Externalities of Girls Education

Externalities of Girls’ Education

Promotes per capita income growth: Increasing the share of women with secondary education by 1 percent boosts annual per capita income growth by 0.3 percent on average (Dollar and Gatti 1999).
Increases women’s labor force participation rates and earnings: Providing an extra year of schooling for girls beyond the average boosts eventual wages by 20 percent (Psacharopoulos and Patrinos 2002).
Lowers infant and child mortality rates: An additional year of female schooling reduces the probability of child mortality by 5 to 10 percentage points (Schultz 1993).
Protects against HIV/AIDS infection: Ugandan females with secondary education are three times less likely to be HIV positive than those with no education (DeWalque 2004).
Creates intergenerational education benefits: Each additional year of formal education completed by a mother translates into her children remaining in school for an additional one-third to one-half year (Filmer 2000).
Reduces fertility rates: The fertility rate of a woman drops by almost one birth when she gains four additional years of education (Klasen 1999).
Empowers women: Educated women are likely to participate more in house-hold decisions and take a stand for themselves, thus reducing their vulnerability to domestic violence (Sen 1999).
Promotes good governance: Education improves the chances of a woman’s civic participation and improves the prospects for better governance and democracy in their countries (Barro 1999).
Enables women to reject adverse cultural practices: In Egypt women with secondary education are four times more likely to oppose the practice of female genital cutting (El-Gabaly 2006).
Multicountry data show that educated mothers are about 50 percent more likely to immunize their children than are uneducated mothers.(Gage, Anastasia, Elisabeth Sommerfelt, and Andrea Piani. 1997)
Young rural Ugandans with secondary-level education are three times less likely to be HIV positive than young Ugandans with no education. (De Walque, Damien. 2004.)
In Africa, Educating girls for ﬁve years could boost child survival for their future children by up to 40 percent. An analysis of African data by then-World Bank chief economist Lawrence Summers revealed that children born to mothers who had received ﬁve years of primary education were on average 40 percent more likely to survive to age ﬁve. (Summers, Lawrence H. 1994.)

Excerpts from:

Herz , B. and Sperling, G. 2004. What Works in Girls’ Education: Evidence and Policies from the Developing World. Council on Foreign Relations Press.

Tembon, M. and Fort, L. Editors. 2008. Girls’ Education in the 21st Century -Gender Equality, Empowerment, and Economic Growth. World Bank. Wash DC.