The amount of time that each worker must work in order to reproduce their own class position. The working day is divided between reproductive time and surplus value. The necessary labor time of any given class is dictated by the commodities that society deems necessary to the continued existence of members of that class. The most basic commodities are shelter, clothing, food, and access to some basic form of transportation.
In the U.S. empire, the reproductive value of the proletariat usually encompasses certain means of communication (phones), modes of receiving state propaganda (television, computers), and so forth. These are all considered to be necessarily covered by wages, and therefore are factored into reproductive labor time for most proletarians in the U.S.
THE PEOPLE NEED A PRESS!