Inequality of household water security follows a Development Kuznets Curve

Abstract

Water security requires not only sufficient availability of and access to safe and acceptable quality for domestic uses, but also fair distribution within and across populations. However, a key research gap remains in understanding water security inequality and its dynamics, which in turn creates an impediment to tracking progress towards sustainable development. Therefore, we analyse the inequality of water security using data from 7603 households across 28 sites in 22 low- and middle-income countries, measured using the Household Water Insecurity Experiences Scale. Here we show an inverted-U shaped relationship between site water security and inequality of household water security. This Kuznets-like curve suggests a process that as water security grows, the inequality of water security first increases then decreases. This research extends the Kuznets curve applications and introduces the Development Kuznets Curve concept. Its practical implications support building water security and achieving more fair, inclusive, and sustainable development.

Reducing risks of antibiotics to crop production requires land system intensification within thresholds

“…We set lenient limits for land system intensification to control soil antibiotic pollution risks, suggesting that it should not exceed these thresholds to balance the risk–yield tradeoffs. Based on the development Kuznets curve hypothesis 23 , we elucidated the inverted U-shaped relationships between land system intensification and risk–yield tradeoffs. Thus, the thresholds where the risk–yield tradeoffs take their maximum values fall on the inverted U-shaped curves.…”

“…We first predict the risk associated with antibiotics on a broad scale using machine learning logarithms and analyze the relationships with maize, rice, wheat, and vegetable production. According to the development Kuznets curve hypothesis, which describes nonlinear relationships between sustainable development and inequality (e.g., economy and environmental elements) 23 , we examine inverted U-shaped relationships between land system intensification and antibiotic pollution risk to crop production when spatial scales change (that is, decrease or increase in the size and extent of space, Supplementary Note 1 , Supplementary Figs. 1 and 2 ).…”

Market integration, income inequality, and kinship system among the Mosuo of China

“…Although the effects of kinship were not easily seen here, we suspect strongly that they will become more apparent as the patrilineal communities become more economically developed. The gender dynamics inherent to these systems will also have important implications for things that are plausibly downstream of inequality, such as health (Jaeggi et al, 2021 ; Reynolds et al, 2020 ), and contribute to recent calls to consider inequality and justice in terms of drivers that move beyond straightforward economic indicators (Mao et al, 2022 ).…”

“…This suggests that inequality has the potential to increase more sharply with increasing material wealth, at least in the context of capital markets. The so-called ‘Kuznets curve’ offers a more nuanced relationship between wealth and inequality, anticipating an inverted U shape as inequality initially increases but then decreases with wealth as the bottom of the wealth distribution falls out owing to a reduction in extreme poverty (Kuznets, 1955 ) or owing to some lag in time between the introduction of market forces and their effects on increasing incomes (Mao et al, 2022 ).…”

Coupling Coordination Development of the Ecological–Economic System in Hangzhou, China

“…In recent years, research in this field has increasingly emphasized the coordination and promotion between ecology and the economy [8]. This emphasis involves utilizing various mathematical methods, including the PSR model [9], input-output model [10], and the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) [11]. Among these studies, the EKC hypothesis introduced by Grossman et al [12] has found extensive application [13,14].…”