Household Production and Consumption in Finland 2001

Shopping, running errands and related travel account for around one-fifth
of the value of production. Their share is greatest in families with children,
reflecting the nature of activities in bigger families (e.g. the need for
transporting children). The amount of time spent in these activities has
increased substantially over the past few decades.
Life-stage and population structure determine
household production
The relative weight of different principal functions in household production
varies at different life-stages. Results at the household level show that the age
of household members seems to impact the volume of household production
and particularly the share of labour in that production. The share of labour
increases with advancing age, both among people living alone and among
couples, while the share of final consumption purchases decreases, and so does
the share if housework related travel and shopping.
The volume of household production per household is lowest in
single-person households under 45, where labour furthermore accounts for the
smallest proportion of the value of production. In this group the housing
accounts for over one-half of output, which is more than in other types of
households. This suggests that household production has only a minor role in
the life of young people, except of some production in housing services.
Household output is highest in families with small children. In their case
almost one-third of the value of production comes from the provision of care.
The high proportion of care explains why labour accounts for a larger share of
the value of output than is the case in other household types. In other families
with children, care accounts for less than 15 per cent of the output, in all other
households the figure is less than 4 per cent.
At the national level, figures for household production are influenced not
only by differences between individual households, but also by the number of
different household types in the country at any given time. Forecasts of
changes in the population structure can also shed light on the projected
development of household production.
Couples representing the baby boom generation (aged 45–64) and families
with children represent the “heavy producers” of household production. In
2001, these households together accounted for about half of Finland’s
household production, even though they account for only 37 per cent of the
number of households. On the other hand, single-person households also
account for around 37 per cent of all households, but their share of household
production was no more than one-quarter.
The volume of household production also depends on population growth
because as the number of households grows, so too does the volume of
production. The way that people organise and go about their everyday
activities is very much dependent on their housing arrangements, and
therefore every household produces at least some services for its own use.
70 Statistics Finland National Consumer Research Centre