Cards, candy, flowers, or luncheon won't cut it for Mother's Day this year. If you really want to show mom how much you care, write her a check for $85,876 or $134,121 if she is a stay-at-home mom. That is how much it would cost to pay professionals to do what mom does at home, according to Salary.com Inc. Salary.com asked people to estimate how many hours they spent on each job function each day--housekeeper, daycare center worker, cook, laundry machine operator, janitor, facility manager, computer operator, van driver, CEO, etc. They were also asked how many hours were spent on each task. Hours in excess of 40 were considered overtime. Example: CEO duties consume 34% of the time for stay-at-home moms and over 50% for working moms. CEO time was valued at $600,000 a year. Point made.
--The Wall Street Journal, 11. Mai 2006