New Delhi, Sept. 12 -- By the time many Indian women emerge from their most demanding years-juggling paid work, child-rearing and household duties-they've racked up a deficit of years in sleep.

Work, for many Indian women, runs into two shifts: one in a formal setting, and the other at home. But the so-called 'double shift', it turns out, may be eating into their crucial sleep time-leaving them with fewer uninterrupted hours of rest than men through much of their adult lives.

An average Indian 'working woman' sleeps nearly eight and a half hours a day, which is 10 minutes short of what working men put in, Mint's analysis of official government data shows. Worse, their sleep is more likely to span multiple stretches throughout the day. T...