Rosinger Asher Y, Brewis Alexandra, Wutich Amber, Jepson Wendy, Staddon Chad, Stoler Justin, Young Sera L
Department of Biobehavioral Health, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA.
Department of Anthropology, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA.
Glob Environ Change. 2020 Sep;64. doi: 10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2020.102148. Epub 2020 Sep 9.
Water problems due to scarcity, inaccessibility, or poor quality are a major barrier to household functioning, livelihood, and health globally. Household-to-household water borrowing has been posited as a strategy to alleviate unmet water needs. However, the prevalence and predictors of this practice have not been systematically examined. Therefore, we tested whether water borrowing occurs across diverse global contexts with varying water problems. Second, we tested if household water borrowing is associated with unmet water needs, perceived socio-economic status (SES), and/or water-related system failures, and if water access moderated (or changed) these relationships. Using survey data from the Household Water Insecurity Experiences (HWISE) study from 21 sites in 19 low- and middle-income countries (n = 5495 households), we found that household-to-household water borrowing was practiced in all 21 sites, with 44.7% (11.4-85.4%) of households borrowing water at least once the previous month. Multilevel mixed-effect logistic regression models demonstrate that high unmet water needs (odds ratio [OR] = 2.86], 95% confidence interval [CI] = 2.09-3.91), low perceived SES (OR = 1.09; 95% CI = 1.05-1.13), and water-related system failures (23-258%) were all significantly associated with higher odds of water borrowing. Significant interactions (all p < 0.01) between water access, unmet water needs, and water-related system failures on water borrowing indicate that water access moderates these relationships. These data are the first to demonstrate that borrowing water is commonly used by households around the world to cope with water insecurity. Due to how prevalent water borrowing is, its implications for social dynamics, resource allocation, and health and well-being are likely vast but severely under-recognized.
由于水资源稀缺、难以获取或质量不佳导致的水问题是全球家庭运转、生计和健康的主要障碍。家庭间借水被认为是一种缓解未满足用水需求的策略。然而，这种做法的普遍性及其预测因素尚未得到系统研究。因此，我们测试了在全球不同水问题背景下是否存在借水现象。其次，我们测试了家庭借水是否与未满足的用水需求、感知到的社会经济地位（SES）和/或与水相关的系统故障有关，以及用水便利性是否调节（或改变）了这些关系。利用来自19个低收入和中等收入国家21个地点的家庭水不安全经历（HWISE）研究的调查数据（n = 5495户家庭），我们发现所有21个地点都存在家庭间借水现象，在前一个月中，有44.7%（11.4 - 85.4%）的家庭至少借过水一次。多层次混合效应逻辑回归模型表明，未满足的高用水需求（优势比[OR] = 2.86，95%置信区间[CI] = 2.09 - 3.91）、低感知社会经济地位（OR = 1.09；95% CI = 1.05 - 1.13）以及与水相关的系统故障（23 - 258%）都与更高的借水几率显著相关。用水便利性、未满足的用水需求和与水相关的系统故障之间在借水方面存在显著交互作用（所有p < 0.01），这表明用水便利性调节了这些关系。这些数据首次表明，借水是世界各地家庭应对水不安全的常用方式。鉴于借水现象如此普遍，其对社会动态、资源分配以及健康和福祉的影响可能巨大，但却严重未得到充分认识。
