[davidw]

> pretty much every Indian I know had maids/gardeners/cooks at home.

In poorer countries - especially those with fairly unequal societies, hiring help is cheaper - not just absolutely, but proportionally, as well, so it's much more common. I read some economics discussions of this years ago, but don't really recall the details.

In other words, an Indian is a lot more likely to have hired help than a Norwegian, even if the Norwegian is better off.

[yummyfajitas]

Inequality is irrelevant. India has a Gini index of 33, compared to the 45 for the US.

Incentives are a much more plausible explanation. The US pays people not to work. India doesn't.