Stay-at-home mom charges husband $2,700 a week for household labour — sparking a debate on TikTok

Being a stay-at-home parent can often be a thankless job.

From the moment you get up in the morning, to the moment you go to bed, you're either chasing after a child, preparing meals or doing some sort of household task — many of which involve scrubbing food particles off of a surface or item of clothing.

And the worst part? At the end of the week, there's no paycheque to look forward to.

That's what inspired Amber Aubrey, a mom of two, to start charging her husband for the unpaid labour she performs around the house. She documented her decision in a hotly debated TikTok video that has since racked up over 5 million views (1) and has spread to Reddit and Instagram, where users are debating whether household work should carry a formal pay scale in relationships.

"Ultimately, it does kind of make me the breadwinner in my household," Aubrey said in the video.

Why this stay-at-home mom wants a paycheque

The labour stay-at-home parents do has real value — and researchers have actually put a price tag on it.

According to Statistics Canada’s Economic Account of Unpaid Household Work — March 2025 release (2), the average Canadian parent performs more than 26 hours of unpaid domestic labour per week — work valued at roughly $39 an hour when compared with market equivalents such as childcare, cooking, and cleaning.

For Aubrey, charging her spouse for her duties boils down to feeling like she deserves financial recognition for the work she contributes. That's why she bills her husband $2,700 a week for the work she does.

"If he wants to save money, he can help me do any of these tasks," she said.

Here's a breakdown of Aubrey's workload and the amount she charges:

• $20 per load of dishes (two to three times daily, five days a week)
• $140 for weekly laundry
• $120 for weekly bathroom cleaning
• $100 per floor cleaning (two to three times daily, five days a week)
• $800 weekly homeschool instruction for two kids
• $150 for weekly pickups and drop-offs
• $75 per weekly grocery run
• $50 for five weekly lunches and dinners
• $200 for weekly breastfeeding
• $50 weekly for sweeping

Many TikTok viewers were quick to applaud Aubrey for her bold stance (3).

"Know your worth, then add tax," wrote user K Briggs.

"I 100% support this," added another user named Niklovin. User Sharna Louise also chimed in: "This is the best video I've seen on the internet; ever!"

Aubrey's video even resonated with some male viewers. A TikTok user named gesseppiimuhseppe said, "Listen, as a guy, I'm here for this. I think most [of] these men need to be aware [of] how much their wives do."

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How couples can address “invisible labour”

Invisible labour is something stay-at-home parents take on regularly — and issues can arise when that work goes unacknowledged.

It's not just the physical tasks that matter. There's also the mental load — the planning, scheduling and decision-making that comes with managing a household and raising children.

Of course, not every household follows the traditional gender roles. But data from the University of Wisconsin-Madison finds that women still spend twice as many hours doing physical housework than their male partners (4).

While social norms are shifting the same gap exists north of the 49th parallel with women in Canada still carrying the bulk of unpaid household work. A 2025 Statistics Canada survey found that women perform an average of 3.2 hours of unpaid housework per day compared with 1.8 hours for men — a gap that has narrowed only slightly over the past decade (5).

Weight of the world

It doesn’t stop there. Allison Daminger, an assistant professor of sociology, found in her research that in 80% of opposite-sex couples, women shoulder most of the cognitive labour — things like managing family calendars, planning meals and checking on homework.

In 2019, Statistics Canada estimated the economic value of unpaid household work at $860.2 billion (6). And things didn't get better over time. Statistics Canada now estimates the economic value of unpaid household work at over $1.1 trillion in 2024, up from $860 billion in 2019. The increase reflects both higher replacement wages and Canada’s growing population (7).

That’s why couples need to have open discussions about how to financially support and recognize the stay-at-home role. That doesn’t have to mean every household needs to itemize tasks like Aubrey does.

But working partners should start by acknowledging the value their stay-at-home counterparts bring to the table. There are practical ways to make things more equitable.

For example, the working partner could contribute part to a spousal RRSP to help the non-working partner save for retirement.

They should also consider the opportunity cost of a partner stepping away from their career. Resume gaps can add challenges when trying to re-enter the workforce and often lead to lower pay.

For couples with one stay-at-home parent, open communication is key — and so is gratitude. Even if a weekly paycheque isn’t in the cards, a regular and sincere thank you can really go a long way.

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Bottom line

With inflation and childcare costs still rising — the average full-time daycare spot now tops $1,200 a month in many Canadian cities — some couples are reassessing whether one partner staying home makes financial sense. Even so, financial experts say partners should document the economic value of unpaid work and explore spousal RRSPs or shared savings accounts to help equalize long-term wealth.

Article sources

We rely only on vetted sources and credible third-party reporting. For details, see our editorial ethics and guidelines.

NY Post: Here’s what I charge my husband for stay-at-home-mom services — and some say he’s not paying me enough (1); Statistics Canada: Economic Account of Unpaid Household Work (2); TikTok: @amberaudrey_96 (3); University Of Wisconsin-Madison: How Invisible Labor Affects Relationships (4); Statistics Canada: A portrait of military families in Canada from the 2021 Census (5); Statistics Canada: Estimating the economic value of unpaid household activities in Canada, 2015 to 2019 (6, 7)