The Cost of Child-rearing

Over the last few months, I have gotten involved in volunteering with families through Ronald McDonald House Charities. The House provides resources and shelter for families with sick children while they remain in the hospital seeking treatment. At the House, I volunteer with the siblings of sick children to make arts and crafts. Recently, we have been doing Q-tip art, and the kids really seem to enjoy it. One of the children painted a picture of her 5-month-old brother in his hospital crib.  She told me that he was getting an organ transplant, and that she hoped he would like her painting. Her mother sat at a table across from us, chatting with another parent and eating dinner with her younger daughter. She seemed exhausted as she discussed central line infections, challenges of tacrolimus, and the ups and downs throughout her son’s hospital course. On the outside, she looked weathered as she tended to the needs of everyone around her. Then I started to think about how tired she must be, and I was amazed by her strength. She is staying in a strange place with two of her young children while her infant is so sick. She is keeping everyone occupied, fed, and happy.

 

Mothers have difficult jobs. The competing interests between working and child rearing present tensions for parents, typically mothers, that we do not often appreciate. Because child rearing is not tied to a monetary gain, it is often overlooked and undervalued. Research from Salary.com estimates that it would cost on average $162,581 to fulfill the duties performed by many stay-at-home moms, who “work” over 90 hours per week providing child care. In raising their children, these stay-at-home parents are performing a critically important job, supporting the future generation.

Maureen Farrell   DUCOM 2021

https://www.salary.com/articles/stay-at-home-mom/

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/emotional-fitness/201305/top-10-reasons-why-moms-are-important

https://www.feminist.com/resources/artspeech/family/motherhood.html