Women’s household work to be added to US CPI consumption survey

A survey that provides key information for a closely watched U.S. inflation measure may soon reflect household work that is overwhelmingly done by women.

Women provide nearly 80% of household services that are crucial to sustaining spending and living standards, such as childcare and do-it-yourself home repairs, according to a report contracted by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The findings are expected to be integrated into consumption figures that inform the consumer price index.

The CPI relies on the Consumer Expenditure Surveys to understand how households spend their money. The BLS, which conducts the surveys and publishes the CPI, wanted to develop a measure of home production given its outsized role for consumption during the pandemic, and contracted the Levy Economics Institute — a nonpartisan public policy think tank out of Bard College — to do the job.

“The authors of the report hope that their efforts contribute to closer scrutiny of household production and aid in the formulation of policies to reduce gender inequality and economic inequality,” the institute said in a release Tuesday.

While families buy things like food and cellphones to maintain a certain quality of life, there are also intangible services done within the home that are important in that regard. Household production — which includes activities like cooking, cleaning and elder care as well — contributes to spending, which is why the authors say “some measure of its monetary value should be included in a broad measure of consumption.”

The BLS will be evaluating the proposed methodology throughout fiscal 2024, with an expectation of introducing such a measure in 2025.