In a survey of 1,000 people, almost three-quarters estimated the value of the domestic work done by a parent who doesn’t work outside the home at €20,000 to €30,000 a year. But income protection insurer Royal London says the value is a minimum of €42,000 a year, when all activities performed by the stay-at-home are included in the reckoning.

Joe Charles (pictured) of Royal London commetned: “While it seems many people recognise the very hard work that stay-at-home parents carry out, our survey reveals they underestimate its value, in terms of the associated cost.

“Our calculations revealed that the cost to employ someone to do the household jobs normally done by a stay-at-home parent would be at least €42,000 a year or more. This is over a third more than the majority of the Irish public think it costs. Encouragingly, however, 29% of respondents said they thought it would be €40,000 or higher.”

Royal London considered the duties of a stay-at-home parent and estimated the cost of replacing the jobs they do for the family and in the home. They included some of the ‘top jobs’ parents carry out on a weekly basis, such as cooking, cleaning, driving children to their various activities and so on, and the average work-place costs associated with these duties.

For example, the average cost of a childminder is €9 an hour, €12 hour for a handyman/woman, €10 for a cook and €9 an hour for a cleaner. The survey showed that men are more likely than women to put a lower value on the role of a housewife/husband — 24% believed the cost of this would be more than €40,000 a year, compared with 35% of women.

In Association with

The purpose of the research is to bolster awareness that income protection insurance has relevance in a domestic setting..