One of the most important aspects in the assessment of non-market domestic production is determining which activities carried out in the home are productive and, thus, are to be the object of assessment. To this end we use what is known as "third-party criterion", the basic idea of which is as follows: an activity is considered productive if it can be delegated to another person, if it provides output that can be exchanged.

Domestic production consists of unpaid activities carried out by and for its members, which can be replaced by market products and remunerated services if circumstances such as income, market conditions and personal inclinations allow the service to be delegated to someone outside the domestic group.