Calculator
What is a stay-at-home parent’s work worth?
Count the hours spent in each role a week, price each at its market median wage, and add them up. It is a replacement-cost estimate, not income, and it is a fair answer to anyone who calls it not working.
Annual value of the work
$56,964
65 hours a week · $16.85 an hour blended
A 40-hour week at that rate would pay $35,055 a year
What this means
The blended rate of $16.85 an hour is the more defensible figure. The annual total counts overlapping roles twice (supervising children while cooking sits in both), so treat it as an upper bound on replacement cost, not as income.
Hours are priced at median hourly wages for each occupation, from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. This is a replacement-cost estimate, not income, and nobody would actually hire nine separate people. It is a fair answer to anyone who calls it not working.
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What this result means
This is what it would cost to buy the same work on the open market. It is not a salary, and no household actually pays it, but it is a legitimate way to state the value of unpaid labour.
The blended hourly rate is often more useful than the annual total, because it survives the obvious objection that nobody works those hours at those rates continuously.
The number falls as children get older, which is the correct behaviour: a teenager needs far less direct care than a toddler.
A number on its own does not tell you what to do.
The decision page walks through what to consider, your options, and a plan for this week.
Does it pay for one of us to stay home?How it works
- Start from a weekly hours profile for each of nine roles, based on the intensity level chosen.
- Scale child-centred roles by the number of children and by their age band.
- Scale household roles by number of children only.
- Multiply each role’s hours by its median hourly wage.
- Apply a regional wage multiplier and sum for a weekly or annual figure.
Assumptions and limits
- It is a replacement-cost estimate, not income, and no one would actually hire nine separate people to do this.
- Hours frequently overlap in reality: supervising children while cooking is counted in both roles, which inflates the total somewhat.
- Wages are national medians and do not reflect what a specific local provider would charge.
- The weekly hours profiles and the regional multipliers are our own working assumptions.
- It excludes overnight hours entirely.
Sources
- Last reviewed
- October 1, 2026
- Geography
- United States
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Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics · United States
Median hourly wages by occupation, used to price the roles in the stay-at-home parent calculator.
Common questions
Is this a real salary?
No. It is a replacement-cost estimate: what buying the same work at market rates would cost. It is useful for framing the value of the work, not for budgeting.
Why does the total seem high?
Partly because roles overlap. Supervising children while cooking counts in both, which the method does not net out. The blended hourly rate is the more defensible figure.
Why does it fall as children get older?
Because direct childcare hours drop sharply with age, while driving and tutoring rise only partially to compensate.
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