Unpaid household reality of UK workers

Housewives are part of an unpaid, unregistered but powerful workforce

Later this morning the first official estimate of the potential economic value of housework is to be published.

Most of us spend time ironing, washing and cooking - but are not paid to do it.

The Office of National Statistics is calculating just how much all this unpaid domestic work would add to the country's GDP, if it did have a wage attached.

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Breakfast's Max Foster's been looking at what it may show. I went to meet a typical young family. Whilst her husband's at work, Sharon Morgan looks after her three children and two others... I asked the company, Ten UK, which offers to do housework for you how much they would charge to do everything Sharon does on a regular basis:

Sharon Morgan: "Housework is emotive, you can't equate looking after your children with going to works."

First the School run, and a driver would cost £21.

An hour of housework in the morning would cost £8 - that's what a cleaner would charge.

Looking after the children in the garden? you'd need a nanny which would cost £7.

A nanny to sort out lunch as well would add £7.

More housework in the afternoon. Two hours costing £8.

Then nanny time at the park and the school run would add another £28.

A tutor to help with home work later on would cost £8.

Add this all up and you get a rough value for Sharon's efforts over the day : £87. Some experts go as far as saying, if all this unpaid work were counted, it would double the current value placed on the economy. Sharon is part of an unpaid, unregistered, but powerful workforce.

(To watch Max Foster's report: click on the video icon on the top right hand corner of this page)

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Clare Berry - Head of Marketing for Mothers' Union - spoke on Breakfast:

"We need to give recognition to housewives and mothers."

Pure financial payment for housework won't address issue. What women want is total support for the family. We also need to question where the extra money is going to come from, if it means taxing the husband more, or at expense of existing benefits, it may not work. What we want is tax relief for the family i.e. the old child allowance...there needs to be a recognition of housewife and mother.

(To watch this interview click on the video icon on the top right hand corner of this page)

Also on the programme we spoke to Aggie MacKenzie - Associate Editor of Good Housekeeping Institute, and Selma James from Wages for Work.

Aggie Mackenzie said housework can be enjoyable:

Men should share housework, burden needs to be shared. 70% women go to work and they come back and do housework, that's like doing a double shift.

Selma James from Wages for Work said:

Just because you enjoy your work doesn;t mean you shouldn't be paid. A housewife and mother needs to be independantly able to take time off, be away from children. Taxes need to go to those who care...we lavishly fund the military we should do the same for mothers.

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