Counting the cost of not breastfeeding is now easier, but women's unpaid health care work remains invisible

Abstract

Key Messages • The new tool for estimating the country costs of not breastfeeding is an important advance that highlights the extent of women’s invisible economic contribution to national economies and health care systems in caring for infants and young children. • The tool excludes the costs of additional unpaid household care for sick children, making its cost estimates highly conservative. Ironically, the costing tool entrenches thereby gender bias in economic and health care measurement. • Such exclusion gives rise to the startling paradox that Norway presents as having comparatively high-economic costs of not breastfeeding. • Properly accounting for costs of not breastfeeding requires more adequate national time use data collection, and cost analyses that incorporate non-market household production. Show more