Understanding the growing movement for paid housework

There is a growing demand for paid housework, and a call to recognise the economic impact of an often overlooked aspect of day-to-day life.

16.4 billion hours per day are spent performing unpaid care labour, as per data from the International Labour Organisation which is based on two-thirds of the world’s working age population.

This statistic can be understood as 2 billion individuals working 8 hours every day without pay.

In fact, if these services were to be monetised, it would contribute to 9% of the world’s GDP or US $11 trillion (purchasing power parity in 2011).

What is the economic history of housework?

Whilst the economy of unpaid care work has remained largely invisible for hundreds of years, the demand for its recognition has roots in the 19th Century, when the first wave of women’s rights movements took place across the US, Britain, and Europe.