India, March 10 -- What is the output generated by housewives, who manage the households, bring up children, act as caregivers to the family's elders, and help increase the productivity of the male members? According to the policy-makers and statisticians, zero, zilch, nothing. But there are other ways to crack open this black box, and figure out how the so-called non-productive housewives contribute to the economy. India's Time-Use Survey, 2024, found that women spend just under five hours on daily tasks such as cooking, cleaning, washing, and organising. Vidhu Shekhar, a professor in finance and economics, claims to have spent months trying to figure this out. In a recent piece, Shekhar adds the time spent on caregiving (children and el...