First to Wake-Up, Last to Eat
Evidence of Disproportionate Morning Penalties on Women in India
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 20304182 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Udayan Rathore (0000-0003-1941-1005, Wadhwani Foundation, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2026 |
| Volume | 62 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 408-426 |
| Publication date | 2026-03-04 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | The Journal of Development Studies (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0022-0388 • E-ISSN: 1743-9140 |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/00220388.2025.2525847 |
| OpenAlex | W4412184576 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 28 |
The custom of women eating after men is associated with worse health outcomes for the former. Women also bear the predominant burden of chores and care work, which is concentrated during mornings. Together, these may imply higher intra-day sleep and mealtime inequalities in mornings, which is hitherto unexplored in the literature. Using time-use data from India, I find that women are more likely to be the last household member to have the morning (15 pp.) and night meals (3 pp.) vis-à-vis men. Women are also more likely to be the first to wake-up (31 pp.) but less likely to be the first to sleep at night (2 pp.). These higher morning inequalities are associated with poorer welfare measures that are linked to worse health outcomes. These gender inequalities persist irrespective of time flexibility available to self or partner, are significantly lower for social groups who follow relatively egalitarian gender norms (Scheduled Tribes) and are worse for more patriarchal districts in India. The findings highlight the limitation of economic progress alone in countering these inequalities and informs policy action such as promoting labour-saving technologies with gender sensitive designs, expansion of childcare and eldercare services, and scaling of gender-neutral school curriculum
Morning · Wake · Birth, Development, and Health · Circadian rhythm and melatonin · Engineering · History · Medicine · Psychology · Sleep and related disorders
Leisure and health
Linear versus logistic regression when the dependent variable is a dichotomy
Energy justice as a search light for gender-energy nexus
Health Consequences of Patriarchal Kinship System for the Elderly
Why Do Mothers Breastfeed Girls Less than Boys? Evidence and Implications for Child Health in India
Gender Inequality in Household Chores and Work-Family Conflict
Do boys eat better than girls in India? Longitudinal evidence on dietary diversity and food consumption disparities among children and adolescents
Covid-19 and women's nutrition security
Gendering Covid-19
Changes in dietary practices of mother and child during the Covid-19 lockdown
Women’s work in India
Complicating narratives of women’s food and nutrition insecurity
Nutrition, health, birth order and seasonality
Development of the India Patriarchy Index
Gender and Time for Sleep among U.S. Adults
Last and least
Cultural factors, caloric intake and micronutrient sufficiency in rural Nepali households
Fertility, mortality and gender bias among tribal population
Who eats last? Intra-household gender inequality in food allocation among children in educationally backward areas of India
Gender, Work-Family Responsibilities, and Sleep
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |