needs to be extended to include what it would really look like to compensate mothers for all the work they do.
This article was provided by MoneyLion.com for informational purposes only and should not be construed as financial, legal or tax advice.
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