Low-Income Households in Latin America More Likely to Burden Women with Responsibilities of Fetching Water

May 4, 2020 | Christian Borja-Vega and Jonathan Grabinsky
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A recent publication in the health journal The Lancet makes a strong argument for how inequality could be an enabling factor in the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. It argues that people living in poverty are more likely to have chronic health conditions and live in close quarters, thus putting them at a higher risk of contagion. Furthermore, they are less likely to have a safety net and access to adequate healthcare services. In countries across Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), which are characterized by deep socioeconomic inequalities, the poorest households are also more likely to experience high economic tolls associated with the pandemic.  

These economic disparities are often further exacerbated by a lack of access to adequate water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) services, which in turn increases vulnerability to COVID-19. A lack of on-site WASH services makes practicing good hygiene habits significantly more difficult, thereby increasing the risk of disease transmission. Moreover, as social distancing measures become central to mitigating the spread of the pandemic, those fetching water face increased coronavirus exposure risks by traveling in groups to collect water, gathering at water points and relying on communal sources to retrieve water.  

Targeted interventions to increase on-site access to adequate WASH services could go a long way in preventing disease transmission and lessening the economic risks associated with COVID-19, as well as in helping disrupt the gendered dynamics of water-fetching within households. This is especially true among low-income families which, in addition to being most at risk of COVID-19 contagion, are also more likely to burden women with the responsibilities of fetching water (Figure 1).