Facts about family work

All in one:

Being a parent sounds to many — especially childless couples and people — like lots of free time, cuddling, and playing. But there's much more to it: parents doing family work are also comforters, providers, and household managers. They suddenly perform many jobs they haven't trained for and are only initially supported by parental and childcare benefits.

Full-time job:

The working hours of parents who take care of everything themselves often amount to over 70 hours a week — without a relaxed evening off. Many parents carry out this full-time job in addition to a part-time position and not all have the opportunity to share the work with a partner.

Top salaries would be possible:

The full-time job that parents do as family work is not remunerated — aside from parental and childcare benefits. However, it's interesting to find out how much they would earn if they received a corresponding salary for all their activities. Adding up the average salaries of taxi drivers, nurses, cooks, etc. results in annual salaries of 40.000 to 70.000 euros that parents would earn if they were paid for their family work.

Reward:

Rather than remuneration, mothers and fathers who stay at home after the birth receive a unique reward. Even if you often feel that you and your work are underestimated: watching your own child grow up, building a close relationship with them and being able to have a significant influence on their development is certainly a privilege for you too, and the smiles of your children will surely make you forget many hardships.

Family work: Who does what?

The topic of family work is repeatedly interesting for research and shows how desire and reality often diverge in the distribution of tasks. A study on the division of tasks between family and career shows that a large proportion of families choose the father to work full-time, while the mother initially takes on the family work and later returns to her original profession part-time.

Possible reasons for this are the partners' financial situation, job position, or the mother's stronger desire to stay with her children. However, the number of mothers who return to work soon after giving birth — even full-time — is increasing.

Parental allowance & childcare allowance: Support for family work

To support parents who raise their young children at home, the state provides financial support. However, one should not compare this to the salary that mothers and fathers would earn if they continued working in their original profession.

Parental allowance:

Parental allowance was introduced in Germany following the Scandinavian model. You can apply for parental allowance for up to 14 months after the birth. This is calculated based on your income before the birth and is intended to replace lost income and secure your livelihood while you care for your child. Both mothers and fathers who take parental leave can apply for parental allowance, but they must then divide the benefit period among themselves.

Childcare allowance:

Since 2015, childcare allowance has been a matter for the federal states. For this reason you should find out whether and how much money you are entitled to in your state. Parents who want to raise their child at home even after the parental leave has ended — but at most until the child's third birthday — without using public childcare services are entitled to parental allowance. This is paid for a maximum of 22 months.

Household work: also for childless couples and singles

In principle, the view that parental and childcare allowances are only a small compensation for the work performed is quite defensible. However, a more critical consideration of the situation is also possible.

Without diminishing the value that mothers and fathers deserve for caring for their own children, family work also includes the tasks that arise in the household. However, these would have to be done even without children — albeit to a somewhat lesser extent. Washing clothes, vacuuming, shopping and organizing the household are also among the unpaid tasks that singles and childless couples have to do. They do not receive payment for them either.

Image credits

Mother works from home with her toddler © nataliealeb - stock.adobe.com