Household services analysis applied to personal injury litigation: methodology, deliverables, and case-specific considerations.
In a personal injury claim the household services loss is measured from the difference between the household work the person did before the injury and what they can do now. The economist draws the pre-injury hours from national time-use data for a person of the same age, sex, employment status, and household composition, adjusted to the household's own account, apportions the loss by category using the medical restrictions in the record, and prices each category at the local wage for the occupation that would replace it. The loss is projected over the period of limitation, or over life expectancy where the limitation is permanent, and discounted to present value.
Replacement-cost valuation of the household production an injured or deceased person can no longer provide: meal preparation, cleaning, home and vehicle maintenance, shopping, child care, and care of other household members. The hours are drawn from national time-use data adjusted to the person's household composition and pre-injury role, and each category is priced at the local wage for the occupation that would replace it, then projected and discounted over the period of loss.
The claim typically consists of past lost earnings from the date of injury to the date of analysis, future lost earnings or reduced earning capacity across the person's expected worklife, lost fringe benefits such as employer retirement contributions and health insurance, the replacement cost of household services the person can no longer perform, and the present value of future medical and care costs when a life care plan or treating recommendations exist. The records that drive the number are tax returns, W-2s and pay stubs, personnel and union files, benefit plan documents, and the medical or work-capacity opinions that define what the person can do after the injury.
We issue the final report and provide deposition and trial testimony and rebuttal of opposing household services opinions.
Yes, for the period of limitation. The hours the person could not perform during recovery are valued at replacement cost, and the claim ends when the record shows the person resumed the work. A permanent restriction extends the claim over the person's expected life.
By category. The medical restrictions and the household's account establish which tasks the person can no longer do, which they can do with limits, and which are unaffected, and only the lost or reduced hours are valued. The report shows the apportionment so it can be tested.
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