The same survey valued the time at about how much per week?

The same survey valued the time at about how much per week?

• A. £520 per week
• B. £460 per week
• C. £600 per week
• D. £608 per week

Answer: (D)

When we value time in sociology, we assign a monetary amount to unpaid domestic labour by using a market-based rate for the hours people spend on housework, childcare, and related tasks. This can be done by replacement cost (what it would cost to hire someone to do the tasks) or by opportunity cost (the wages someone forgoes by not taking paid work). In this survey, the time was valued at about £608 per week because, when the typical hours of unpaid domestic work are multiplied by an appropriate weekly wage rate, the total comes to roughly £608. This shows the substantial economic worth of unpaid work done at home. Lower figures would come from using a lower wage rate or counting fewer tasks, but this estimate uses the broader, higher valuation that reflects the full scope of domestic labour.