Household Production and Consumption in Finland 2001

45 and families with schoolchildren, the value of final consumption products
was around 70 per cent of the value of production. Expenditure on clothes and
their care was highest in families with schoolchildren, with spending
amounting to more than 2,500 euros a year. The differences seen between
different household types suggest that young people and families with children
spend quite a lot of money on clothes, whereas older people buy less clothes
but devote more time to clothing care.
Care ofchildren and adults
In families with children under school age, the value of childcare was in a class
all its own. In fact, he figure was higher than that for SNA housing or meals
and snacks at almost 13,400 euros (note that the scale in Figure 21 is different
from the scale in Figure 20). In these families the value of childcare was
around four times higher than in families with schoolchildren and almost three
times higher than in single-parent families.
One factor which reduces the value of childcare and the care of adults is
that allowances paid out to families are subtracted from the value of labour
(regarded as subsidies). On average, families with small children got almost
2,500 euros a year in care allowances, for single-parent families the figure was
almost 270 euros. In other types of households care allowances are much
smaller. It also needs to be borne in mind that the public sector subsidises a
significant proportion of children’s day care, and consequently households only
have to pay for part of the final consumption products in this principal
function.
Travel and services accounted for over one-half of the value of care for
adults. For people living alone, travel and services related to care were
allocated to caring for pets since there are no other (permanent) residents in
these households. These people do, however, have pets, which will
occasionally need to be taken to the vet, for example.
Figure 21. Non-SNA production of the care of children and adults and purchased services
by type of household
€/ /household /year
16,000
Travel and services
14,000
Gross value added
12,000 Intermediate consumption
10,000 Purchases for final consumption
8,000
6,000
4,000
2,000
0
Under 45 45–64 65+ Under 45 45–64 65+ Single Youngest Youngest Others
yrs yrs yrs yrs yrs yrs parents 0–6 7–17
Persons living alone Couples
Families with children
56 Statistics Finland National Consumer Research Centre