SOC352H5 Chapter Notes - Chapter 5: Child Tax Credit, Unpaid Work, Externality
Document Summary
This chapter explores ways of assigning an economic value to care that includes both paid and unpaid work. The line that the traditional national accounting system drawn between unpaid and paid work enumerating only the latter creates a misleading picture of economic development and change. When work that has always occurred is suddenly performed in exchange for money it is added into as economic activity although nothing has changed but just the fact that payment is now involved. When there is an increase in paid work leading to a decrease in unpaid work only the increase is counted. Overstating the actual gains in goods or services provided. Paid and unpaid care services differ in quality and intensity. Paid care work is often provided in environments where there are economies of scale (meaning a proportionate saving in costs gained by an increased level of production). Paid care work often requires certification and specialization while unpaid care work does not.
