ESTIMATES OF THE VALUE OF HOUSEHOLD WORK CANADA, 1961 and 1971*

The paper presents some estimates of the imputed dollar value of household work (HW)for Canada in 1961 and 1971, finding this to be about $16 and $38 billion respectively, equal to 40 percent of GNP. From the results we derive some implications about five questions raised in the relevant literature. First, no clear evidence of a downward trend for the ratio HW/GNP is found, contrary to U.S. results. Second, addition of HW to GNP as a welfare measure does not affect the general pattern of past growth estimates. Third, a cost–by-function method of estimating HW is found superior in its theoretical support and the detail it provides, but the opportunity-cost method, despite doubts on its theoretical validity, gives a good approximation in the aggregate, and, being simpler, is likely to remain popular. Fourth, disaggregation does matter if detail by region or family type is required, in which case data by number and ages of children and market-employment status of females are needed; for the total, a reasonable estimate (6–7 percent error)is given by further aggregated data. Fifth, sensitivity of HW to accuracy in the data used is large only for female wages chosen, in particular for the function “cooking”. Finally, though available data must be manipulated to fit the needs of HW, especially for earlier years, the extent of this is not all that much more than is commonly found for GNP estimations.