Do younger siblings get to have all the fun? Time use and birth order in Indian children and adolescents

Are younger siblings afforded more leisure time, while first-borns shoulder greater household responsibilities? Does being the eldest automatically translate into a heavier caregiving and domestic workload, or do these expectations differ for boys and girls? We analyse India’s Time Use Survey 2019 and compare how first-born and second-born children (ages 6–17) in two-sibling households allocate their time. On average, second-born children spend less time on unpaid altruistic work, employment, and learning while devoting more time to recreational activities. However, gender and sibling composition shape these differences. For instance, when the first-born is a girl, second-born children regardless of gender spend significantly less time on unpaid altruistic activities and more on leisure. In contrast, when the first-born is a boy, second-born sons spend less time on unpaid altruistic work and more on employment and leisure than their elder brothers, but second-born daughters in these households spend more time on unpaid altruistic activities and less on employment and leisure. We further assess whether house-hold characteristics such as income, family size, cooking technology, and urban-rural residence shape these patterns.