Being a stay-at-home mom is one of the hardest jobs in the world. According to a an article by Forbes, the salary for housewife should be around P498,000 per month!
Why should a salary for housewife be so high?
Well, a stay-at-home mom wears different hats every day—aside from the fact that there are no fixed hours and overtime pay.
She is a nanny, a teacher, a finance manager, a cook, a psychologist, a kasambahay, and a driver. All this plus breastfeeding moms literally make and produce food for babies, too!
Salary for housewife
Albay congressman Joey Salceda is proposing through House Bill 8875 that there should be a salary for housewife or stay-at-home moms.
The bill highlights the importance of women who choose to stay at home to take care of the children and the home. It recognizes a mother's sacrifice for her family.
Under the proposed bill, housewives and stay-at-home moms who have one child under 12 years old and who are "living under the poverty line" will be qualified for the financial assistance. They are set to receive P2,000. The bill tasks the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) to identify qualified individuals.
According to Rep. Salceda, there are 11 million moms who cannot join the work force because they are caring for their child/children at home.
“What if these stay-at-home mothers or housewives take out their services as child caretakers, as homemakers, cooks, and sometimes even as care providers for the elderly and the sick of the family? Would not husbands be less productive at work, would not their children be underperforming in school or worse, may even be juvenile delinquents and pose a threat to the society? Clearly, the country’s production processes will grind to a halt.”
He adds, “Some studies show that if we quantify the work of stay-at-home women, it approximates the work of kasambahay or housemaids, thus housewives also deserve to get paid at least what a kasambahay earns.”
The bill is going to be reviewed by the House Committee on Women and Gender Equality. If the bill passes into law, there will be an estimated P35 billion budget per year for this—P32 billion will be allotted for married women, while P3 billion will go to single moms, widowers, and those separated from their husbands.
Sources: Manila Standard, ABS-CBN News
Photo: Pexels
Also read: 6 reasons kung bakit hindi biro ang maging stay-at-home mom