Royal London Ireland Stay-at-Home Parent Survey
9th January 2025
Almost nine in ten (89pc) adults nationwide underestimate the financial value of stay-at-home parents. This is according to the findings of a survey[1] from Royal London Ireland, a leading provider of life insurance and pensions in Ireland. It sought to understand the financial value adults across Ireland place on the role of the stay-at-home parent. Of the 1,000 adults surveyed, only 11pc valued the cost to employ someone to perform the duties of a stay-at-home parent at over €50,000.
Royal London Ireland also compared the survey findings with its own research into the cost of employing someone to carry out the various roles played by a stay-at-home parent.
It calculated the estimated annual salary of a stay-at-home parent to be €57,140 — up from an estimated €54,590 in 2023 and €40,560 in 2015, when it first undertook the same research.
In the latest and 9th in the series of the Royal London Ireland Stay-at-Home Parent Survey, respondents in 2024 estimated the potential salary of a stay-at-home parent to be €32,340, reflecting a 5.9pc increase from the 2023 estimate of €30,547. Almost three times as many women as men accurately estimated that the cost would exceed €50,000 (16pc vs. 6pc).
According to the most recent census data for Ireland (Census 2022), there were 272,318 stay-at-home parents in 2022[2]. The majority of stay-at-home parents were women (90pc), reflecting traditional caregiving roles[3].
Karen O’Flaherty, Senior Propositions Executive of Royal London Ireland commented, “I believe the role of the stay-at-home parent is greatly appreciated by many people. However, when it comes to gauging their financial “worth”, there remains a significant 43pc gap between people’s perception of the homemaker’s economic contribution and the reality of the likely cost if they had to pay someone to carry out the jobs a homemaker does on a day-to-day basis.
Stay-at-home parents have a diverse range of responsibilities – including childcare, household management, budgeting, emotional support, and handling children’s transportation needs – yet the full value of their work often goes unrecognised”.
Karen continued: “Although the monetary value of the stay-at-home parent, as estimated by our survey respondents, has increased seven out of eight years of our survey, so too has the actual estimated cost of employing someone to fulfil this important role. And each year, our surveys have shown that people typically estimate an annual salary that falls well below the likely cost to hire someone for the role.
Unpaid labour, which is disproportionately shouldered by women, is often not factored into household financial plans when it comes to looking at things like life assurance and pensions”.
“Each year, we conduct this research to highlight the tangible value of the responsibilities stay-at-home parent’s shoulder. It’s crucial that the role of a stay-at-home parent is recognised, not as an invisible contribution but as an essential job that deserves both support and consideration in financial planning”, she concluded.
[1] Conducted by iReach
2 CSO – Census of Population 2022 – Summary Results – This group includes individuals who identified as “looking after home/family” as their main economic status
