The Cost of Household Services, Alberta, 2018: A Survey

by Christopher J. Bruce and Jody Prevost The cost of hiring individuals to perform household services such as housecleaning, snow removal, and handyman repairs can amount to a significant percentage of the damages in a personal injury or fatal accident claim. Yet, despite the importance of these costs, reliable estimates of the components of a household services […]

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The Cost of Household Services, Alberta 2014: A Survey

Christopher Bruce and Russette Pack summarise the results of a 2014 survey they conducted concerning the costs of providing household services in Alberta. They report that the costs of meal preparation, maintenance and repairs, snow removal and lawn mowing, housecleaning and laundry, and child care have all increased since our last survey; and that the costs of home care and meal preparation have not changed since 2010.

Dr. Bruce and Ms. Pack also discuss two puzzles in the data: Why do housecleaning services cost $10 to $15 per hour more if those services are provided by professional companies than if they are provided by individuals hired from websites such as Kijiji? And why do individuals advertising on Kijiji charge approximately $10 per hour more than the wages paid to employees listed as “light duty cleaners” in the Alberta Wage and Salary Survey.

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The Cost of Household Services, Alberta, 2010: A Survey

Perhaps the most important difference between this survey and the previous two is that whereas the 1999 and 2005 surveys were conducted primarily using telephone and newspapers, the 2010 survey relied almost exclusively on the internet – either Kijiji and Craigslist or agencies’ websites. We found that, with respect to most of the services that we surveyed, costs had risen approximately in line with average increases in wages across the economy.

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The Cost of Household Services, Alberta, 2006: A Survey

The article reports the results of a survey we conducted in late 2005 and early 2006. We obtained housecleaning, handyman, landscaping and snow removal, child care, and home care/meal preparation rates from a large sample of agencies and individuals in both Calgary and Edmonton, and housecleaning rates for smaller samples in Lethbridge, Grande Prairie, and Red Deer. In the article we present our findings and explain how we will apply these results in our calculations.

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Claims by Elderly Parents for Loss of Caregiving by Adult Children

The article addresses the fact that many adult children accept at least some responsibility for the provision of care to their aging parents. This leads to a possible claim by elderly parents for the loss of caregiving services, if an adult child is seriously injured or killed. The purpose of his article is to review some recent research that examines the factors that determine whether an adult child will care for an elderly parent.

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An Alternative Method for Assessing the Value of Housewife Services

The article develops a new and creative method for assessing the value of the housework provided by women in “traditional” marriages; that is, by women who stay at home full time. Professor Allen is an internationally recognised expert on economic aspects of marriage and divorce. He has, for example, written extensively on the impact of no-fault divorce laws. In this article, he argues that a widely-accepted theory of the manner in which individuals choose their spouses can cast light on the implied value that couples place on the value of housework. Specifically, he notes that many theories of spousal choice predict that individuals will choose mates in such a way that the contributions of the two spouses will be equal. If this is the case, then if the husband is working in the labour market, where he earns $50,000 per year, and the wife is working only at home, the value of her contribution to the marriage must also be $50,000.

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Outstanding Issues in the Valuation of Household Services

In this article Therese Brown and Christopher Bruce wrap up the series of five articles on household services which have been presented in our newsletter. They deal with several of the issues which have not been dealt with specifically in previous articles. Included are the following: the suggested approach when a plaintiff is still able to undertake a particular household activity, albeit more slowly than previously; a discussion of how long to run the loss of household services; and the effect of retirement on the loss of household services.

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Determination of the Hourly Cost of Household Services

Therese Brown and Audrey Hallson, in the fourth of a five-part series of articles, discuss the estimation of an appropriate hourly rate in cases which involve the loss of household services. This discussion details rates gleaned from a 1997 survey of household providers which was conducted by Economica.

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Notable Judgments in the Valuation of Household Services

Therese Brown, in the third of a series of articles on household services, reviews various judgments which are of interest in this area. She discusses the substantiation of the loss, as well as the issue of replacement cost. It is also noted that assumptions based on traditional beliefs may prove to be erroneous.

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Determination of Contribution to Household Services

In this article, various complexities arising from the determination of the loss of household services in personal injury or fatal accident actions are explored by Therese Brown in the next article. While it is pointed out that information specific to the individual is preferable, average statistics are frequently relied on as well.

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The Valuation of Household Services – Conceptual Issues

In this article Therese Brown explores various complexities arising from the determination of the loss of household services in personal injury or fatal accident actions. While it is pointed out that information specific to the individual is preferable, average statistics are frequently relied on as well.

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