Mother's Day 2014: If being a mother was a paid job, it would come with a £100,000 salary

An attractive figure - until the hours, role and responsibilities are broken down

(Flickr/ Bridget Coila )

If being a mother was a paid job, it would come with a salary of £100,000 per year, according to new research.

A very decent wage by most standards - that is, until the roles and responsibilities for this particular job are broken down and the extensive job description is reviewed.

The pay becomes substantially less attractive considering mothers are on duty 24 hours a day, seven days a week and have no paid holiday. Unlike most people who are on call, mothers do not get any paid overtime either.

For the first four to five years of a child’s life a mother with two children works seven days a week, has no holiday time (paid or otherwise) and spends 5840 hours a year, or 112 a week, caring for their child.

When their offspring starts school, the mother’s hours are reduced only slightly, to 5000 hours a year, or 96 hours a week.

The average mum also spends 69 minutes per day cleaning, which totals eight hours a week or just over 420 hours a year, on top of spending 13 hours a week cooking. It would cost £6,084 to employ a domestic cook for this period of time.

In a year a mum of two will do 125 loads of children’s washing, which weighs about 680kg and would cost £3,740 if sent to a laundry service.

If all of this washing was laid out piece by piece, it would cover a rugby pitch.

It does not stop there, according to the research by Prezzy Box, which found mothers spend three hours a week shopping for the family. A personal shopper for this period of time would cost £5460 a year - the equivalent of seven pairs of Jimmy Choos.

Nine hours a week in this role are also spent chauffeuring kids to and from school, clubs and to friends. To hire a personal chauffeur would cost £16.20 an hour, a total cost of £7,582 a year.

If a mother did her yearly driving all in one go, she would be able to travel from London-Paris-Brussels-Berlin-Warsaw-Budapest-Vienna-Madrid-London - and have time to spend a day and a half in each city.

The average child will suffer between six and eight respiratory infections and two to three stomach upsets a year, meaning mothers spend 56 days a year on average caring for sick children. With Healthcare assistants earning from £7-£10 an hour, a mother is providing a service worth about £10,000 a year.

This expansive role also has emotional as well as physical responsibilities. It’s estimated that mothers spend nearly four hours a week counselling their children, dealing with issues such as lost favourite toys, first heart break, broken friendships and more serious issues like bullying.

Counsellors can charge anywhere between £10 and £35 per one hour session, so a mother is providing a service valued at around £4,233 a year.

Considering all of the above, it might be wise to treat your mum to something extra special this Mother's Day.