£32,000 a year - that's the Value of a Mum

Legal & General's latest ‘Value of a Mum' survey finds that the value of the work that Mums do around the home is £32,812.

That's 40% higher than Dads, who come in at £23,296. The research, first undertaken in 1981, seeks to highlight the cost of replacing the domestic work that Mums do. Mums are now ‘worth' over £8,000 more than when

Legal & General last conducted the research in 2005. At the time, the value of a Mum was £24,440.

Key findings from the 2009 report are:

Women spend 74 hours a week on household chores and childcare, compared to 53 for men

Full-time Mums put in the most hours at home (82 a week) making them worth the most to replace (£36,036). However, Mums that work full-time still put in an admirable 55 hours a week and are worth £24,492. Plus they bring in an income.

The family relies on Mums far more than Dads to spend time with children as women put in 33 hours a week versus just 21.5 for men

The average family spends £132 a week on the children, which equates to £123,552 over 18 years!

Just 53% of Mums have life insurance, 26% have critical illness cover and 20% have income protection. 17% have family income benefit.

Alan Ferguson, Protection Marketing and Channel Development Director said: "Mums are a rock for many families, making sure that the home runs smoothly, that the children are looked after and often holding down a job of their own. Families need to ask themselves how they would cope with all the domestic work and childcare that Mum does if she wasn't around. People shouldn't assume that extended family or the State will fill the gap."

"Life insurance and critical illness cover can help provide peace of mind that a family could maintain its living standards if Mum wasn't around. Given the economic backdrop, now could be a good time to consider how to protect your family against financial hardship."

Legal & General discovered that just 17% of people pay someone to help out around the home, but 27% cited cleaning and tidying as the job which they least like doing and would like to pay someone to do on their behalf. This was closely followed by washing and ironing at 25% and gardening at 15%.

With the penetration of ‘protection' so low (just 53% of Mums questioned have life insurance), this could leave some families exposed and at risk of suffering financial hardship in the event of a Mother's death or critical illness. Legal & General asked married parents and those living as married how they thought their partner would manage in the event of their death. The most popular response (35%) was to rely on grandparents to look after the children and 30% said that they would work part-time. This would have a significant impact on the overall household earnings and therefore standard of living. Interestingly, only 29% of parents have made a will.

54% of working men and women said that they would make cutbacks and reduce spending if they were unable to work because of illness or injury. 38% said that they would rely on their partner's wage and 37% said that they would get sick-pay from their employer for a certain time.

There is certainly a need for some women to combine motherhood with employment. 72% of all Mums said that in these times of economic downturn they have cut back on their spending, including money spent on the house and the children. 74% of working Mums said that they feel pressure to work to help meet the family bills. However, 52% said that they don't just go to work for the money.