Economics of family

When I was at the hospital doing my volunteer assignment I noticed that nearly every room I entered was full of family, there to watch over the patient and keep him/her company. Little old ladies whose sons have taken time off work to be with them; whole families stuffed into a room, laughing and joking and keeping the spirits up; loving husbands bringing flowers to sick wives; even distant nephews who traveled miles to be with aunts who would otherwise have been alone. The whole hospital, full of caregivers; only a fraction of whom are actually being paid to help.

I recently read an autobiography by Jill Ker Conway, the first woman president of Smith College. Her area of study is the role of women in the development of this country (although she is Australian herself!) and she makes the point that the 'behind the scenes' work of unpaid caregivers, cooks, housekeepers, organizers, and transportation providers is a huge but totally uncounted segment of our national economy. My observations in the hospital made me wonder about that - what would the hospital's costs actually be without those family members to straighten pillows, fetch ice chips, help with bathing and walking; keeping an eye on fevers and pain levels and medications? What would the cost in human life be without ever-vigilent family watching for signs of distress in those people they know so well?

What would the GNP of the United States be if those services were tallied and included?

But that's really beside the point. What value could we give to love?