HOUSEWORK: PRICELESS OR VALUELESS?

Marianne A. Ferber and Bonnie G. Birnbaum

Review of Income and Wealth, 1980, vol. 26, issue 4, 387-400

Abstract: Two ways of estimating the value of housework are currently used. One is the opportunity cost approach, which sets the value of work done at home equal to the income the person could earn in the labor market. The other is the market cost approach, which uses the cost of hiring someone to do the housework to determine its value. In this study we use data on earnings of female clerical workers with various patterns of labor force participation to obtain estimates of the opportunity cost of hometime for such women. We find that potential market earnings do not provide an acceptable estimate of the value of housework, and suggest that using the wages of general household workers is a better approach.

Date: 1980
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