INVISIBLE WORKERS: ECONOMIC VALUE OF UNPAID FEMALE FAMILY HELPER’S WORK

Abstract

This paper attempts to measure the economic value of unpaid work of women in the context of Pakistan and estimate their percentage share in household income. Primary data has been collected from a sample of 200 respondents through time use survey. The study used specialist cost approach for measuring the economic value and percentage proportion of household income that comes from the work of unpaid female family helpers (UPFFHs). Results shows that UPFFHs have different share in household income according to the category of system of national account (SNA) activities. Females involved in category ‘services’ has the highest share (22.77 percent) in household income. Percentage shares of females involved in categories ‘employment’ (12.49 percent) and ‘primary production activities’ (13.05 percent) are also worth mentioning. The study concludes that the income contribution of UPFFHs’ is not negligible to be all ignored. Therefore, policy makers must recognize the importance of UPFFHs in household economy. The term used for UPFFHs is discriminatory, the prefix ‘unpaid’ should be replaced with some decent alternative.