Households’ invisible input to the economy: a review of its measurement methods and results

Abstract

Unpaid domestic work is the main part of non-market household production which is not covered by national statistics (GDP). The monetary value of unpaid work is identified within the gross value added (GVA), which is 60–80% of (the invisible) non-market household production. GVA of unpaid work provides significant information about the household sector and its impact on the national economy even if some part of that production is unobserved. After long discussions, a consensus was achieved and the input method was approved and used in the estimates of unpaid work in the Household Satellite Accounts (HHSA). However, the consensus is still in the process of household estimations. This paper shows that different wages used in input methods do not change the final proportion of the GVA of unpaid work to total household production. The analysis also confirms that, in accordance with UNECE and Eurostat, a regular implementation of the HHSA alongside the core system – the European System of Accounts – is a valuable and comprehensive tool for assessing the total output of household production (both market and non-market).