Women’s Unpaid Household Work Could Boost Global GDP by $11 Trillion

A recent study highlighted by Oxfam estimates that if women were paid a minimum wage for all unpaid caregiving and household tasks, the global economy could gain nearly $11 trillion annually – about 9 % of worldwide GDP and more than three times the size of the global tech sector. The analysis notes that women typically perform the majority of unpaid domestic labor, even when both partners work full‑time, and that recognizing this work’s economic value could reshape policy and social programs. Journalist Amy Westervelt also created a “invisible‑work calculator” using U.S. labor data, finding that a woman’s unpaid household labor could be worth roughly $44,000 per year, or about $850 per week.