ANNOUNCEMENTS
The scarcity of water has gotten worse over the past few years, and many national authorities have prioritized it in light of the need to achieve the SDGs. Since the pandemic, the standards for cleanliness have gotten more strict and stringent, making it essential to adopt appropriate sanitation practices in order to live a healthy and hygienic life. However, it is distressing to note that even in 2023, in the golden age of technology and modern infrastructure, there are places in the country where people don’t have access to good quality and quantity of water which can act as an impediment not just in the process of achieving Sustainable Development Goals but also serve as a health hazard. Not having access to water in close proximities of one’s home can make individuals compromise on their work hours and therefore incur a high opportunity cost, not just in terms of their forgone earnings but in terms of time which could have led to potential earnings which can again make them prioritize that scarce resource and therefore compromise on their sanitation. This study undertakes a detailed analysis spanning 5 days to understand if in fact incurring a high opportunity cost makes households compromise on their sanitation needs and habits. The study uses the novel Water diary methodology as a means to observe the time costs, water requirements etc. The respondents were trained and asked to maintain the diary for 5 days using non-cash-based remuneration incentivizing techniques. The results documented using the diary showed that the highest opportunity cost is incurred by adult women (in the form of unpaid work), followed by school-going girls and finally adult men incurring the least opportunity cost. The results also showed that while opportunity cost may not be a determinant of sanitation behavior, the choice of water source used on a given day and family size are crucial factors in explaining if water is allocated separately for sanitation and hygiene needs or not.
Key Words: Water Diary, Opportunity Cost, Sanitation, Unpaid Work.
