Household Production and Consumption in Finland 2001

8.3 Development needs
The data produced by the Household Satellite Account constitute an extensive
cross-sectional material and as such provide a good picture of the extent of
household production. As is the case all economic statistics, here also it is
important to know the direction and pace of development. Time series are
crucial to systematic monitoring the development of household production
and its relationship to the rest of the national economy. It would be
particularly important to monitor the development of households’ own
production versus the use of purchased services in different principal
functions, because shifts in production have a major impact on business and
industry, employment and services provided by the public sector. Ageing
people who live in the community need care, which is now mainly produced
by spouses or other relatives. Population ageing may well increase the demand
for purchased services. Shopping and services as well as travel and transport
related to unpaid work seem to be on the increase. These developments
describe the impacts of the social structure and infrastructure on households.
The aim now is to compile household satellite accounts on a regular basis at
five-year intervals or more often, for example whenever a household budget
survey produces new data on changes in consumption and whenever new time
use studies are conducted. Since habits of time use are relatively slow to
change, and since time use studies are carried out less frequently than
household budget surveys, it might be possible in the interim to use earlier
data on time use that are adjusted according to changes in household structure
and to update the consumption data.
Some revisions in the classifications used in the source materials would be
helpful. First, it would be useful to classify the use of market and public
services substituting household production by principal function (food, care,
laundry, cleaning and repair services). Use of these services was still at a low
level in 2001 but it is now set to increase as a result of new tax deduction rules
and changes in attitudes towards using market services.
Furthermore, it would be useful to be able more fully to include public
sector taxes and subsidies on household production. The present calculations
have taken account of home care allowances and parents’ allowances as well as
certain taxes (real estate tax, vehicle and dog tax, fishing licence fees).
However, services such as childcare and the care of the frail elderly are heavily
subsidised from the public purse. Living in rented accommodation is
supported by a housing allowance and owner-occupied accommodation by tax
deductions. Conducting separate studies to determine the shares of these
subsidies and their impacts on household production might be a good way to
clarify the role of public sector on households’ economic behaviour.
In the future, we also wish to be able to use output method to determine
the value of production. That would provide important comparative data both
on value added and on the competitiveness of household production relative to
market production. In the present calculation labour was valued on the basis of
the gross wage of housekeeper (ISCO 51331). Whatever the choice of wage,
National Consumer Research Centre Statistics Finland 73