Household Production and Consumption in Finland 2001

Data from the National Accounts
National accounts figures were used in several different ways. Items from the
core national accounts, such as housing services produced by owner-occupiers
and own-account house construction, were drawn directly from the accounts
(SNA housing). The same method was used for agricultural produce produced
for own use, hunting, fishing and picking wild berries and mushrooms (SNA
food). These figures for the whole country were broken down between
different types of households using the corresponding proportions from the
Household Budget Survey.
Figures on household consumption were another key source of
information. In order to produce figures for different types of households, it
was necessary first of all to combine Household Budget Survey and national
accounts statistics. As a general rule, data on consumption levels were drawn
from the national accounts, while detailed breakdowns by consumption
category were obtained from the Household Budget Survey. Thirdly, national
accounts figures were used in order to produce figures on household capital
and to calculate taxes and subsidies on production.
4.2 Compilation ofproduction and generation
ofincome account
Determining the value oflabour
In the input approach, the amount of labour is usually based on the amount of
time spent in work. The data here have been obtained from Statistics Finland’s
Time Use Survey in 1999–2000. Only time spent in primary activities is
included. It has been suggested that time spent in secondary activities should
also be included because their exclusion greatly underestimates the total
volume of labour (e.g. Floro & Miles 2003). As long as they are excluded,
much of the work that is done particularly in the care of children and the frail
elderly will continue to be ignored. If, however, secondary activities were to be
included, a decision would be needed on how to weight these activities. Does,
for instance, keeping an eye on children simultaneously with some other
activity carry the same value as full-time childcare? Furthermore, if a monetary
value were given to a secondary activity, should the share of that activity be
deducted from the value of the primary activity? If this were the case, the
calculations should be expanded to cover all other activities as well, since the
primary activity may consist of unpaid work and a secondary activity may be a
leisure or personal activity and vice versa. There is no general agreement on
these issues this far. Therefore the amount of time for primary activities has
been included in its entirety in the Household Satellite Account.
Critics point out that time use reveals nothing about either the efficiency of
production or the quality of the output. In the literature there is some
discussion about how the volume of labour is influenced by whether people
enjoy the work they are doing, or how the amount of time at one’s disposal
18 Statistics Finland National Consumer Research Centre