1.5 Tackling the Challenge of Largely Unrecognized Forms of Work

Reproductive work, which encompasses the care of individuals from early childhood within their own households, is often overlooked and not recognized as legitimate work. This narrow perspective has led to the undervaluing of essential activities like raising children and tending to the elderly. Acknowledging and validating these activities as meaningful contributions has the potential to expand the spectrum of human work activities significantly. In the future, it might even involve assigning economic value to these types of tasks. Presently, they are primarily attributed to social value. However, if we were to attach an economic value to these unpaid yet meaningful activities, it would elevate their status and recognition. These activities are crucial for individual well-being, family dynamics, and societal welfare. Moreover, it would propel the notions of partnership and care further into the mainstream of cultural and economic values since many activities related to these aspects go unrecognized in the economic sense due to their unpaid nature.

Notably, organizations like the Center for Partnership Studies, led by Riane Eisler and her colleagues, are working on developing Social Wealth Indicators expressed in economic terms to capture the value of this unpaid work.1

These measures encompass findings from both government and non-governmental studies. For instance, a survey conducted by the Swiss government revealed that if the unpaid work, primarily focused on caring for people within households, were to be compensated, it would represent a staggering 40 percent of the Swiss GDP.2 A more recent Australian study took into account not only the replacement value (which tends to be low because care work is often poorly paid in the workplace) but also the opportunity cost (what caregivers could potentially earn if they were working in the paid economy). This study estimated the value of this work to be an impressive 50 percent of the Australian GDP.3

In the near future, we are likely to witness the emergence of pioneering hybrid models of business and work that integrate human labor, intelligent machines, and virtual activities carried out by humans with support from virtual entities. This trajectory is inevitable, and as a result, we must proactively engage with the virtual world and prepare ourselves accordingly.