Mother’s Day Index 2025: Mom’s annual salary climbs 4%, now more than $145,000

The contribution moms make to their families is priceless. However, if America’s mothers were paid for their work around the house, they would have earned an annual salary of $145,235 over the past year, according to Insure.com’s Mother’s Day Index for 2025. 

Moms’ wages increased by 4% from last year’s Mother’s Day Index, which found that the work mothers did was equivalent to a salary of $140,315. 

This 4% wage increase beats the average hourly earnings increase of 1.4% from March 2024 to March 2025, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), and keeps moms ahead of inflation, which grew 2.4% in the past 12 months.

For the past 15 years, Insure.com has compiled salary information from the BLS and used the data to calculate hourly wages for common tasks mothers do around the house. 

The Mother’s Day Index recognizes the incredible work moms do for their families every day. From managing daily routines to providing emotional support and taking care of household responsibilities — sometimes on top of a full-time career — moms consistently show up, even when their contributions go unpaid.

Such work includes: 

• Cooking meals
• Helping with homework
• Caregiving
• Cleaning the house
• Doing the laundry
• Providing emotional support

Take cooking, for example. We estimated that a mom spends about 14 hours a week preparing meals. Cooks earn an average of $17.14 an hour, which adds up to $12,478 a year in time spent in the kitchen. 

Our editors then combined that with pay estimates for other typical roles moms perform to calculate a total annual salary.

When we added up the true market value of all a mom’s duties over the year, we reached a salary of $145,235.

The value of mom’s unpaid labor continues to climb

In calculating mom’s salary for 2025, we used the same 19 job categories that were the basis for last year’s index (see the table below). Earnings increased for all but one job. 

The jobs with the most significant wage growth were: 

• Mental health counselor: 11%
• Community and social service specialist: 8%
• Laundry worker: 7%
• Baker: 6%
• Chauffeur: 6%
• Nurse: 6%
• Cook: 5%
• Personal care aide: 5%

Only one job saw a decline in this year’s index: 

• Elementary school teacher: -1%

*Teachers are listed twice in this ranking. We included elementary school teachers to reflect the structured academic support moms often provide, and “other teachers and instructors” to capture the informal teaching they do, like music, life skills, and creative enrichment.

Some professions might not perfectly match last year’s description as editors updated the selection of some job titles.

The data above clearly show that mothers spend a large part of their time on childcare and household chores. However, the amount of time a woman spends on childcare, housework, leisure and sleep seems to vary depending on family circumstances. 

A study published by the Gender Equality Policy Institute found that mothers do 1.6 times as much childcare and household work as fathers among households with both parents working full-time. This meant 19.5 hours per week of childcare and household work for mothers compared to 12.3 hours for fathers. 

Recognizing the amount of unpaid work mothers do isn’t just about appreciation; it’s also about planning.

If your family depends on a mother’s unpaid work, it’s worth considering how that role would be filled in her absence — emotionally, logistically and financially. Life insurance is one tool that can help families prepare for that possibility.

Protecting mom’s role: Life insurance for mothers

Traditionally, many families have purchased life insurance to protect the income of the household’s primary earner. Historically, men have earned more than women, and that gap still exists today — in 2023, women earned nearly 84% of what men earned, according to the most recent data from the BLS. As a result, fathers are typically more likely to carry life insurance coverage than mothers.

In fact, about 55% of men but just 49% of women have life insurance, according to research from LIMRA, an insurance industry trade association. Yet women and mothers need just as much life insurance as men and fathers who work outside the home.

“Even if mothers do not work outside the home, purchasing enough life insurance to cover their contribution to the family [is] a wise decision,” says Melissa Cox, a certified financial planner and owner of Future-Focused Wealth, a financial planning firm. 

That contribution, she adds, goes far beyond income.

Even if a mother isn’t bringing in a paycheck, it doesn’t mean she isn’t providing massive economic value, Cox says. “Stay-at-home moms are often the family’s COO, managing childcare, household logistics, transportation and more. If something happened to her, replacing those roles could cost the family tens of thousands a year,” she says.

Life insurance can ease the financial burden. 

How much life insurance do you need? 

Life insurance isn’t a one-size-fits-all decision. What works for one family may not be right for another, depending on household roles and long-term financial goals. Reviewing your options and understanding your family’s specific needs can help you choose the right coverage and avoid being under- or over-insured.

For moms earning an income, that means ensuring their policy reflects the financial support they provide. Many experts recommend getting at least 10 to 15 times your income in life insurance coverage. However, this might not be the right amount for everyone.

“While some use a formula like a multiple of income, it really depends on the family’s unique situation,” says Ian Freeman, a financial advisor with The Freeman Group. “It’s important to consider any outstanding debts, future education expenses and how much income would need to be replaced to maintain a family’s lifestyle. The goal is to make sure loved ones are protected and able to move forward without financial hardship.”

If you are unsure how much life insurance you need, consult a financial advisor to determine the right amount for your situation. 

You can also take these steps to determine how much coverage you need: 

Add up your contributions 

Stay-at-home moms can determine how much coverage they need by putting a dollar figure on each household duty that they perform, as we have done in the index, and arriving at a ballpark total of how much it will cost to replace their contribution. 

Consider the timeline

The financial impact of losing someone who manages the home and cares for the children can last for years, not months. That’s why it’s helpful to consider how long your family may need to rely on outside support. How many years until your children are grown and more independent? How much is the cost of outside help likely to rise over time with inflation?

The family budget is another important piece of the puzzle, says licensed life insurance agent Zhaneta Gechev, founder of One Stop Life Insurance. The cost of life insurance should fit into the family’s finances.

“I advise the families I work with to consider their budget and make sure the plan is affordable,” Gechev says. “We all want the best plan with the most features, guarantees and coverage, but if the plan is not sustainable long-term, it’s not a good plan for them.”

Methodology

Mean hourly wages are based on current occupational wage data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. It does not include income from work performed outside the home. The annual wage and percentages are rounded to the nearest whole number. The editors determine the hours and weeks of each occupation based on their research and the values assigned to those tasks in past indexes.

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