Nearly three-quarters of those polled said it was a full-time job

A poll of 4,000 housewives for networking website alljoinon.com suggested that the average mum worked for nearly nine hours a day every day.

The website said a housewife would earn almost £30,000 a year if she was employed to do all the same errands.

The average annual UK wage is £23,700, according to official figures.

Some 71% of those polled agreed that successfully running the family home was a full-time job.

"The survey clearly demonstrates that not only do housewives deserve a wage for their efforts, they also need a break from the daily grind," said Carolyn Morris, spokeswoman for alljoinon.com.

The chores are yours

An average mum would spend 273 minutes every day looking after the children, according to the poll. Based on an hourly rate of £8, a nanny would earn £36.80 a day for the same job.

The survey claims 71 minutes a day is spent cleaning and tidying

Cleaning and tidying for 71 minutes would net a cleaner £7.10 a day. For more than an hour of cooking a head chef would get £17.30.

Fourteen minutes making the beds is worth £1.29 for a chambermaid, and a kitchen assistant would be paid £2.57 for a housewife's typical 28 minutes of washing up.

The poll said the average mum trawled the family finances for 39 minutes, which would cost £12.50 if an accountant did it.

A taxi driver would earn £2.53 for the 23 minutes of ferrying children around, and a mystery shopper £2.10 for the 18 minutes a day of grocery shopping.

Single women 'do less'

HAVE YOUR SAY Would you really want to put a price on your wife? I'd rather pitch in and do my fair share. James, Belfast

Labour economist Helene Couprie, of Toulouse University, concluded that on average, an employed woman does 15 hours a week of housework when she lives with her employed partner, up from 10 hours when single.

Men, on the other hand, see the hours they commit to housework decline once they begin living as a couple, she found.

In the year to April 2007, average earnings of full-time male employees were £498 per week, while for women it was £394, according to the Office of National Statistics.