Jocelyne Ramirez-Badillo
Research Mentor: Tina Lasisi
Mentor Department: Anthropology, LSA
Author(s): Jocelyne Ramirez-Badillo, Paloma Contreras
Session: Session 5 (2:00 PM – 2:50 PM)
Presentation Type: Poster 83
Abstract
Iztapalapa is a densely populated borough of Mexico City where many households depend on an unreliable and intermittent water supply. In response, families often adopt alternative water acquisition and management strategies, such as purchasing water from stores, storing and treating water, and rationing daily use. These activities may be disproportionately carried out by women, who are often perceived as primary household caretakers due to gendered labor roles. Managing household water under conditions of scarcity places a continuous burden on women that extends beyond physical labor to include planning, monitoring, and decision-making. Previous studies on water-insecurity/management in Mexico City have documented unequal distribution of drinking water subsidies, infrastructure investments that favor much more affluent communities, and how perceived water quality drives families to seek alternative water sources. However, this research has largely overlooked the direct impact of these conditions on women’s daily water-management-related activities and its relation with health outcomes. This study addresses this gap by examining how socioeconomic status shapes women’s time spent on specific household water-management activities and how this time burden contributes to water insecurity-related health outcomes. Using survey data collected from over 400 women living in Iztapalapa, this study examines household socioeconomic characteristics, water management activities, and their connection to perceived stress among women. I hypothesize that socioeconomic status influences the type of household water management tasks women have to perform, which in turn may influence psychological stress. These findings could highlight the urgent need for funding to support infrastructure changes that would help create free and accessible urban water systems in water-insecure communities.
