the economic benefits of investing in women and girls
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The economic benefits of investing in women and girls. An Overview. Mayra Buvinic World Bank. Investing in women is the right thing to do and is smart economics. “Forget China, India and the internet: economic growth is driven by women.” The Economist, April 2006. Why is this important?. - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
An Overview
Mayra BuvinicWorld Bank
The economic benefits of investing in women and girls
Investing in women is the right thing to do and
is smart economics
“Forget China, India and the internet: economic growth is driven by women.” The Economist, April 2006.
Why is this important?
0.600000000000001 0.800000000000001 1 1.20
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
R² = 0.428712000937745
Relationship between poverty and gender equality
Female-to-male ratio in HDIs, 1997
Pove
rty h
eadc
ount
ratio
(in
perc
ent)
Pove
rty li
ne:
US$
2/da
y
Source: World Bank, Global Monitoring Report 2007
4
Gender equality is smart economicsIncreased gender equality in households, markets and society
Increased women’s labor force participation, productivity and earnings
Improved children’s well-being
Future poverty reduction and economic growth
Current poverty reduction and economic growth
Differential savings rate
Women have better education and health
Mother’s greater control over decision-making in households
Better health and educational attainment & greater productivity as adults
Income / consumption expenditure
Women have better access to markets
Why is this important?: the pathways
5
Income transfers to women have larger effects on children’s nutritional status than similar transfers to men
Brazil Bangladesh South Africa-20
0
20
40
60
80
100
32
12
96
4
-5 -6
Woman's income Man's income
% ch
ange
in ch
ild's
ant
hrop
omet
ric
mea
sure
Child weight for height
Children’s height for age
Source: Thomas (1990) for Brazil, Khandker (1998) for Bangladesh, and Duflo (2003) for South Africa.
Children’s height for age
Women help families weather economic crises
7
Households send women to work (% change in labor force participation)
Latin American Crisis (1993-95) East Asia Crisis (1997-99)
Indonesia Korea,Rep. Philippines-3
-2
-1
0
1
2
3
womenmen
Argentina Brazil Mexico-3-2-10123
Global Financial Crisis (2008-2009)
Cambodia Philippines Thailand Indonesia-2
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
Economic downturns are more detrimental to girls’ health
Girls’ Infant Mortality rate higher than boys’ in economic downturns
Source: Baird, Freedman and Schady, 1998 (59 countries).
-0.15 -0.13 -0.1 -0.07 -0.05 -0.03 0 0.03 0.05 0.07 0.1
-10
-5
0
5
10
15
20
25
MaleFemale
De-trended GDP
Unaj
uste
d De
tren
ded
IMR
But we have a long way to go to achieve gender equality.
Off track
On track for 2015
Achieved by 2005
25%
50%
75%
0%
100%
Percentage of countries on- and off-track for MDG3
There has been rapid progress towards gender equality in education
Source: World Bank, Global Monitoring Report 2008.
Yet, the transition from school to work leaves many girls behind
Source: World Development Indicators 2007
12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 240
20
40
60
80
100
Age
Scho
ol a
tten
danc
e (%
)
Male
Female
12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 240
20
40
60
80
100
Age
Labo
r for
ce p
artic
ipati
on (%
)
Male
Female
Yet men’s labor force participation far exceeds women’s.
Source: World Development Indicators 2007
Labor force participation rate (% of population ages 15-64)
SSA EAP ECA LCR MNA SAR0
20
40
60
80
100
male
Empowered women are healthier; healthier women are more productive
Economic empowerment Health
Health also affects income
Source: Savedoff and T. Paul Schultz, eds. 2000. Wealth and Health, IADB, Washington DC:
Colombia Rural Peru-10
-8
-6
-4
-2
0
2
4
6
8
10%
incr
ease
(dec
reas
e) in
wom
en’s
in
com
eAdult height measured in cm.
No. of reported sick days or accidents during previous 4 weeks
Evidence of programs that work
Cost-effective interventions to invest in women’s economic empowerment
1. Investing in human capital and fostering school to work transition
• CCT programs to reduce girls disadvantage• Vocational training programs
2. Increasing entrepreneurship and access to credit• Micro-finance• Entrepreneurship• Land-titling programs
3. Lowering costs of paid work• Child-care
e.g. CCT program in Malawi improves school attendance, reduces teen pregnancy and early marriage
Sources: Baird, Sarah, Ephrain Chirwa, Craig McIntosh, Berk Ozler, 2009, “The Short-term impacts of a schooling conditional cash transfer program on the sexual behavior of young women”, The World Bank.
Effect of the CCT program on women beneficiaries (who were out of school at baseline)
Probabilit
y of g
etting m
arried
Probabilit
y of b
ecoming pregn
ant
Onset of s
exual a
ctivit
y
-50%-40%-30%-20%-10%
0%
-40%-30%
-38%
e.g. Vocational training in Peru raised employment and income significantly more for young women than for young men
Source Nopo, Hugo, Miguel Robles and Jaim Saavedra. 2007. Occupational Training to Reduce Gender Segregation: the impacts of Projoven, IADB, Washington DC.
female male female maleemployment earnings
-20%
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
15%
-11%
93%
15%
Effect of Program on employment and earnings
Labor training program for 20,000 poor urban youth provided classroom training, stipends, and internships lasting 3 months.
19
e.g. The effects of female borrowing on household welfare were large (Grameen Bank- Bangladesh)
Source: Pitt, Mark and Shahidur R. Khandker (1998): ”The Impact of Group-Based Credit Programs on Poor Households in Bangladesh: Does the Gender of Participants Matter?” Journal of Political Economy 106 (5): 958-996.
Per Cap
ita HH exp
end.
Women's Lab
or Supply
Girls' h
eight fo
r age
-0.4-0.2
00.20.40.60.8
11.2
0.43
0.015
0.99
0.18
-0.06-0.19
Borrowing by WomenBorrowing by Men
Impact of a 10% increase in borrowing from Grameen Bank
e.g. Joint land titling increased land investment in rural Ethiopia
IMPACTS:
• Reductions in perceived insecurity, big increases in land investment, and increased rental market activity
• Female-headed HHs with certificates were 20% more likely than male headed hh to make soil & water conservation investments in land & spent 72% more time on these investments
• Finding led to nation-wide scaling up of joint titling, supported by IDA funding (part of $30 million project).Source: Deininger, Ali, Alemu, 2008
Large land certification program, joint ownership for spouses (6 million land use certificates issued)
e.g. joint land-titling decreased fertility and increased employment in urban Peru
Source : Field, Erica (2003a): ”Fertility Responses to Urban Land Titling Programs: The Roles of Ownership Security and the Distribution of Household Assets,” working paper, Harvard University; Field, Erica (2003b): ”Entitled to Work: Urban Property Rights and Labor Supply in Peru,” manuscript, Harvard University.
The Peru urban land-titling program distributed 1.6m titles in 5 years.
Effect of land-titling program on fertility and female employment
-60%
-40%
-20%
0%
20%
-20%
-47%
17%
e.g. Child care program in Argentina increased maternal employment
Source Berlinski, Samuel and Sebastian Galiani (2007): ”The effect of a large expansion of preprimary school facilities on preschool attendance and maternal employment,” in Labour Economics, 14, 665-680
Large pre-primary school building program: 175,000 places created.
Percentage point increase due to childcare expansion program in Argentina
Pre-primary school at -tendance
Mothers' employment02468
10121416
7.5
14
What does this mean for public policy?
• Invest in girls human capital especially in times of crises (Use CCTs).
• Increase poor women’s access to public works and employment generation in times of crises.
• Ensure that young women have access to training opportunities linked to employment.
• Reduce demand- and supply-side constraints to job access by women.
• Stimulate women’s entrepreneurship.• Increase women’s access to assets
Thank you