I don&#x27;t know the answer to this question, but it&#x27;s clearly related to the fact that work done to maintain one&#x27;s own household gets left out of pretty much every measure of costs or productivity. (I suppose it&#x27;s probably some form of externality. I ought to study more economics.)<p>Given traditional gender roles, this is one factor that has historically led to massive undercounting of women&#x27;s total contribution to the economy, which could potentially lead to distortions in selecting good public policy. (It&#x27;s certainly not <i>just</i> a women&#x27;s issue, but that&#x27;s one of its big impacts.)