Sources and methods

Reproduce the comparison

918 published observations produce 459 matched comparisons. These are published-table reproductions, not microdata re-estimates.

Download the aggregate comparison CSV · Chart values and provenance

How to read the estimates

The India comparisons reproduce selected published tables from the national Time Use Surveys of 2019 and 2024. The data concern those observation years; the later institutional reports provide the 2026 policy context. The opening comparison uses ages 15–59. The domestic-service, caregiving and rural–urban comparisons explicitly use age six and over.

All time figures here are per-person averages unless labelled per participant. They use all-activity allocation, with equal division of each half-hour slot across its recorded activities. Published estimates are rounded. Differences are descriptive; no sampling-significance test or causal analysis was performed. “Unpaid” follows the reports' classification and includes more than household services. The accounting-boundary discussion concerns the 2008 SNA framework used in their categories.

The reproduced tables, methods and evidence register provide source locations and definitions. The institutional reports support the findings attributed to them; the questions about personal observation and policy evaluation are this article's proposed research directions.

Evidence and interpretation

Rates change in percentage points; time changes in minutes/day. Ages six and over differ from ages 15–59. Participant averages differ from per-person averages. Published totals are rounded separately. No causal AI effect, welfare improvement or statistical significance is claimed.

The sections on political choices and proposed personal observation are the author’s interpretation and research questions. Statistical roles are grounded in the official documents.