The Educational Impact of Water Scarcity in Jordan

Climate change is primarily a water crisis, with 1.8 billion people expected to be living in “absolute” water scarcity by 2025 (UN 2022). In Jordan, the crisis is current, and piped water is only provided on “water days”, sometimes just once or twice per week (USAID, 2019). This creates a highly relevant setting to study the impact of rising water scarcity. Focus group discussions conducted in July 2023 with women and teenagers suggest that water days are extremely chaotic and busy days, during which women’s lives evolve around water-related activities, including cleaning and cooking. This is due to their domestic role as main managers of water in the household (Pamioli et al, 2020). Children, in particular girls, are often asked to help their mothers. The research's objective is to provide the first causal evidence on the effect of water scarcity, with a particular interest in studying its impact on children’s educational performances, aspirations, and well-being. The researchers hypothesize that girls are the most vulnerable to water days.