to ensure their children’s health and safety compared with parents who are less con- cerned about their children’s heath as they grow older. (Table 3). According to Alberini & Krupnick (2000), age of the child is an important factor in reducing environmentally related risks, and age variation was statisti- cally significant at the 5% level. In addition, parental education is positively and significantly associated with WTP. As parental education increases, parental concern for their children’s health also increases, mak- ing them more likely to pay for better water service than parents with no formal educa- tion. Kesztyüs et al. (2014), in their study of parental WTP for preventing childhood over- weight and obesity, found that 49% of parents expressed WTP, with a mean WTP of €23.04 ($31.08 USD) per month. PED is statistically significant at the 10% level in our model. In addition, the need for having a safe water supply and avoiding waterborne dis- eases in children will encourage households to spend more money on health insurance as long as they are planning to remain in these poorer areas. In line with this finding, Suy- itno et al. (2025) in Thailand showed that the level of PED is a major factor in determin- ing the household treatment of their water. These findings indicate that higher education was highly related to improved water treat- ment behaviors, perhaps due to higher PED, which enables parents to be more aware of the dangers of untreated drinking water and the important role of hygiene. In addition, slum living years (SLY) has a positive connection with WTP. Households that do not intend to remain in the slum permanently are less likely to pay for better water service than those who intend to remain permanently. Furthermore, HNP has a positive and sig- nificant relationship with WTP. Households that engage more with NGOs through train- ing and daily activities become more health conscious, which increases their WTP to reduce the risk of children’s waterborne dis- eases compared with households that are not engaged in HNP. Lastly, HWB is also negatively and signifi- cantly related to WTP. The findings indicate, however, that households with more frequent handwashing activities are less likely to be willing to pay for improved water services than households with less frequent hand- washing practices. According to Nabi et al.
FIGURE 3
Percentage of Waterborne Disease Types Reported in Children by Survey Respondents
30
25
25
19
20
18
15
15
12
11
10
5
0
Amebiasis
Cholera
Diarrhea
Dysentery Skin Disease
Typhoid
Type of Waterborne Disease
FIGURE 4
Survey Respondent Willingness to Pay for Improved Water Services
Not Willing to Pay 35%
Willing to Pay 65%
We based our WTP estimation on the ref- erence level set by KWASA in 2023, which is an average WTP of 240 BDT ($1.98 USD) to secure a 24-hr improved water supply. Our
analysis shows that the age of the child is positively and significantly associated with WTP. As children grow older, their parents are more likely to be willing to pay more
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October 2026 • Journal of Environmental Health
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