Women should be paid a wage for bringing up children!!!

I agree we fight hard to keep our children cared for and to give them best life possible!! We should not be penalized for this at all!

I agree totally....being a hands on mom is the hardest task in the whole world..no day off...and this is not something that one can just take for granted..... Too often efforts women give in rearing their child is underestimated. Yeah women should get paid for sacrificing a career just to give their kids a better start in life.....

I definitely agree with you!! I was getting paid more than my fiance was a year ago while I was working, but now we have had a baby (now to be a year old this month), and I know that if I was to go back to work I would have to start at the bottom. If feel, that all comments were correct in that if we are not paid (and I would love to have that $125,000 salary just for taking care of my kids), then there should be some sort of pension or at least health care. Right now the only thing we are getting is Medicaid for the baby and it is expiring this month...after that you have to qualify based on how much you make, and we make too much because Medicaid has made the qualifications higher. It is no picnic raising children as any parent will tell you if they admit to it...but ya know, if I could I would take my happy a$$ to Germany just so that I would get paid for taking care of my kids, then I knew that there would be a steady stream of income, rather than "quiting" and starting at the bottom.

I do agree - I stay at home because I don't want my children to grow up in daycare. In Australia we have a parenting payment (government allowance) which is not much and cuts out when my partner earns over a certain (quite small) amount. I am also entitled to what is called a Family Tax Benefit which amounts to around $350 a fortnight. This payment is variable on what my partner earns also. it is shameful how women are exploited and treated all round - if we stay at home we are penalised, if we go back to work we are penalised - childcare costs and tax eat up the extra income and you end up working for nothing or it actually costs money to go back into the workforce. We are bringing up the next generation of workers - we should be encouraged and financially supported to do so. Perhaps when women run the world, it will become a more equitable place...

There was a study done recently to try and figure out what a stay at home mom/dad would earn if it were a paying job. They took into account all the jobs (cleaning, laundry, driving etc.) as well as the number of hours put in over the year. They calcualted that the salary would be around $125,000 per year.

uhhh!!!! its so true we work hard than men and earn nothing. does going out and working is working? i have done my mba with a distinstion, got pregnent in final semester now i have three months old son and my family wants me to stay at home to take care of him for another 2years atleast. i love my son but i have to give account of the money i spend. when i was earning i neve r gave account to anybody. feels bad. somebody here said where will the money come from? i feel it shouls be from husbands salary hahaha

I agree with you. I'm glad I've seen this question. There was a bit of a raucus a while ago on here with a similar question. I've stayed home with my kids for 7 years and I plan on staying home for at least another 6 months (then my youngest will be two) but even then I might decide that he's not ready and wait until he's 3 and will be at nursery. You are so right. Mothers aren't appreciated by society. People with come up with the "tax" argument about "why should WE pay for YOU to stay home?" They apparently don't realise that some people have partners who work and pay tax and that most mothers have paid and/or will pay tax when they don't have to look after their children. It is a fact that mum is the best carer for children whether people like it or not. Motherhood should be truly recognised as an important and necessary job. As you say, some of us have to bring up the next generation to look after the next pensioners, and the rest of the world. Some people seem to think that just because you care enough about your children to actually bother to look after them yourself that your children will grow up to not work and be on benefits or something. Obviously they are the kind of people who either have no children or have never looked after them properly otherwise they would know how hard we work. I would never encourage my kids to not even try getting a job, I don't understand the idea of thinking that you have to work to make your kids work. For generations, women looked after their own children but their children still worked. I know my nan brought up 5 children, they all ended up working, all in completely different kinds of jobs, and they in turn had children, who they looked after but still they grew up to have good jobs, and so on and so forth, so I don't know how anyone can say that looking after your own children will make them think you don't have to work at all.

I totally agree. I am a stay at home mom, and trying to get back into the workplace is hard. I was making a lot of money, and now returning after 3 yrs off, I wont make squat, not to mention the huge gap in my resume.

Oh I so totally agree, we are looked at differently. I have been a stay at home mom for 3 consecutive years, before that I worked on and off....but recently I have been applying for jobs, going to interviews, and when asked what I have been doing for the last 3 years (since my last job), I tell them I've been a stay at home mom, taking care of, raising my babies, and running my household....i then get this look like..."so you've been doing nothing", I hate this behavior....like heck I'be been doing nothing.....it hard to manage 6 people, keep everyone happy, and busy, and make dinner on time (meeting deadlines), answering the phone 100 times a day to play secretary for my household, I have to referee about 5 fights a day, play school teacher at various times, activity coordinator, dishwasher, chef, etc.....do I need to say more.....all the while multi-tasking out the wazoo, and basically a jack of all trades, a master at some! It's unfair, and I for one would like to stand up and do something about it....but I dont know where to start!! I think that being a stay a home mom is a wonderful rewarding experience....and those who turn their nose down on it or look and treat us different are just jealous because they cant do it, or pull it off.....PAT YOURSELF, AND ALL THE 'MY LOT STAY AT HOME MOMS MEMBERS ON THE BACK WE ARE DOING A GOOD JOB.....KEEP IT UP.....YOUR REWARD IS IN YOUR HAPPY FAMILY'S FACES....!!!

You have a good point regarding this matter. I was a very succesful saleswoman for a big company before I got pregnant. I left when I was 7 months pregnant due to complications. I, of course, started thinking about our future and whatnot provided that I wanted to stay at home with my baby. But after 2 and a half months I went back to work...but I just couldn't handle it. It was a feeling of loss and it was heartbreaking leaving her at my sister's (thank God for my sister) because when I got home or went to pick her up, her eyes lit up when she saw me and she got all excited and I used to cry so much. After a couple of months I decided to quit. I did nothing for the next 2 months and then I told my husband that I wanted to work from home...and now I have my homebased business and an online store selling crafts ,homemade body products , etc. I think that since we don't get paid for bringing up our kids, we might as well take matters into our own hands instead of waiting for the worst to happen. I also agree with mkirby624 to some extent. My advise to stay at home moms is to look up on what is selling good online and locally. You can start by making your own scrapbooking foam stickers. All you need are sheets of foam which sell for less than a dollar at Walmart, a pencil, an exacto knife or scissors and that's it. You can raise a bit of money to buy some soap base and make your own soaps,etc. You could knit, sew...whatever!!! Or just get the junk from your attic and sell them on eBay!!! Just because you're a stay at home mom it doesn't mean that you can't work. My business has been growing pretty good and I'm planning on adding more things to my inventory. I help my husband pay our medical plan, bills and I put away money for myself and in my daughter's account. I wish you and ALL stay at home moms the best and I hope that this gives you the inspiration to start your own business. I started with less than $50.00 so you can,too. No matter your age!!! Take care!!!!

My friend, I think your paradigma is not quite right. Before you mention all those, consider this... a husband should be reponsible to look after all the needs (I repeat needs) of the family as a whole and a wife is responsible for the household (i.e children - their safety, education, health, etc). Without being paid, your contribution towards the family is tremendous. In short, a husband is only resposible for the money. Where as you as the wife is resposible for the welfare, economics, food, upbringing of your children, etc......is'nt that noble enough. You cannot measure you contribution in terms of dollars and cents. Although you require some for yourself...ask your husband then. God has Created us to be in different genders to be responsible on different things. You cannot do a man's job neither could he. Love is more important than money. Your love for the children and the family is invaluable. Normally a husband pleases when he comes home from a tiring day at work to see a smiling wife waiting for him. And as forthe children, when they come back from school or college, they will always see you at home. And normally children will be closer to the mother than the father. In my religion, the paradise is under the feet of a mother. Please think carefully, how a mother like you are 'placed' - very nobaly. So much so that, if a person wishes to bea entered to paradise, than he should respect (all aspects) the mother. This is just a thought.

You're right. It isn't fair that you stayed home to help raise your children to become good workers and good people, and now you are being penalized for it by not being eligable for your full state pension. That is just wrong. I don't know how it could be set up for stay at home moms to receive some compensation, but at the very least they should be eligable for their pensions! Really, you did such a wonderful service by staying home and truly parenting your kids! I despair at all of the bad parenting that is going on in this day and age where kids are just sat in front of the tv and videogames, as if this is going to teach them to be good people and teach them right and wrong.. I think not. I applaud you for staying home with your kids, and I hope that you can find some solution to the money issues.

I most definitely feel the same way. I have an Autistic son, Cj, who is 8 and I spend 24/7 with him, except when he's at school. I teach him at home as well so that he gets A's and B's. So, if you think about it, I'm a mother and a full fledged teacher of knowledge. I wonder if enough women got together, we couldn't go to Congress, or wherever we have to go, to get a law passed to have government or whomever pay us a large salary for raising, as you say, the next generation. Do you think that would be possible? I would fight for it if there's a way and I know every mother in the world would as well if given the opportunity. Wonder how you would find out about something like that?

Your post makes me angry. My wife and I are both stay at home parents. We don't get any handouts from any government, and we suffer an enormous tax burden. Why should we, as taxpayers, pay you for doing as we do? YOU made the decision, knowing all of the economic consequences of your decision to do the right thing by your children. That does NOT obligate me to pay you a salary or a pension. Are you suggesting that your husband should be paying this salary and pension, or is it the taxpayers? If you were in the workforce, it would be a different matter, because you would be financing your salary and pension with the profits generated from your labor. In what way do you feel you are being exploited and by whom? Is it your husband that is exploiting you? Did he FORCE you to be the one to stay with the children? Of course, you both knew in advance most of the economic implications of your decision -- and it seems ironic that you would now be complaining of the inevitable consequences of your decision. Yes, in some cases women are paid less; but in MOST countries now, women and men are paid the same amount if they do the same job. My sister, for example, is a lawyer, and her fees are as high or higher than any than those of any male lawyer in her field, because she is exceptionally good. LIFE is not fair, Ms ItTakesAllSorts! Get used to it! You COULD have made the decision to abandon your children to daycare if you valued money more than you value your children, but you did the right thing. In a sense, the fact that you did the right thing should be it's own reward.

Yes, I do although I am working now. I lost over 4 years on the workforce taking care of my babies when they were young. I did all the home making tasks, took my kids to school and was active in their preschools, etc. My day was definitely full! It would have been nice to have some compensation, or to at least have the clock ticking toward a good retirement. Anymore, bbies are placed in childcare as very young infants, right after the mother's maternity leave is expired. I think maternity leave should be stretched until the baby is a minimum of 18 months old. This country needs to slow down!!

I do agree with you about your discussion. But people should realize that work at home is much more work than going to a regular job. Plus no days off or vacation. No holiday... nothing. Know what I mean? We live and work our butts off to raise our kids and we deserve better. If we're just going to suffer than I don't think we're being treated fairly here.

i think anyone who brings up children should be paid by the state for doing it, afterall they are bringing up the next generation of workers. Women are penalised for staying at home because the state in just about every country on earth has been allowed to get away with it for so long, they now sell it as normal or natural, its just another lie, nothing more nothing less

i agree. i have 3 kids and they are 2, 4, and 6 years old so i have a few more years before i can go back to work. i think that stay at home moms should get a government check every week or two weeks. i don't care it is is only $200 - $300 that is way more then what we get now. and your right it is like we are being penalised for raising our childeren. sucks really dose suck.

They don't pay us because they can't afford us.. where else to you get service 24/7? Imagine the overtime they would have to pay? There were days when I would have gladly gone to work for 8-10 hours just to have a rest. More accout should be given to stay at home moms, and like you I can't figure it out. I'm sure it would be a nice little financial bonus for alot of families

While I mostly agree with this discussion, I have to point out that this is not discrimination against women, its against stay at home parents as a whole. My husband was home with our daughter for 3 years, and now has had trouble getting the job he wants due to the gap in his work history.