Topline
Americans spend on average four hours every day performing unpaid household work, such as cooking, cleaning and childcare, according to a new study released on Thursday by the Government Accountability Office—creating a massive unvalued economy the nonpartisan agency said was worth at least $5.6 trillion in 2024, which is predominantly done by women.
A new report from the Government Accountability Office found unpaid household labor was valued between $5.6 trillion and $6 trillion in 2024, or about 20% of the U.S.’ GDP.
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Key Facts
The GAO defined “unpaid household work” as tasks like cooking, cleaning, caring for children or caring for older adults that households could pay another person to perform, but are instead handled by family members.
The vast majority of Americans, about 87.3%, spend time on household work, accounting for about 3.72 hours per day, according to a previous American Time Use Survey.
The GAO study valued this work at about $70 per day, and the national value for all of this work was valued between $5.6 trillion and $6 trillion—about 20% of the U.S.’ gross domestic product in 2024.
The study also found women were more likely to perform this work—about 53.9%, while they make up only 51% of the U.S. population, while men accounted for the remaining 46.1% of the work.
Surprising Fact
Domestic tasks accounted for the majority of the value associated with household work, according to the study. These include tasks like cooking, cleaning, yard work, pet care and laundry, as well as grocery shopping, banking, calls to sales and servicepeople, and any travel related to these tasks. The GAO estimated these tasks were valued at about $4.3 trillion to $4.4 trillion in 2024—or about 15% of GDP. Caregiving actually accounted for a smaller portion based on the GAO’s estimates, amounting to about $1.1 trillion to $1.4 trillion.
Key Background
Gross domestic product is the general measure of the goods and services produced in a country, making it one of the primary metrics for measuring the growth of the economy. The GAO said examining unpaid household work alongside GDP gives economists a “more comprehensive view of the economy than GDP alone,” and a better understanding of economic growth and recessions. Other studies have tried to quantify this type of work in the past. In 2024, a study conducted by Beike Biotechnology found the value of the labor of stay-at-home parents in several major American cities, including San Francisco, New York City, Los Angeles and Washington, D.C., amounted to between $4,000 and $5,200 per month.
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