The ripple effects of investing in girls’ education

Educating girls is one of the most effective – and most overlooked – ways to mitigate climate change.

For every year a girl stays in school, her country’s climate resilience measurably improves. When girls have access to quality education, they can choose when and if they want to marry or have children, and they’ll go on to raise educated children.

An education also ensures girls can pursue careers in conservation, science and economics, and know what to do in extreme weather events and disasters¹. Imagine what we could achieve globally if girls weren’t held back?

Educating girls improves employment opportunities and outcomes.

This ultimately lifts more people out of poverty, and increases a country’s gross domestic product (GDP). If girls were able to complete 12 years of education, it could produce $15-$30 trillion to the global economy from lifetime opportunity and earnings².

We know that if all girls are able to finish their secondary education or equivalent, our global GDP can increase by 10% over the next decade³.
And higher levels of education can also help to close the wage gap between men and women. While women continue to earn less than men across all levels of education, that gap is smallest for women with upper secondary education³

For every additional year of school that a girl completes, infant mortality rates are reduced by 5 to 10%.

If all girls received 12 years of education, the frequency of early births would drop by 59% and child deaths would decrease by 49%.

Educated mothers are more likely to have the information and resources to vaccinate their children. If all women in low- and lower-middle-income countries completed secondary education, the probability of a child receiving immunisation against diphtheria, tetanus and whooping cough would increase by 43%. And just one extra year of maternal education is associated with a 14% decrease in the pneumonia death rate, equivalent to 170,000 lives saved every year⁴.

12 years of education for every girl would reduce child marriage worldwide by 64%.

Secondary education also helps to prevent early pregnancy: if every girl completed secondary education, there would be 60% fewer pregnancies in girls under the age of 17 in sub-Saharan Africa⁵.

Child marriage violates girls’ human rights and robs them of their childhood. It’s estimated that 12 million girls under the age of 18 are married each year.

For millions of girls, their education comes to an abrupt stop once they are married. They are more likely to experience gender-based violence and to fall pregnant early – forcing them to drop out of school. And an estimated 18 million adolescent girls give birth every year – 18 million girls who likely have had their education cut short.