HL Deb 26 January 1998 vol 585 c5WA
Lord Kennet

asked Her Majesty's Government:

What is their assessment, for the purposes of Social Trends, of the value placed by the market on a woman or a man:

  1. (a) looking after a small child when the small child is not her or his own, viz, as a nanny or a nursery nurse or an au pair;
  2. (b) cleaning a house;
  3. (c) cooking;
  4. (d) driving a car;
  5. (e) cultivating a garden;
and whether these activities not being marketed or recorded alters their social and value-productive significance; and if so, in what respect. [HL158]

Lord McIntosh of Haringey

The information requested falls within the responsibility of the Chief Executive of the Office for National Statistics, who has been asked to arrange for a reply to be given.

Letter to Lord Kennet from the Director of the Office for National Statistics, Dr. T. Holt, dated 26 January 1998.

I have been asked to reply to your recent question on the value placed by the market on a woman or a man undertaking several activities.

The article A household satellite account for the United Kingdom, published in the October 1997 issue of Economic Trends, contains all the readily available information on the cost of domestic work, and is available in the House of Lords Library. A copy of this article is also attached for your information.