Father's Day Index Puts Daddy Duty in Dollar Terms

If dads were paid for every gross bug squashed, every blown headlight fixed, each task checked off the Honey-Do list, they would be getting a $20,248 check.

Insurance news website Insure.com released its annual Father's Day Index, which attempts to calculate the value of tasks typically associated with dads by assigning the tasks a wage rate gleaned from Bureau of Labor Statistics data.

This year, typical dad roles computed to something like this:

• Barbecuing — BLS equivalent: Cooks, All Other.
  • Mean hourly wage: $11.99 at three hours a per week.
• Mowing the lawn, snow removal, etc. — BLS equivalent: Grounds maintenance workers.
  • Mean hourly wage: $14.07 at two hours per week.
• Car maintenance — BLS equivalent: Automotive service technician, mechanic.
  • Mean hourly wage: $18.54 at 20 hours a year.
• Assembly of toys, bookshelves, etc. — BLS equivalent: Assemblers, fabricators, All Other.
  • Mean hourly wage: $14.16 at 40 hours a year.
• Pest removal (getting rid of that gross bug) — BLS equivalent: Pest control workers.
  • Mean hourly wage: $15.65 at four hours a year.

You can find the entire list here.

While there are some things you just can’t put a dollar figure on—like forming the priceless memories of childhood—a similar index placed the value of mom’s role at home at $60,182.