EDUCATING GIRLS IN THE THIRD-WORLD - THE DEMOGRAPHIC, BASIC NEEDS, AND ECONOMIC-BENEFITS

Building on the widespread recent suggestion that the education of gir ls may well be one of the best investments that a less-developed count ry can make, this study presents the results of a series of quantitati ve, cross-national, panel regression analyses designed to assess the e ffects of a) level of girls' education (primary and secondary enrollme nt rates), and b) gender inequality in education (male-female enrollme nt ratios), on a wide range of demographic, social and economic develo pment outcomes. Both the education of girls in and of itself, and the provision of equal access to education for boys and girls (i.e., gende r equality in education) were found to have the following subsequent b enefits for societies: lower crude birth rates, longer life expectanci es, lower death rates of all sorts, improved basic needs provision, an d more rapid rates of economic growth.