Do you do work that our culture doesn’t value? Are you a stay at home mom? Or office mom? What if you charged for every time you did this invisible work? For the emotional labor, the cleaning, the carrying, the schlepping, the caring. For the opportunity cost of putting other people’s dreams before your own. What about just charging for your time? Are you underpaid or worse, not paid at all?
I want you to know, I SEE YOU.
Since becoming a new mom, I have spent the last year keeping track of every hour of my son’s activity. Crying, sleeping, eating - I know what he is doing every minute of every day. It has showed me how hard I work. It has helped me articulate that to my husband. When I tallied it up at the end of the year, I found that not counting hours sleeping and Sundays, I had spent 5,616 hours providing child care. If paid at the Oakland minimum wage of $13.23, that’s $74,299.68.
It has been so empowering to know my own worth, and I think you should start keeping track of all the amazing unpaid or undervalued work you do too.
So, how much does the patriarchy owe you?
Go to www.billthepatriarchy.com to find out!
I believe once we know our worth we won’t agree to work for free any more.