Socioeconomic and demographic forecasters of upgraded water and sanitation facilities admittance in Rwanda

Purpose Upgraded water and better sanitation are essential for human health, but it is still a challenge to get admittance to these facilities and the concerns of public health becomes most victims. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the socioeconomic and demographic forecaster linked with admittance to safer water and upgraded sanitation facilities in Rwanda. The study uses the cross-sectional data from the 2014 to 2015 Rwanda Demographic Health Survey and uses linear generalized models for the analysis. Design/methodology/approach The logit and probit regressions were used to analyze whether or not any forecaster variables influenced the predicted variable. Findings The findings showed that the households with the highest education background were 11.55 times more probable to have admittance to upgraded water sources compared to those who had none level of education. Likewise, the respondents with secondary and higher education were, respectively, 9.55 times and 4.09 times more probable to have admittance to upgraded latrine facilities. The authors found the increase of household size as significantly associated with admittance to the upgraded water source and latrine facilities compared to those families with fewer household members. The results also found that wealthier households had a larger odds ratio significance in getting admittance to upgraded water sources and sanitation facilities compared to poorer households. The study results found the greatest gap in access to upgraded water sources and sanitation facilities in rural areas compared to urban areas. Research limitations/implications The implications of the study results call for water policy formulation and implementation in Rwanda, as well as generally for other developing countries. Originality/value In Rwanda, this is the first study that empirically inspected the relationship between socioeconomic and demographic forecasters on admittance to upgraded water and sanitation facilities. Peer review The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/IJSE-07-2019-0452