Women as Pioneers: Examining Their Role in Decision Making on Toilet Construction in India

ABSTRACT Access to improved toilets can enhance physical and mental security among women. Therefore, it becomes critical to incorporate and understand their decisions on household toilet construction. Using survey data from 2528 households across urban slums, peri-urban and rural areas from the state of Bihar in India, we study two particularly relevant aspects surrounding women's decision making in sanitation. First, we examine if exclusive usage of toilets is systematically higher when the decision of its construction is taken solely by a woman. Secondly, we assess the potential household-level factors associated with women-led decision making. The findings, after accounting for the unobserved heterogeneity surrounding the selection of households with toilets, indicate a statistically insignificant increase in the likelihood of its exclusive usage in households where decision of its construction had been solely led by women. When we look at the settlement types individually, this relationship is found to be significant in the peri-urban areas. Additionally, among households with toilets, poorer women are more likely to take sole decisions about its construction. This, we argue is potentially because of sanitation interventions over the years that have been relatively successful in motivating poor women to influence toilet construction.