Religion and Sanitation Practices
Infant mortality among Hindus is higher than among Muslims in India, and religious differences in sanitation practices have been cited as a contributing factor. To explore whether religion itself is associated with differences in sanitation practic...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Working Paper |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
World Bank, Washington, DC
2020
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/881251580311599776/Religion-and-Sanitation-Practices http://hdl.handle.net/10986/33267 |
| Summary: | Infant mortality among Hindus is higher
than among Muslims in India, and religious differences in
sanitation practices have been cited as a contributing
factor. To explore whether religion itself is associated
with differences in sanitation practices, this study
compares sanitation practices of Hindus and Muslims living
in the same locations using three nationally-representative
data sets from India. Across all three data sets, the
unconditional religion-specific gap in latrine ownership and
latrine use declines by approximately two-thirds when
conditioning on location characteristics or including
location fixed effects. Further, the estimates do not show
evidence of religion-specific differences in other
sanitation practices, such as handwashing or observed fecal
material near homes. Household sanitation practices vary
substantially across areas of India, but religion itself has
less direct influence when considering differences between
Hindus and Muslims within the same location. |
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