Scioto Analysis estimates that the value of housework and parenting in the state of Ohio in 2016 came out to about $92 billion. For reference, this total amounted to 29% of the state Genuine Progress Indicator (GPI), a “GDP+” measure that includes environmental damage and social indicators such as the value of higher education and the cost of lost leisure time next to traditional economic indicators.
If we compare this estimate to data on other industries in the state of Ohio that are measured to calculate GDP, we can see that housework and parenting would be a larger industry than any other in Ohio besides manufacturing if it was measured as such. The value of housework and parenting is 28% larger than the state professional and business services industry, 33% larger than both the state real estate/rental/leasing industry and the government industry, and is two-thirds larger than both the finance/insurance and health care industries.
Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, American Time Use Survey, and Bureau of Economic Analysis
Scioto Analysis calculates the value of housework and parenting using standard methodology for calculation of state GPI. First, we use American Time Use Survey data to estimate how many hours a day the average adult spends on household activities and caring for and helping household members. We then multiply these numbers by average housekeeping and child care wages respectively to determine what the daily value of these activities would be in the form of market wages. These are then multiplied by the number of people in Ohio age 15 and up to reflect the population engaging in these activities and then multiplied by 365 to convert from individual daily value to statewide annual value.
From an efficiency standpoint, this does not tell us a lot. What it says is that $92 billion of activity is generated by workers who are paid nothing for what they do. This sort of analysis does not tell us whether these activities have social benefits (though at least for childrearing it would be surprising to find that that they don’t), just that people are doing a lot of unpaid work.
From an equity standpoint, standard economic theory would suggest that low-income people will be more likely to engage in more hours of housekeeping and caring for household members since they have less opportunity to make high wages in the market. Thus, providing supports for people engaging in these activities may be a way to deal with inequities in human capital. Andrew Yang has made such arguments when championing UBI.
A big reason this number matters, though, is that raising children is central to what many people consider “the good life.” Surveys suggest that child-related activities score higher than all leisure activities besides sex on self-assessed enjoyment among women and men. While economic development strategies that increase employment may lead to higher economic output as measured by GDP, they may be neutral or even harmful to well-being when factoring in the second-largest industry: housework and parenting.