About the seminar

Access to clean water is undeniably crucial for individual health and well-being. It prevents water-related diseases contracted from drinking contaminated water that are not only harmful, but also costly for poor households. Children are particularly vulnerable, and these water-related diseases can lead to school absences, lower educational attainment, and long-term setbacks in their development.

Using longitudinal data from the Indonesian Family Life Survey (IFLS) from 1993-2014, we compare siblings within the same household who gained access to clean water at different stages of childhood on their educational performance. This allows us to estimate causal effects of clean water access on school performance.

We find that lifetime and early childhood access increases the likelihood of completing junior and senior secondary school; later-gained access has no discernible effect on school performance. The effect is mainly driven by increased risk of infection with diarrhoea. Our results underscore the need to provide access to clean water very early on.