Jitka Hiscox

Graduate Student Research Funding | 2018 - 2019 Academic Year

Beyond Happiness: The Effect of Water Connections on Premises on Maternal Stress, Caregiving and Child Development in Rural Western Uganda

Most research that investigates economic benefits of relieving women of the time and physical burden of water fetching focuses on allocation of saved time to labour market participation. To-date, the results of those investigations are mixed. On average, women are more likely to allocate their time to work on family farms, housework, or leisure, but it is unknown whether this translates into long-term benefits to the households.  Hiscox is working to answer that question by linking maternal stress, caregiving and child development in a quasi-experimental study in rural Western Uganda.

Jitka Hiscox, Department of Civil Engineering

Jitka Hiscox is a PhD student in the environmental engineering program at Stanford University, advised by Professor Jenna Davis. She holds an undergraduate degree in government from Harvard and an MSc in geographic information science (GIS) for development and environment from Clark University. Prior to coming to Stanford, Hiscox has worked as a GIS and ICT specialist for international NGOs supporting programs in HIV/TB care and humanitarian response in Malawi, Ethiopia, Rwanda and Haiti. She has also provided research support to development economics projects in Ghana, Sierra Leone and Zambia. At Stanford, Hiscox is developing research on the effect of water access on household water insecurity, maternal mental health and child development. Her study is based in Uganda, the Pearl of Africa.

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