A visual representation of the invisible economy

The CWW logo captures a number of different visual cues, each with their own unique ideas. The first and most obvious, the hourglass, referring to the time spent, largely by women, providing care for the people in their lives, as well as the emphasis of the research on time-use.

The second concept lies in the sand, trickling through from the top of the hourglass to the bottom. In the negative space of the sand still waiting in the upper chamber, lies a line reminiscent of the graphical representation of the lifecycle deficit.  The lifecycle deficit is a concept from National Transfer Accounts indicating by age how much we need to get from other people during the dependent young and old ages of life.  This is then echoed again in the white space of the second body of sand in the bottom chamber, which is in the shape of labor income, with large amounts earned during mid-life and available to support transfers to young and old age groups.

The third and final cue is that of the little circle nestled in the sand in the top, a symbol for the head of a human being, with the sand resembling lifted arms, and the sand at the bottom of the hourglass forming a woman's body.