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

Po

ve

rty

he

ad

co

un

t ra

tio

(in

pe

rce

nt)

Po

ve

rty

lin

e:

US

$2

/da

y

Source: World Bank, Global Monitoring Report 2007

4

Gender equality is smart economics

Increased 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

% c

hang

e in

chi

ld'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

-1

0

1

2

3

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

Male

Female

De-trended GDP

Una

just

ed D

etre

nded

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 getting m

arried

Probabilit

y of beco

ming pregnant

Onset of s

exual a

ctivity

-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 L

abor S

upply

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