Measuring inequalities in access to water and sanitation: A literature review of the quantitative studies published in 2015-2020

Abstract

Research students who are interested in the topic of inequalities in water and sanitation are often interested in getting familiar with the most recent methods applied in empirical research. To address this need, this study aims to provide an overview of contemporary quantitative measures by synthesising the most recent empirical studies conducted on inequalities in access to water and sanitation across and within countries over time. The study aims to cover neither comprehensive nor exhaustive statistical details of the measures. Rather, it asks what measures were used recently in which type of studies and why. To this end, the paper adopted a content analysis technique framed by the three classifications of inequalities to review the selected empirical academic papers that were published in peer-reviewed, Scopus-indexed journals in 2015-2020 in the English language and were accessible by the author. Findings revealed that geographic, economic, and individual- and group-related inequalities in access to water and sanitation have been studied by applying the simple and sophisticated measures in both absolute and relative terms. However, their techniques were varied. In the end, the review suggests two possible directions for further research.