Mom Goes Viral For Asking: Would You Rather Make $200k A Year Or Be A Stay-At-Home Mom?
The comment section was truly revealing.
A mom went viral on TikTok after asking her mom followers if they would rather work a full-time job and make a $200k salary, or be a full-time stay-at-home mom.
“I'm so curious what people are going to pick,” Riki Sanford asked.
“Would you rather be a stay-at-home mom 24/7 or you're a working mom? But you have to get a nanny, you're working nine to five in the office Monday through Friday, but you're bringing in like 200k a year. What would you pick?”
Sanford received thousands of comments from moms, giving their opinions on what they’d choose in this hypothetical scenario.
“SAHM. Why have a child if you are going to outsource raising them. I see women saying ‘it’s best for me’ but what about the poor baby??” one user said while another wrote, “$200k. I’m a better mom while working. And I have QUALITY time with my kids.”
“SAHM 100%. Kids grow up so fast,” another said.
One wrote, “$200k hands down. I think my kids will appreciate when I can pay for their college and give them a down payment for their first house.”
One user admitted, “200k. I am not cut out to be a SAHM.”
Sanford replied, “We love a self-aware queen! I don’t think I’m cut out for it either.”
One user pointed out a more “long-game” perspective and wrote, “Without hesitation, SAHM — I can always make more money, I will never get this time back with my little guy”
“It’s true. And the time passes SO QUICK!” the OP said.
One current SAHM mom provided an interesting perspective from her personal experience and said, “I've been a SAHM for 15 yrs, my kids are in school. I have no skills and I now feel so useless and everything and everyone has moved forward, including my kids and I'm just there.”
One commenter asked for a few details in the OP’s hypothetical question.
“So I need more details on the SAHM. Because there’s the broke type where you can’t afford anything or the type where husband is making $300k,” they asked.
The OP replied, “When I made this I was thinking the husband is making whatever he makes now.”
The irony of all this is all the data that has been pulled about the hypothetical salary a stay-at-home would receive based on all the jobs they do all day, every single day.
According to Investopedia, a stay-at-home mom could work upwards of 98 hours a week. According to 2019 data, if a stay-at-home parent were paid for their services, they would be looking at a median annual salary of $178,201. That is basically as much as the salary in Sanford’s hypothetical scenario.
