Replication Data for: The short-run impacts of reducing water collection times on time use, well-being and education in rural Kenya

Abstract: Millions of households devote significant energy and time collecting water. To investigate the impacts of this burden, we used a free water delivery treatment to reduce collection times to zero for randomly chosen households in rural Kenya. Data on time use and well-being come from short surveys (n=9,201) completed by 222 respondents several times each day over six weeks. Parents reported school attendance and study times for school-aged children. Of the approximately 120 minutes per day of water collection that the treatment eliminated, respondents reallocated approximately half to other house¬¬hold work and half to leisure and socializing. We find no evidence of an increase in paid work on on-farm labor. Treatment caused respondents to report feeling happier. Non-experimental, high-frequency evidence suggests that water collection is associated with having less energy and more physical pain. Treatment increased self-reported but not school-recorded attendance, and children re-allocated time savings to other chores. A significant limitation is that the short treatment period of two weeks will miss long run changes if water became more durably convenient and accessible.