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Dad's job worth at home dropped this year
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Insure.com likes to place value on the work that parents do around the house, from child care to home repair. This year, Dad's contribution fell slightly, according to the assessment. - photo by Lois M Collins
If fathers were paid for the things they do around the house, their "salary" this year would be $24,738. That's 3.8 percent less than last year, according to insure.com's Father's Day Index 2016.

Insure.com likes to place value on the work parents do around the house, from child care to home repair. It even tracks what Santa's work is worth in a tongue-in-cheek review.

This year marks the first drop in Dad's contribution since the company began assigning value six years ago.

"Dads are our first superheroes. Smart, strong and able, they protect us from the sometimes big, scary world around us and cheer the loudest as our biggest fan," writes Jennifer Shelton in the index report. "And though those moments are truly invaluable, if you added up all that time, what would it be worth on the job market? As it turns out, not much."

The assessment is based on Bureau of Labor Statistics data, comparing the hourly value of specific tasks to the hourly wage for that job, based on what dads reportedly do at home. For example, they make the most on the 400 hours a year they are teachers, at a rate of $25.60, which is the national median. That accounts for nearly half the annual "salary," coming in at $10,240. That "wage," the report notes, is down 6.6 percent.

His role as accountant, though, went up nearly 9 percent, making his 26 hours a year at a rate of $33.63 worth $874.

Dad's other "occupations" included driver/chauffeur, cook, grounds maintenance worker, repairman, recreation and fitness worker, coach, assembler, car repairman, plumber (down a whopping 29.4 percent to equal a total of $129 for his six hours' work), laborer and pest-control guy.

Mom's "salary" for at-home work went up to $65,523. The difference is primarily that fathers spend about 51.5 hours at household-related tasks each week, while mothers spend about 148 hours a week. Insure.com said its survey showed that 31 percent of households divide tasks along traditional gender lines, 27 percent don't and 41 percent of homes share tasks about equally around the house.

Mom's biggest tasks were child care and social activities director.

The father report notes that U.S. workers work about 47 hours a week, get about 6.8 hours sleep each night and stress "about how to pay for college and save for retirement."

As a sidenote, insure.com surveyed dads about what they want for Father's Day. The top four items, according to the report, are a barbecue grill, electronics/gadgets, a weekend getaway or tools. The least-desired gifts are a tie, homemade gift or watch. Note, too, that a barbecue grill was also the fourth least-wanted gift.
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