Article by Rimsha Hasan from Economics Wing, GAEE JMI
“She doesn’t work. She is just a housewife!”
The statement above is a widely used and heard expression. Are housewives considered a non-economic entity? Do they not help a country’s economy grow? The Oxford dictionary defines a housewife as: “A woman who stays at home to cook, clean, take care of the children, etc., while her husband or partner goes out to work.”
This definition encompasses the various roles and responsibilities that a housewife must fulfill, and it attests to the fact that the role of a housewife is exceptionally challenging. Nonetheless, she does not receive the recognition she deserves.
Housewives’ contribution to the economy
Today, housewives are the world’s largest workforce, working with no incentives and receiving unsolicited scoffs and taunts. Thus, the notion that housewives do not work and do not add economic value to the household is a problematic idea that has persisted for many years and must be rejected.
The activities of a housewife are varied and difficult to quantify financially, but we can quantify the economic impact she has. Homemakers have a significant impact on the country’s overall general and economic growth.
Aside from providing a general sense of well-being and emotional support, housewives are also the market’s largest consumers. They buy groceries, clothes, household appliances, and various other necessities, thereby contributing to economic growth.
A housewife further looks after and caters to all her family’s needs. Thus, a housewife’s service unquestionably contributes to the nation’s improved health, nutrition, education, and human capital formation.
Housewives are involved in knitting, painting, sewing, making phulkari sheets woolen sweaters. Women in villages make significant contributions to the cottage industry, which is not even counted. Housewives knit, paint, sew, make phulkari sheets, woolen sweaters, scarves, and so on, but unfortunately, they are not given credit for their efforts.
India has achieved a savings rate of nearly 31% of GDP, with household savings accounting for 70%, private corporate savings accounting for 20%, and government savings accounting for 10%.
A housewife’s daily chores include cooking, cleaning, babysitting, and housekeeping, which are ignored by national accounts. However, there is a legit monetary value attached to these services.
For example, if a housewife stops doing these chores herself and hires someone else to do them, the GDP rises because that person earns the same responsibilities. Furthermore, if a man marries his housekeeper and stops paying her for her services, the GDP will fall.
As a result, it is blatantly unfair that while services provided by a housekeeper or nanny are included in the economic parameter, those provided by housewives are not.
Why should housewives be considered contributors to GDP?
To promote women’s empowerment, especially in a patriarchal country like India, it is critical to dispel the myth that “being a housewife is no big deal and her work is nothing compared to those of the corporate sectors.”
Giving homemakers’ work a place in GDP calculations will act as a catalyst in breaking down stereotypes associated with housewife duties— they will be respected for what they do.
Finally, it is critical that we understand that these household chores constitute a significant portion of our economy and contribute to GDP when performed by a housekeeper, but not when performed by a housewife.
According to a recent report, women spend nearly 299 minutes per day on unpaid domestic services, while men spend 97 minutes. As a result, women spend 16.9 percent of their day on unpaid domestic services, while men spend only 1.7 percent. Thus, if unpaid work were valued and compensated similarly as paid work, the country could see significant growth.
The way forward
In order to empower housewives, The Ministry of Women and Child Development in India is considering drafting a bill to include household chores in the GDP. However, this will not be an easy task. Furthermore, economists have proposed two methods for calculating the economic value of a housewife, i.e., the opportunity cost method and the replacement cost method. The former method raises the question, “What does the household sacrifice by having the wife stay at home and do housework?”
On the other hand, the replacement cost method inquires as to how much it would cost to replace a housewife’s services. Therefore, one can go to the market and find the average wage for cooking, cleaning, and other chores and then use these wages to calculate the value of housewives’ services. Though these measures have some limitations, they appear to provide a more comprehensive solution to the complex problem of valuing household services.
Homemakers are the backbone of the family and society as a whole. It is high time to recognize and value the work of housewives. Their activities make a significant and tangible contribution to the national economy. It is critical to change attitudes and mindsets toward homemakers in order to achieve the constitutional vision of socioeconomic equality and dignity.
Despite numerous efforts, governments around the world have failed to develop a good methodology for determining the economic value of a housewife’s services. After emphasizing the significance of such an evaluation, it must be acknowledged that it is not an easy task, but it needs to be done.
“The homemaker has the ultimate career. All other careers exist for one purpose only – and that is to support the ultimate career.” – C.S. Lewis.
Article Summary: The article addresses a critical issue that is rarely examined and discussed— the economic value of the services provided by housewives. The author argues that a housewife’s duties should be included in the economic parameter and compares them to those of nannies and housekeepers, who are paid and considered in the economic parameter despite performing some of the same tasks, albeit to a lesser extent than a housewife. In addition, methods for breaking the stereotype are discussed and measures taken by authorities.
(Rimsha Hasan is a B.A.(Hons.) Economics student at Jamia Millia Islamia, Delhi, and a part GAEE JMI, an autonomous branch of Global Association of Economics Education in India. The views expressed are personal and they do not purport to reflect the opinions or views of GAEE or its members.)
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