What’s a father worth?

candid image of father and son walking crowded streetAbout $23,000, according to this post from Insure. com:

Insure.com’s 2013 Father’s Day Index puts Dad’s household tasks at $23,344 a year, up from last year’s $20,248. The increase is largely due to higher mean hourly wages for drivers, teachers, coaches and plumbers, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data.

Moms will likely feel slighted this year. Although Mom’s 2013 value is higher than Dad’s at just under $60,000, mothers have been seeing their value drop every year.

These surveys have to be taken with a grain of salt. The ones that put Mom’s value in the six figures need a whole shaker, since they typically value Mom’s contributions as chauffeur, cook and event organizer at the same rates you’d pay a top-ranked professional–rather than the amount you’d pay a nanny or other caregiver to perform the same functions.

But still, they’re kind of fun to read, and they could remind you that life without Dad (or Mom) could be expensive, which is why you want life insurance if others are financially dependent on you.