Why cooking is actually a microeconomic issue according this new article by the @TheEconomist
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Households’ choices about whether to make their own food or to buy it premade are shaped not only by the upfront cost of those things.
They also depend on what economists call “shadow costs”.
They also depend on what economists call “shadow costs”.
The true cost of an at-home meal involves not just the outlay for the ingredients, but the time spent on shopping and preparation. In an era of low female labour-force participation, shadow costs were low.
A stay-at-home mother who cooked instead of eating out would have less leisure time. But as more women entered the workforce during the 20th century this equation changed, raising the shadow cost of cooking.
Now a working woman who cooked dinner would be sacrificing time which might otherwise be used to earn money. And so eating out made increasing economic sense, even as it became more expensive.
Learn more about the microeconomics of cooking vs eating out vs outsourcing here:economist.com/christmas-spec…
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