Unpaid Work and the Blind Spots of Modern Accounting

This article provides a thorough analysis of contemporary national accounting through the lens of feminist and ecological economics. Drawing on the pioneering work of Marilyn Waring, the author exposes Gross Domestic Product (GDP) as a political tool that systematically ignores unpaid care work and environmental costs. The article explains how the System of National Accounts (SNA) creates blind spots, preventing a reliable assessment of true social well-being. Alternative methodologies, such as satellite accounts, the SEEA system, and Herman Daly's concept of uneconomic growth, are discussed. A comparison of the Nordic model with a conservative system illuminates the real political implications of current indicators. It calls for a redefinition of value in economics and the recognition of invisible work as the foundation for the reproduction of human capital.