Public Infrastructure and Private Costs: Water Supply and Time Allocation of Women in Rural Pakistan

Citation:

Ilahi, Nadeem, and Franque Grimard. 2000. “Public Infrastructure and Private Costs: Water Supply and Time Allocation of Women in Rural Pakistan.” Economic Development and Cultural Change 49 (1): 45–75.

Authors: Nadeem Ilahi, Franque Grimard

Annotation:

Summary
"The critical role that women play in alleviating poverty and promoting development has been receiving increasing attention. In developing countries, for example, women's role is critical in improving the nutritional and educational levels of their children. In addition, women are major contributors to household production activities, both in monetary and nonmonetary ways. Despite this, women's access to resources has been limited, especially in contrast to that of men" (Ilahi and Grimard 2000, 45). 
 
"Our objective in this article was to focus on the relationship between access to water - both at the community and household levels - and the time allocation of women, who have the  primary responsibility for water collection. We found that changes in the availability of water infrastructure affect time use at two levels - that of the household and that of the individual within the household. Our results show that improvements in water-supply infrastructure would lower the total time women spend in all activities, with a substitution of water collection for income generating activities. Investments in such infrastructure would not only lower the total work burden of women, but it would also change the nature of women's contribution to the household - from performing every-day chores to doing income-generating work" (67).

Topics: Development, Economies, Poverty, Gender, Gender Roles, Gendered Power Relations, Gender Equality/Inequality, Households, Infrastructure, Water & Sanitation, Livelihoods Regions: Asia, South Asia Countries: Pakistan

Year: 2000

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