The Life of a Domestic Engineer

Meta Description: A domestic engineer is another term for what is commonly known as a stay-at-home parent. This is a complex position that includes a number of roles involved in raising children and managing a household, from completing chores to cooking, tutoring and balancing a budget.

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The Life of a Domestic Engineer

A domestic engineer is a more career-friendly term for what was previously called a stay-at-home parent. Other clever terms for this profession include “household CEO” or “director of child development.” A domestic engineer performs a number of household duties, day and night. This is a profession that encompasses many roles all rolled up into one.

Reasons for Becoming a Domestic Engineer

Among the reasons cited for becoming a domestic engineer is to save on daycare expenses. Daycare options are often expensive and can cost thousands of dollars per month. If the primary wage-earner for the household earns enough money to comfortably support the household, the other partner may elect to stay at home with the children. This allows more quality time for the parent and children.

In some cases, a parent may be unable to work outside the home due to illness or disability, and staying at home becomes a default measure. Others elect to become domestic engineers because they believe they can benefit their household better by staying at home and serving their families in that capacity. Some domestic engineers opt to work part-time or operate a small home business in order to earn passive income.

Regardless of the reasons, the number of parents opting to stay at home is on the rise. Recent studies from the Pew Research Center show 29 percent of parents are staying home as of 2012, a 6 percent increase since 1999.

Duties

With the increase of stay-at-home parents comes both criticism and praise for their decisions. While some believe it is a noble sacrifice to give up the rat race to raise a family, others believe stay-at-home parents are lazy and not contributing to society, minimizing the significance of the role they play at home.

A primary responsibility of a domestic engineer is to clean the house. This includes washing dishes, sweeping and mopping floors, scouring sinks and tubs, polishing furniture, vacuuming carpets, cleaning cabinets and countertops, scrubbing toilets and wiping mirrors and windows.

A domestic engineer is a meal planner and cook as well. This involves shopping for groceries and cooking meals for the family. If certain family members have dietary restrictions, the savvy domestic engineer may prepare more than one meal at dinnertime to accommodate the special needs of the household.

Domestic engineers are oftentimes parents, and so childrearing is a major responsibility. Depending on the ages of the children, domestic engineers often feed and bathe small children and change diapers, as well as provide transportation to and from school and other locations. They care for sick children by giving medicine and administer first aid to injured children, taking them to a clinic or a hospital if they require special medical attention. They provide instruction to their children, helping with homework as well as disciplining whenever necessary. They may delegate some household chores to older children to teach them responsibility. As parents, domestic engineers play the role of chauffeur, nurse, cook, teacher and disciplinarian.

Domestic engineers learn to master multitasking, as they must often handle all of these duties at one time. For instance, dinner may be cooking on the stove while the domestic engineer is vacuuming in another room. A mother may be grocery shopping with her young children in tow, and she has to calm a crying baby while ensuring her toddler doesn’t wander out of her sight.

For the household to run smoothly, a domestic engineer learns how to manage the household budget and spends money accordingly. Domestic engineers pay bills and allocate funds for shopping for the household, as well as placing money into savings accounts for later use or to earn bank interest.

The domestic engineer may perform other roles on as an as-needed basis. For example, he or she may be an event planner for her children’s birthday parties, as well as dinner parties or any other fun activities in the home. Other duties may be performed outside, such as gardening or yardwork.

Domestic engineers may not directly report to anyone, but if married or in a committed relationship, they make decisions regarding the household, often with the assistance or consultation of their significant other. The domestic engineer also provides companionship and support to their spouse or partner.

Work Conditions

Domestic engineers, unlike other professions, are on call 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Performance of their duties can be required at any time of day or night, including weekends and holidays. They typically work at home, but their responsibilities continue away from home as well, such as when they are shopping for the household or take their children anywhere. Typically, they awaken in the mornings and start their day, preparing meals, cooking, cleaning and caring for the children, and continue working into the evening hours, transporting children to and from after school activities.

Educational Requirements

There are no formal educational requirements to become a domestic engineer. Many may have learned domestic skills while growing up, but if not, on-the-job training is part of the position, and many learn as they go, especially as it pertains to parenting. Childrearing and cooking courses are available, however. Some domestic engineers did obtain degrees prior to entering their current profession and apply them accordingly. A performing arts major, for example, may come up with fun ways to entertain the children. An accounting major may be particularly savvy in handling the household budget. However, no degree is necessary for this job. The traits required for this job include patience and stamina.

Salary and Benefits

This profession combines the roles of nurse, cook, house cleaner, teacher, chauffeur and accountant. While most do not receive any pay, if a domestic engineer was paid according to these duties, some estimates would put the typical annual salary at over $75,000.

This job does not offer paid time off, sick pay, overtime pay, pension, retirement plan or health insurance (unless the spouse has added the domestic engineer to his or her employee’s health insurance policy). The benefit is not measured in monetary value, but the emotional satisfaction of seeing the smiles on the faces of loved ones and receiving hugs from family members.

Advantages and Disadvantages

Studies show that older children as well as younger children benefit from having one parent staying at home with them. The evidence is shown in their school performance. Homeschooled students typically come from households where one parent stays at home with them. They also score 10 to 30 percentile points higher on standardized tests than children from other households. Children who come from households with a domestic engineer generally perform at higher levels, from elementary to high school grades, with the greatest impact seen with children ages 6 and 7 who are just starting their formal education.

Younger children also benefit from the presence of a parent at home, in that studies show they exhibit fewer behavioral problems. It appears they show fewer signs of aggression than children who were placed in daycare, and this continues to be the case even years later when follow-up studies are conducted.

While the children benefit greatly from having a parent stay at home, the domestic engineers, however, sometimes find themselves coping with the unique problems that come with their lifestyle. They report feeling sad or angry more often than their counterparts who work outside the home. Some report feeling isolated due to a lack of connection with other parents with a similar home dynamic.

"Work-life balance" is a popular term used in the American workplace now, where employers create scheduling policies that enable employees to balance their careers with their personal lives. A domestic engineer must create his or her own work-life balance by managing time effectively and creating personal time to socialize with other parents, or even spend time alone pursuing hobbies or participating in other enjoyable activities. By making their own self a priority, domestic engineers can ensure their emotional needs are met, allowing them to be even more effective when interacting with their family.

There are Mom’s Day Out programs or babysitting co-op programs that allow the stay-at-home parent some respite from his or her everyday responsibilities for a few hours. Also, the married or partnered domestic engineer will want to make quality time with the spouse or significant other to nurture the marriage or relationship. A perfect example of this is “date night,” where they make time for each other, away from home and away from the kids.

A domestic engineer, contrary to popular opinion, is not merely a “housewife” or someone who stays at home and does not work. The domestic engineer position is a rewarding career that includes many roles, and those who serve in this capacity do so to benefit their families and to ensure the household runs smoothly. Studies show children benefit from this type of household arrangement, in that they perform better in school and exhibit fewer behavioral problems than other children. Skilled domestic engineers, when incorporating effective time management skills, are able to serve their families well and reap the benefit of personal satisfaction that comes from managing a home.