A recent working paper by Sheetal Sekhri of the University of Virginia draws attention to the positive impact of having access to water nearby on literacy rates of women. Using data for 8,261 villages in the state of Uttar Pradesh, she finds that female literacy rates are 5% greater in villages with better water access accounting for many demographic and geographical characteristics. The paper adds further the “suggestive evidence that time spent on fetching water has a negative effect on schooling outcomes of children including enrolment, attendance, dropping-out, and hours spent doing ...