Date Posted: 7/20/2012 7:07:48 AM
Posted By: moff J Membership Level: Silver Total Points: 485
In economics, a person spends their time on two activities- either working or doing leisure activities. The opportunity cost of working is the time spent on leisure and vice versa. The reward for work is wages which is spent on consumption and leisure.One of the greatest economic challenges is on how to classify housewife activities. Is it work- in which case it should be incorporated in the Gross Domestic Product accounts or is it a leisure activity since the housewife does not receive any monetary reward for it?On one hand it can be argued that it is work. This is because the housewife has to forfeit leisure time in order to bring up the child. Therefore, her activities should be valued and included in the GDP accounts.On the other hand, her activities may be regarded as leisure as there is no monetary reward and there is no output being produced.Therefore, where exactly should housewife activities be classified. If this was to be included in the GDP accounts it would boost the GDP of a country. However the problem arises on exactly how to quantify this activity. In economics, only activities which can be quantified are included in the GDP accounts. Therefore, how do you value housewife activities yet she does not receive any monetary reward which could be used as a unit of measure of her contribution to the economy?That is an economic dilemma that is yet to be resolved.
Next: Buy Kenyan, Build Kenya: a mere cliche or the truth?Previous: How ego affects our relationships.
Get premium membership