Care Work Measurement

Care work measurement is the set of methods used to quantify the labor of looking after people — children, the elderly, the sick, and able-bodied adults — whether it is paid or unpaid, performed directly or as background supervision. Because most unpaid care is done by women and is invisible to standard labor statistics, the gross national product literally does not count it. Care measurement closes that gap using time-use diaries, care diaries, and stylized survey questions, organized by internationally harmonized activity classifications such as ICATUS, and often extended to assign an economic value to unpaid care.