Majority of Women Would Pay Moms Big Bucks to Stay at Home, Reveals Woman's Day/AOL Poll

NEW YORK and DULLES, Va., April 19 /PRNewswire/ -- If women ruled the world, stay-at-home moms would earn an annual salary equal to or more than $100,000 reveals a new poll* from Woman's Day magazine (womansday.com) and AOL.com. According to the findings, the majority of women (52%) would pay a stay-at-home mom this annual salary. The poll, which surveyed over 1,000 American women, provides insight into the triumphs and trials of motherhood. The complete findings are highlighted in the May 8 issue of Woman's Day magazine, on newsstands today, and online at http://www.womansday.com/community.

When examining why mothers choose to work outside the home, only slightly more than a quarter (26%) of those polled stated they enjoyed their careers, while a majority (52%) stated they needed the money. When asked about the joys of motherhood, overwhelmingly, 73% of women found their child's early years, infancy through age 3, the most enjoyable. Yet, when asked which stage of their child's life was most challenging, 47% cited those same years (infancy and the terrible twos) while 48% of women said the tween and teen years were most challenging.

The most difficult thing about being a mother is finding any alone time, according to 52% of the women polled. Maybe that's because a majority of mothers are running the household. 39% say that while their husbands help with major decisions, they take care of their child's daily needs, and 33% say their husbands pretty much leave everything up to them. However, the women polled said forget about the household chores, if their husbands were at home more, 39% would use that time to just enjoy being a couple.

  Other key findings include:
  -- 16% of mothers admit to having a favorite child but an overwhelming 84%
     say they love their kids equally.
  -- 69% stated people perceive stay-at-home moms lounge around the house
     all day
  -- 52% of mothers would employ someone around the home if it were
     affordable

Turning to pop culture, 49% of those polled said Debra Barone from "Everybody Loves Raymond" was the TV mom most like themselves, with Clair Huxtable (24%), Lorelai Gilmore (20%), and Bree Van De Kamp (7%) following. 37% of women said Johnny Depp was the celebrity dad they'd most like to have kids with followed closely by Will Smith (35%). With almost half the vote (40%), Angelina Jolie was named the hottest celebrity mom followed by Kelly Ripa (18%), Jennifer Garner (15%), Brooke Shields (14%) and Gwen Stefani (13%).

  *Note on findings- Poll was conducted on AOL.com from 12/29/06 to 02/01/07

  About Woman's Day magazine:

Reaching 21 million readers, Woman's Day is a newsstand leader in the women's service field selling an average of 1.4 million copies every three weeks. Publishing 17 issues each year, the magazine covers topics common to all women -- health, fashion, home decorating, food, family, fitness, relationships, and entertainment.

About AOL:

AOL is a global Web services company that operates some of the most popular Web destinations, offers a comprehensive suite of free software and services, runs the country's largest Internet access business, and provides a full set of advertising solutions. A majority-owned subsidiary of Time Warner Inc., AOL LLC is based in Dulles, Virginia. AOL and its subsidiaries also have operations in Europe, Canada and Asia. Learn more at AOL.com.