The Worth of Housewives’ Time: A Micro-level Analysis in Chattogram, Bangladesh

Abstract

The economic value of unpaid labour is undetermined even if it is an important indicator of economic development. The complex set of practices by housewives, and the time invested in household chores does not have any intrinsic value associated; therefore, the role of women as a housewife becomes vulnerable due to the lack of sufficient information on the unpaid domestic labour. Such underestimation ignores the real economic contribution of housewives, and often gives out incorrect messages to society that lead to mental and physical torture sometimes. This research attempts to estimate the monetary value for the time invested behind the unpaid labour of housewives through a comprehensive micro-level investigation in Chattogram, Bangladesh. In this pursuit, this research quantifies the expected salary rates using the econometric approach and qualifies the valid reasons for offering salary for such a job that does not incur any salary in real.