Nowadays women who stay at home have a notion that what they do is not very important as far as careers go. They think they make no meaningful contribution to society. If you tell new acquaintances your occupation is your family and home, they immediately think you are lazy and do nothing with your time but watch t.v. or talk on the phone. They give you a blank stare, nod at you and begin talking slower to you so you will understand. Attitudes like that infuriate me. The contributions women who stay at home make are enormous.
The mentality of most people is geared to place a monetary value on almost everything. Products are judged by their relative cost. We tend to think the more something costs the better it must be or the more a job pays the more desireable it is. Since the goods and services produced by stay-at-home women are not measured in the Gross National Product, society places no value on them.
With thinking of this type a profession which has no visible income is the absolute lowest choice on the list of desired occupations. Who would want to be "just" a housewife? Isn't money the goal of all the activities of our lives? The reason most of us go to school is to get the required tools to earn more. We climb the pay scale stepping on anyone who gets in the way. Success in life is measured by our IRS returns. No longer is a sterling character the measure of a person's worth or quality.
Because of this faulty thinking it is with some hesitation that I place a monetary value on a homemaker's work. Have you ever thaought what it might cost to hire someone to do all that a wife and mother does? As the cost of living goes up, her worth goes up along with it. Just think about a few of the things a woman like this does. Hiring replacements to do her work puts a big gouge in any household's budget.
But this is precisely what some people do, at least in part. They hire people to cook - restaurants and convenience foods at grocery stores, they hire people to take care of their children - daycare and sitters, they hire people to educate their children - public schools, they hire them to mow grass, garden, paint, redecorate and the list goes on and on...all because of the lack of time women working outside the home have. To take advantage of all these services women must sacrifice time spent with their families, they must earn wages to pay for these services. It's a trade I don't care to make. I don't want to grow old and lament poor choices and deceitful pay-offs.
There are some things you can never get a second chance on. You can always wait to buy a better house, go on with your education, travel, have a career, buy new furniture, etc, but once your children are grown, they're grown - no second chances. They are precious gifts that deserve timely attention. Homemaking is a choice you can live with and be proud of.
(This text was reprinted from The Frugal Times, written by me, no longer in print. Look for new editorials appearing as I get to them.)
