SAHM as Prosumers

Mothers are the primary “prosumers” in American society. A prosumer, as coined and defined by Alvin Toffler, in Revolutionary Wealth, is an individual who both produces and consumes a tangible or intangible good without monetary benefit. This essay will offer various examples of the valuable roles that stay-at-home mothers (SAHM) provide as prosumers; specifically that an SAHM’s economic value as a prosumer is equal to at least $70,000 of annual wages. This may seem an excessive amount of money, if so, you are most likely not an SAHM. American society glorifies an individual’s visible contribution to economic expansion. C.E.O.s, professional athletes, and Hollywood actors enjoy great admiration, and the vast majority of them would probably not be where they are in life without the help of their mothers. Mothers, as prosumers, receive very little, if any, recognition for their contribution to the economy.

The House Keeper

Mothers provide a tremendous array of services for a family. When I come home, the shoes that I left next to the door are no longer there to trip everyone, the dishes I placed in the sink last night are miraculously clean and stacked in the cupboard, and the tub that I fill and relax in is free of soap scum. According to salary.com, an SAHM spends 22.1 hours-per-week as a house keeper. . The average hourly rate for a house keeper is $9.32 per hour, and the average mother puts in around 1,150 hours annually in this capacity. As a house keeper, a SAHM is worth at least $10,700 annually.

The Day Care Center Manager and Teacher

SAHMs have the unique opportunity to manage their own pseudo day care center and to be their children’s teacher as well. If you do not have children, it will be difficult to quantify this position. If you do have children, the compensations for performing full-time day care, on average, may seem ridiculously low for the effort involved. Depending on the age of children, this job is either geared more towards providing day care or enabling the learning experience of public schools by reducing homework assignments to palatable and understandable projects. We all know that teachers are underpaid, so the numbers that I will share with you are not necessarily a fair market value for the services provided. An SAHM spends around 800 hours per year as a day care center teacher at an hourly value of $12.92 for a grand total of $10,500 annually.

The Short Order Cook

For some, this title would seem to be a bit of an insult. In my opinion, the meals that are prepared in certain homes would be just as appropriately served in a fine dinning establishment. However, a short order cook is a respectable title for the high-stress, fast-passed, and skilled position that most SAHMs excel at. With all of their other positions, it is amazing that SAHMs can coordinate time to cook anything but frozen pizza, though, there tends to be an amazing variety of meals, specific to individual tastes and appetites. As a short order cook, an SAHM should be valued at around $14.98 hourly with and annual gross of $10,600 for 707 hours of labor.

Does it Add Up?

Up to this point we have found that a SAHM is worth at least $31,800 annually. Our SAHM’s day is not over yet. In fact, we haven’t paid them for overtime that they have already accrued. With 592 hours of overtime at time-and-a-half of an average hourly rate of $18.61, this will add another $11,000, for a grand total of $42,800. So where is the additional value?

Jack of All Trades

Our SAHMs have worked about 52 hours per week so far. The national average reported is around 91 hours per week. So what are they doing during the remaining 39 hours? The following table represents some of the additional positions of SAHMs.

Job Title Hourly Rate Hours Worked

Computer Operator I $14.74 473

Laundry Machine Operator $8.77 348

Janitor $11.05 328

Facilities Manager $37.21 302

Chief Executive Officer $160.61 218

Van Driver $14.89 218

Psychologist $34.51 203

www.salary.com

Although this table shows the value of some positions at much greater rates, for our purposes we will value the additional 39 hours of overtime at the previously mentioned rate of $18.61; this way we are maintaining a conservative view of our SAHM’s value. The result is an additional income of $37,700 for a final total of $79,700.

Worth of a Mother

We owe much to our mothers. It is incredible to think of the additional gross domestic product that could be added to our country’s total if we accounted for our stay-at-home mothers. As prosumers, mothers are the backbone of our society and the primary reason for our nation’s success. However, please do not tell my wife as she may try to collect.