Anonymous wrote:Some of this is unnecessary. I am a working single father with 100 percent custody. I have no help and my kids are preteens and one teen. First, who would pay me to do the housework in my own house? Second, some of the things SAHP's do is nice, but somewhat unnecessary at the frequency it's done. Like I do laundry at different schedules, sometimes more than others, i never wash windows, vacuum infrequently between the cleaning lady.

In short, this article is not really useful.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am a SAHM. Staying at home allows us a better, less hectic life and there are some savings and intangible benefits too because we are outsourcing less, cooking more, childcare, enrichment etc. However, no one is paying me for my labor. Giving SAHMs seperate pre-tax retirement savings instruments from primary earners or allowing them to pay into social security may be more helpful.

Since I was also a WOHM, I would prefer just equal pay in the workplace, paid maternity and paternity leave, flex schedule, on-site daycare and pumping facility. Lets start with making the lives of working women better so that we actually have pleasant choices about if we want to stay in the workforce or not.

It would actually be better if we require SAHM to pay into social security if they plan to receive it.

Not really. We are high income and contributing to SS won't be an issue for us. I think it should not be mandatory. I am sure many households are struggling to meet ends and childcare costs will eat up the 2nd income if the mom works. I did contribute for the required number of years to SS when I was working. I will be getting SS when I reach the retirement age. I am however not depending on SS for my retirement. It is tricky. How do you redistribute wealth with some degree of fairness?

Perhaps we are better off just trying to fight for equal pay and paid maternity leave.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am a SAHM. Staying at home allows us a better, less hectic life and there are some savings and intangible benefits too because we are outsourcing less, cooking more, childcare, enrichment etc. However, no one is paying me for my labor. Giving SAHMs seperate pre-tax retirement savings instruments from primary earners or allowing them to pay into social security may be more helpful.

Since I was also a WOHM, I would prefer just equal pay in the workplace, paid maternity and paternity leave, flex schedule, on-site daycare and pumping facility. Lets start with making the lives of working women better so that we actually have pleasant choices about if we want to stay in the workforce or not.

It would actually be better if we require SAHM to pay into social security if they plan to receive it.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I've never really understood this argument, and I'm a woman. Is the implication that we should get a salary for these things? There are certain tasks that are just about keeping your life up and running. Moreover, who would pay us for, say, doing the dishes or the laundry?

I don't get it either. I skimmed the article and it was talking about things like grocery shopping. Is the implication that doing things that are basically just life is now supposed to be paid work? Paid by who exactly?

Anonymous wrote:I've never really understood this argument, and I'm a woman. Is the implication that we should get a salary for these things? There are certain tasks that are just about keeping your life up and running. Moreover, who would pay us for, say, doing the dishes or the laundry?

Anonymous wrote:I don’t think I should necessarily get paid for what I do as a stay at home mom (I don’t like the transactional nature of that idea), but I appreciate articles like this just because people undervalue and under-appreciate unpair labor. Some people (not DCUM people) think SAHMs don’t contribute because we don’t earn.

Anonymous wrote:I am a SAHM. Staying at home allows us a better, less hectic life and there are some savings and intangible benefits too because we are outsourcing less, cooking more, childcare, enrichment etc. However, no one is paying me for my labor. Giving SAHMs seperate pre-tax retirement savings instruments from primary earners or allowing them to pay into social security may be more helpful.

Since I was also a WOHM, I would prefer just equal pay in the workplace, paid maternity and paternity leave, flex schedule, on-site daycare and pumping facility. Lets start with making the lives of working women better so that we actually have pleasant choices about if we want to stay in the workforce or not.