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104TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 2544

To require the Commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics to conduct

time use surveys of unremunerated work performed in the United States

and to calculate the monetary value of such work.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

OCTOBER 26, 1995

Miss COLLINS of Michigan introduced the following bill; which was referred

to the Committee on Economic and Educational Opportunities

A BILL

To require the Commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics to conduct time use surveys of unremunerated work

performed in the United States and to calculate the

monetary value of such work.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Unremunerated Work

5 Act’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

7 The Congress finds the following:
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(1) Women perform 2 1 ⁄3 of the work in the world

2 relating to the production of goods and services.

3 (2) The United Nations General Assembly in

4 1985 adopted a resolution which included part of the

5 Forward Looking Strategies for the Advancement of

6 Women, which states that ‘‘the remunerated and, in

7 particular, the unremunerated contributions of

8 women to all aspects and sectors of development

9 should be recognized, and appropriate efforts should

10 be made to measure and reflect these contributions

11 in national accounts and economic statistics and in

12 the gross national product’’.

13 (3) The resolution also states that ‘‘concrete

14 steps should be taken to quantify the unremunerated

15 contribution of women to agriculture, food produc16 tion, reproduction, and household activities’’.

17 (4) The unremunerated contribution by women

18 to the economy of the United States should be

19 recognized.

20 SEC. 3. CALCULATION OF MONETARY VALUE OF

21 UNREMUNERATED WORK.

22 (a) TIME USE SURVEYS OF UNREMUNERATED

23 WORK.—The Commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Sta24 tistics shall periodically conduct time use surveys of

25 unremunerated work performed in the United States, in-
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1 cluding household work, work related to child care and

2 other care services, agricultural work, work related to food

3 production, work related to family businesses, and volun4 teer work.

5 (b) MONETARY VALUE OF UNREMUNERATED

6 WORK.—On the basis of the time use surveys of

7 unremunerated work conducted under subsection (a), the

8 Commissioner shall calculate the monetary value of such

9 unremunerated work. Separate monetary values shall be

10 calculated for men and women.

11 (c) INCLUSION IN GROSS NATIONAL PRODUCT.—Be12 ginning three years after the date of the enactment of this

13 Act, the monetary value of the unremunerated work cal14 culated pursuant to subsection (b) shall be included in sta15 tistics used to determine the annual gross national product

16 of the United States.

17 (d) METHOD OF CALCULATION.—Not later than 90

18 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Com19 missioner shall submit a report to the Congress describing

20 the method by which the Commissioner will conduct time

21 use surveys of unremunerated work performed in the

22 United States and calculate the monetary value of such

23 unremunerated work.

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