
Women’s Unpaid Labor is Worth $10.9T - clairity
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/03/04/opinion/women-unpaid-labor.html
======
gdubs
My wife an I discuss this a lot. There are a lot of programs designed to help
offset costs for women who choose to work, but not a whole lot aimed at paying
full-time stay-at-home parents for their contributions.

I recently commented about the book, “The Value of Everything”. It does an
incredible job at explaining the various ways in which we measure value.
Today, right now, we tend to say that your value is what you earn. But it’s
not the only model available, and there’s a pretty good argument that paying
people for the work they do in raising the next generation could be enormously
impactful for society.

~~~
eunoia
What about a simple program where only one spouse works but all money is
shared. My wife and I effectively get the same paycheck on the same day.

~~~
lvh
Perhaps I’m missing your point but that sounds almost indistinguishable from a
joint checking account?

~~~
eunoia
That is the point. I’m curious what kind of program OP is proposing over just
having a JCA.

~~~
gdubs
Universal basic income would be an acceptable approach imho.

------
EpicEng
I'm not sure how you can argue that women who don't enter the workforce aren't
being paid for house work. They don't get a check, sure, but they get food,
clothing, a home, a cell phone, etc. Seems like double dipping. If they had a
day job those tasks wouldn't be performed as often and would likely be split
up more equitably.

I'm not sure what point the article is attempting to make. That more women
should enter the work force? Sure, ok, maybe. That there is some untapped
economy worth $11T? I don't think so.

~~~
true_religion
That’s not formal payment. For the house especially, that sort of thing is
simply owned by the person.

I’m not sure what standard you are using to determine “payment” but to me,
it’s so vague that you could reasonably claim toddlers are “paid” in food,
shelter, and toys to entertain their parents with cuteness.

~~~
EpicEng
In what way is it not payment? Money is an abstraction over goods. The toddler
example is just silly for obvious reasons and neither here nor there. What I'm
saying is that article tries to frame housework as something that should be
paid for (by... someone?), but if those same women were working they wouldn't
be doing nearly as much of it. In exchange they're receiving goods, even
though they have no income. You can't have it both ways.

------
ng12
Yeah, kids are expensive. What's the value of raising the next generation of
humanity?

------
downerending
Dupe. Prior discussion here:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22492574](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22492574)

------
clairity
note that there is a huge business opportunity lurking in sectors this large
yet relatively untapped. the US alone is $1.5T.

this revelation also gives perspective on economics as a discipline, in that
it's still in it's infancy, with vast swaths of the economy largely invisible
to decision-makers.

