Washing with Hope: Evidence from a hand-washing pilot study among children in South Africa

Abstract

This paper reports the results of a randomised-control pilot study in which children in treatment households received a bi-monthly delivery of HOPE SOAP© , a colourful, translucent bar of soap with a toy embedded in its centre. In contrast, children in control households received a colourful, translucent bar or soap with the toy alongside it. Whilst many of our findings lack statistical power, the pilot certainly suggests that HOPE SOAP© has positive effects on child handwashing behaviour. At endline, HOPE SOAP© children are directly observed as being more likely to wash their hands unprompted prior to eating a snack. They are also more likely to wash their hands after using the toilet, are significantly more likely to use soap to wash their hands as opposed to just rinsing with water, and enjoy significantly better health outcomes.