Counting outputs, capital inputs and caring labor: Estimating gross household product

Abstract

The estimation of Gross Household Product, the economic value added by the unpaid work and own capital of households outside the boundary of the System of National Accounts, should be addressed through household input-output satellite accounts which count household outputs, value them at market prices, and include an allowance for capital as a factor of production. This paper uses internationally comparable survey data to estimate the relative magnitudes of the gender division of the millions of hours of paid, unpaid and total work in twelve OECD countries, puts a dollar value on Gross Household Product in Australia, looks more closely at who provides care and nurture in households and suggests some urgent issues for attention.