Wpływ stawek wynagrodzeń na wycenę pracy domowej
The impact of remuneration rates on the valuation of housework

Summary/Abstract: The monetary value of non-market household production is high, although it is not reflected in the European System of National Accounts. However, the household production account will constitute an important part of the social accounts in the framework of the system of social statistics that is currently built and is expected to be conceptually consistent with the above-mentioned European System of National Accounts. Eurostat, after long deliberation on the methods of the household production estimation, recommended an ‘input method’, in line with which three elements are valued, namely: the labour input, the capital input and the intermediate consumption. Some European countries have created experimental satellite accounts of household production, based on the harmonised European Time Use Surveys. Housework input, estimated indirectly through the evaluation of the input of time devoted to unpaid jobs within a household, has been valued the highest. As of now, there is no consensus regarding the best type of rates to be used in the process of the estimation. Some authors adopt market remuneration rates for occupations corresponding to the types of housework or prices of the corresponding market services. Some choose a uniform remuneration rate based on the average remuneration, which makes the estimation less labour-intensive. The selection of a relevant indicator is very important as, according to evaluations conducted in some European countries, the value of household work constitutes approximately up to 80% of the total value of household production.The aim of the article is to check the way in which the type of remuneration rates adopted for the evaluation of housework affects the results, structure and dynamics of the housework value in Poland (measured by the type of work), and to propose a method of the calculation of an average remuneration rate for the estimation of all types of housework. The results of our analysis indicate that in order to simplify the process of the housework valuation, we can consider adopting a wage rate at 70% of the average remuneration in the national economy. At the same time, it seems worthwhile to continue the evaluation of housework using varied rates, which links the value of such work to the value of related market services and which reflects the dependence of the dynamics of housework value on the type of such work.

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