Accepting applications.
Full-time, nights, weekends, and holidays required; tyrannical clientele expected.
Responsibilities include meal prep, medical intervention, conflict negotiation, sanitation, sleep training, concierge service, travel logistics, and budget management.
Must be able to lift 50 lbs and be comfortable with human waste and occasional verbal abuse.
No annual leave, no days off, no promotions, zero pay.
Yet, millions of Americans take on this full-time job every day, often without recognition, compensation, or a break.
According to the Pew Research Center, around one-fifth of American families have a stay-at-home parent.
And while that parent handles a litany of essential, thankless tasks, that labor is rarely seen as billable work, which, according to workplace expert and best-selling author Linda Fisk, does everyone a disservice.
“When people say someone is a stay-at-home parent, it can sound like they’re not working. But anyone who has ever raised children, cared for a family, or managed a household knows that’s just not true. They’re working all the time. They’re just not being paid for it,” Fisk told The Post.
To challenge the belief that unpaid means unemployed, Fisk believes the role needs rebranding and revaluing.
“If I were writing the job description, I would call the role something like Chief Household Officer,” she said, adding that, objectively, the role is far from desirable.
“If that were a real job posting, no one would apply. It would say must be available mornings, days, evenings, nights, weekends, holidays, during illness, during travel, during work projects, during any sudden emotional emergency involving snacks, shoes, or screen time,” she said.
“In my mind, that is a six-figure job,” she said, putting the salary range at $120-150,000.
“The number may sound high at first, but it’s not a simple 40-hour work job,” she explained, emphasizing that stay-at-home parents are typically “on-call” beyond a normal 9-5 schedule.
She notes that while many households would struggle to pay that kind of premium for a stay-at-home parent, the work is essential and should be valued, whether or not it’s attached to a paycheck.
“It’s appropriate to recognize the value; in business, we praise people who can manage people, time, money, pressure, priorities, and outcomes. Stay-at-home parents do that every single day.”
In dollar terms, a Smart Asset study published earlier this year found that the average New Yorker must earn at least $92,290 before taxes to support themselves, their stay-at-home partner, and one child.
Three other states had average incomes needed for a working parent that surpassed New York’s.
In Hawaii, a working mom or dad would need $102,773 to comfortably provide for a family of three, including a stay-at-home partner.
In California, the sum is $97,656, while in Massachusetts it’s $97,261.
Fisk maintains that while many stay-at-home parents reentering the workforce feel insecure about the supposed gap in their resume, the years spent at home provide a critical skill set.
“They have not been out at work; they’ve been anticipating needs, managing resources, comparing options, solving problems. Staying at home probably provided deeper, richer learning than we could ever provide in a workplace,” she said.
“In my mind, if you can manage a household through breakfast, homework, conflict, illness, and last-minute schedule changes, then you’re cultivating leadership skills that are incredibly transferable.”
To that end, Fisk recommends that parents applying for a role be transparent and proud of the time spent at home.
“The absence of a paycheck should never be confused with the absence of value. I would emphasize how the lessons learned in managing a household translate beautifully into managing a team,” she pointed out.
In a two-parent dynamic where one person is the breadwinner and the other is the stay-at-home parent, Fisk believes it can help for the latter to receive some form of financial compensation for their work.
“I think it could be really healthy to have the stay-at-home parent recognize the value that they’re bringing to the household and to have financial independence from their spouse,” she said.
“If the stay-at-home parent is the woman, that gives her autonomy and the sense that her spouse respects the work she does.”
Even if a paid senior household manager position isn’t an option, Fisk underscores the importance of dialogue that establishes them as equal partners in building the household’s wealth.
“The very best path forward is to have a proactive conversation with your spouse: how is my work going to be valued, how is it going to be recognized, and how will it be instrumental in helping us as a team meet our goals in this partnership?”
Read the full article here
