Estimating the Economic Value of Unpaid Care Work
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The invisible labour of caring for others has long been undervalued for its contribution to the economy. Unpaid care work, despite its crucial implications for well-being of the society, gender equality, and women's empowerment, is often overlooked as it falls outside traditional definitions of work and is not included in national income accounts such as GDP.
Unpaid care work, predominantly undertaken by women, encompasses direct personal care work such as feeding a baby or caring for an ailing partner or parent as well as essential indirect activities such as cooking or cleaning. Globally, women contribute to 76% of total unpaid care work, and this has repercussions such as increased time poverty and reduced participation in the labour force.
Valuation of unpaid care work offers valuable insights for policymakers and organizations. Acknowledging the economic significance of unpaid care work is essential for recognizing its vital contribution. Estimating its economic value can offer valuable insights into the development of gender-transformative policies related to employment, labour, and leave worldwide.
Development Analytics has carried out several studies focusing on gender and childcare policies and programmes and their ability to improve the overall well-being of children and their families. These studies were carried out for partners and clients including the World Bank, UNICEF, AfD, Foundation for the Support of Women’s Work (KEDV) and The Mother-Child Education Foundation (AÇEV).
Our Approach
Valuation of unpaid care work is typically centered on utilising different established methodologies to quantify and assign an economic value to the time used on undertaking these chores and care burdens. Essentially, by assigning a monetary value to the time invested in unpaid care work that can be calculated using household surveys, the total economic value of unpaid care work for a country and for women and men separately can be estimated.
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We estimate the total economic value of unpaid care work for a country using Time Use Surveys. Time-use surveys systematically capture how individuals distribute their time across various activities, offering a comprehensive glimpse into daily life. These surveys are valuable in revealing insights into the division of time among women and men in areas like work, household chores, study, personal care, family responsibilities, and leisure. Hence time use surveys are crucial in estimating the total time spent in unpaid care work activities by women and men in a day. Using approaches such as gauging the value of unpaid care work by estimating the cost of hiring individuals in the market to perform these tasks or estimating the foregone potential earnings in the job market of the individuals providing the unpaid care work, we then estimate the total economic value of this time spent on care work in the household.
Case Studies
As part of our gender and women’s empowerment area of expertise, we have focused on understanding the care burden at home, time spent on care activities in the household and estimating the gender imbalances in a number of different studies in the last decade. In this respect, a study carried out for the World Bank estimated the total economic value of unpaid care work in Türkiye using Türkiye’s first Time Use Survey:
Women's Invisible Contribution: Quantifying the Economic Value of Women's Unpaid Care Activities in Türkiye and Policy Options to Reduce Women's Care Burden.
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Women, whether in employment or not, spend a significant amount of time in Türkiye occupied in unpaid home-based care activities, providing care for children and the elderly in their families. Among OECD countries, the country ranks as one of the highest in terms of the amount of time women spend on unpaid household chores and activities.
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DA carried out a study on quantifying the economic value of women's unpaid care activities in Türkiye. The study explored the substantial time women spend on unpaid home-based care activities including child care and adult care and highlighted the considerable economic impact of women's unpaid care work in Türkiye using the 2006 Time Use Survey and the 2011 Labor Force Survey.
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This study was supported by the World Bank and the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA) and prepared for the Ministry of Family and Social Services (formerly Ministry of Family and Social Policies) of Türkiye.
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Life in Transition Survey- Gender Analysis and Gender Modules.
In this study, we focused on a multi-country analysis this time to understand the gender inequalities in a number of areas including the care burden at home:
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While gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls stand as one of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals, current progress indicates that none of the targets associated with this goal will be achieved by 2030. In this respect, employing an evidence-based approach to assess existing gender inequalities becomes imperative in crafting policies aimed at addressing these issues and fostering tangible progress.
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DA carried out a multi-country gender analysis in 34 countries in the ECA region for the World Bank, using the World Bank/EBRD Life in Transition Survey. This study focused on analysing gender differences in four key areas: i) employment and entrepreneurial activity, ii) asset ownership, iii) the burden of care in the household and attitudes towards its need and provision, and iv) norms on gender roles and attitudes towards the gender balance in household decision making.
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The analysis showed that women still face challenges to fully participate in economic activity and have an equal say in household decision-making. The study also highlighted that the childcare needs in the household affect women adversely in terms of employment outcomes.
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If you would like to get in touch with us and discuss the details of carrying out such a study in your country, please click to arrange a meeting with our team.