True value of unpaid work in the home – and it’s a lot more than most of us realise

Consumer rights expert Martyn James runs through the high cost of housework and other everyday tasks - and ways to save money on your 'to do' list

The way we live has dramatically changed over the last few decades. Many Gen Z and millennials will have grown up with the concept of both parents working.

Yet millions of people in the UK are stay-at-home mothers or fathers. It’s estimated that a quarter of all mothers and a tenth of fathers fall in to this category. "Homemaker" is a term that has fallen from favour in recent years, having come to represent a rather fusty, 1950s version of women.

Many people have a rather patronising view on the sheer volume of work that is undertaken around the home by stay at home mothers and fathers. Yet from cleaning and maintenance to budgeting and childcare it’s a full time job.

As I type this I’m thinking about the teetering pile of dishes in my sink, the dust on my vacuum cleaner and the list of complaints I need to make to rubbish businesses I used - and I’m wishing I could hire someone to do it all. In fact I can do precisely that. But it is not at all cheap.

According to exclusive research from MoneySuperMarket, 46 million people are underestimating the true cost of maintaining the home. The research found that one in five people estimated that it would cost between £500 and £1,000 per month if they had to pay for someone to do household tasks. Over a third said they don’t have a clue how much this support would cost.

In fact, the research found that the average person in the UK carries out a whopping £2,115 worth of unpaid housework every month! This works out to a take-home salary of £30,000 a year. It’s also made me feel slightly better about my "to do" list. Let’s take a look at some of those costs – along with some money saving tips.

Transport

I always know when the schools are on holidays because the roads suddenly clear dramatically. The school run is one of the more obvious transport requirements for families, but parents are regularly stuck in traffic shipping children to various clubs and events too.

Add to that the shopping trips, family days out and supporting older relatives and suddenly that car becomes an essential service. My top money saving tip: Make your car work more cost-effectively by clearing out the boot, taking off the roof rack, not fully filling the tank and driving consistently. Check out my tips here.

Food and nutrition

Feeding a family can be expensive – especially if you’ve got a house full of teens. Worryingly, the number of people who are forced to use foodbanks in 2024 is still far too high. It’s not just the cost of the weekly shop though. Parents struggling to make ends meet may have to jettison healthier options in favour of cheaper processed food – which is much worse for you.

Being able to afford a balanced diet, vitamins and variety isn’t cheap. My top money saving tip. Defrosting the fridge freezer can make it work much more efficiently, cutting your energy bills too. This matters because you can freeze a huge range of food, which means you can batch cook and throw away less. More food shopping tips here.

Clothing

Kids grow fast and the bill for shoes alone can cripple families on a budget. There are some affordable options out there though. Supermarkets offer a very competitively priced range of generic school clothes to help you cut costs. Schools are only supposed to insist on an extremely limited range of branded goods, but many are blatantly breaking the rules. So harness that parent power and force the governors to change their policies!

My top money saving tip. Nothing beats the second hand school uniform exchanges run through local authorities or even your school. A focus on the environment and cutting back on fast-fashion means the stigma of second hand uniforms is fading. More tips here.

Childcare

Topping the list of costs for most parents is childcare. From nursery costs to after school care, this is the single-biggest complaint I hear from families. According to MoneyHelper, it costs £7,210 a year for 25 hours of part time care and £14,030 for 50 hours a week in full time care for each child.

My top money saving tip. Cutting costs in childcare is the holy grail and there aren’t many solutions to this problem I’m afraid. But are you making the most of the help available to parents. Find out more here.

Cleaning and maintenance

If you’re trying to hold down a full time job, look after the kids and other relatives and keep on top of all your other duties, then household duties can often take a hit. The cost of cleaners varies a great deal around the UK but if you maximise your use of them then you can save quite a bit of cash. Work with your family to keep on top of the basics and maybe contract a cleaner to deep clean a single room once a week.

My top money saving tips: For some jobs, you’re going to have to use a contractor. But getting the right one can be tricky, so make sure you are clear about what the job involves, what you expect, deadlines and timescales. And get it in writing! Find out more in my upcoming column in the Mirror on builders, contractors and your rights!

Planning for the worst-case scenario

I don’t want to ruin anyone’s day but have you ever considered what you would do if the person who runs the household isn’t there anymore? The MoneySuperMarket research found that four-fifths of the UK population had no life insurance provision. We often think about life insurance as being necessary to cover a wage-earner’s salary or your mortgage contributions if someone dies.

But you can take out life insurance for non-working parents too – and it’s worth considering given the vast costs mentioned in this article. We often overlook life insurance because we don’t like talking about death. Alternatively, you might think you’re too young to need a policy. Lots of people I speak to don’t really understand how these policies work, which is fair enough as the financial services industry hasn’t exactly made these vital policies easy to understand in the past.

Fortunately, you can find much more accessible, plain English explanations covering how life insurance works these days. Insurance is there to cover you in case things go wrong in life. You wouldn’t consider driving without insurance or not covering your property in case disaster strikes. So have a chat with your loved ones about taking out life insurance, so you have some security if the unthinkable happens.

• Martyn James is a leading consumer rights campaigner, TV and radio broadcaster and journalist