In this age of performance-related pay, one group of workers has been completely overlooked. Housewives put in the hours and produce the results, year in, year out, yet their graft continues to go unrewarded.

Now insurance firm Legal and General has put a price on the housewife's labours. If she received the going rate for the job, her weekly wage would be £336, which adds up to almost £18,000 a year.

But tot up what is involved and even this fantasy figure seems inadequate.

The typical housewife superstar is a cleaner; a chef; a waitress; a personal shopper; a doctor who needs to be able to diagnose everything from nettle stings to an imaginary headache dreamt up to avoid double maths; a nurse who must tend to her husband's runny nose and young Charlie's upset tummy; a pet walker; an interior designer; a household accountant; a dispute arbiter; a counsellor; a careers advisor; a gardener and a bottle washer. Nowadays, of course, many women combine these roles with full-time paid work.

Men are doing more around the house. But Legal and General found that women dedicate more than double the time of their partners to domestic duties.

Women know that an £18,000 pay cheque is not about to pop through the letterbox.

All your mum asks for is a little appreciation now and then. That is reward enough.

So go on, spoil her tomorrow. Mother's Day is our annual chance to let mum know that we think she is priceless.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.