So far, Jana Duggar has ended up spending more time living with her parents than any of her other adult siblings. She didn’t move away from the Duggar compound until she married Stephen Wissmann at the age of 33, and in that time, it seemed like she did a lot around the house. So much, in fact, that some Duggar fans have estimated Jim Bob and Michelle owe Jana a whopping $2 million for the work she’s done for them over the years.
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Jana seemed to do a lot for the family while she lived at home.
The Duggars have often spoken about using the “buddy system” while their children were young – or making their oldest daughters responsible for keeping an eye on the younger siblings who had been assigned to them. As the oldest daughter, it appeared Jana was in charge of just about everything from chores to homeschooling to kissing boo-boos.
There's no doubt that Jana's hard work saved her family plenty of money.
But how much money? Some fans on a popular Duggar subreddit decided to calculate exactly what that number might be.
“Jana has been working more than full-time for JB and Meech nearly her entire life and should demand compensation,” one person wrote in a post that was shared earlier this week.
By their calculations, Jim Bob and Michelle might owe Jana a cool $1.9 million.
Assuming that Jana was “on the clock” for about 60 hours a week and was paid $20 an hour for her work, over the course of 30 years, she’d have earned just under $2 million. But considering that she shared a bedroom with her younger sisters, it’s more likely than not that she was “on the clock” when the rest of the house was asleep, too.
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Some fans disagreed with the methodology.
One person wrote that Jim Bob would have most definitely paid her minimum wage rather than $20 per hour.
“I’m sure JB would also charge her for living expenses as he did with Jill since he’s such a classy guy,” the person shared. “It would also be more like 168 hours a week, that girl was worked day and night, afternoon and evening.”
Another argued that because Jim Bob would most definitely nickel and dime Jana for the necessities she’s used over the years, even as a child, “at the end of the day, he’d find a way to send a bill right back.”
Jim Bob actually did send a bill to one of his daughters.
In Jill’s book, Counting the Cost, Jill wrote that when she tried to ask for compensation for her time on 19 Kids & Counting and Counting On, her dad sent her an itemized bill of expenses she would have incurred while living at home, including her meals. It’s not too far fetched to believe he might do the same to Jana.
At this point, it doesn’t seem as if Jana will be seeking compensation for all of that household labor she performed, but hopefully, kicking back in her quiet house with her brand-new husband is helping her relax the way she has long deserved!
