World Population Day 11 July 2009

Women are economic agents

“Responding to the Economic Crisis: Investing in Women is a Smart Choice”

KEY CONCEPTS 1. Women and the economic crisis 2. Protect progress towards Millennium

Development Goals 3. Women are economic agents 4. Family planning is smart investment5. Women migrant workers among most

vulnerable

Women are economic agentsConcept

Economic benefits to nations are linked to health, education and workforce opportunities for women.

Women are economic agentsConcept

Smart economics values gender equality Women are economic agents who plow their

earnings into raising healthier and better-educated children. Smart economics values gender equality, because helping women earn income keeps girls in school and food on the family table. Action now to protect women in developing countries could set the stage not only for economic recovery, but also for economic growth—a robust investment in troubled times.  

Women are economic agentsConceptInvest in health Pregnancy and childbearing take a heavy toll on

women’s health and resources. Impoverished women, and their children, are more vulnerable to death or disability due to preventable illness and injury, and to exploitation and abuse—trapping generation after generation in poverty. 

Women are economic agentsConceptInvest in education Educating girls and women leads to higher

levels of employment and family income, lower fertility and mortality, and better health and education – not only for women and girls but for entire families.

Women are economic agentsConceptInvest in workforce opportunities Poverty is a lack of income and a lack of

opportunity. Microfinance credit programmes prove that women’s repayment rates are much higher than men’s. Progress in social and economic development goes hand-in-hand with gender equality.

Background I

Put money in women’s hands. In developing countries, this pays off by easing hardship immediately and by preventing a bad situation from becoming worse. Studies conducted in both developed and developing countries consistently show that women allocate more resources to their children’s health, nutrition and education than men.

Background II

Policies and spending in response to the crisis must help women, not hurt them. Ensure that job creation and other measures are gender-equitable. This protects entire families today; it also contributes to the long run health of the economy by raising productivity for tomorrow. Investing in women promotes gender equality, which allows women to realize their full potential and contribute to economic and social development.

Background III

Girls’ education yields some of the highest returns of all development investments, the World Bank reports, realized in higher wages and better jobs, fewer and healthier children, safer childbirth, better nutrition, safer sanitation practices, more immunization and better health for their children.In developing countries, women’s health has critical economic importance.

Background IV  

Women are more than half the agricultural labour force. They grow 80 per cent of staple crops in Africa, and in South-east Asia, 90 per cent of rice growers are women.The poorest countries tend to be those where gender gaps, particularly those related to education, are greatest. Developing countries that take steps to diminish gender inequality tend to see their poverty rates decrease accordingly.

Background V

• In poor households, the loss of women’s income takes a tremendous toll on children’s health and well-being. In Bangladesh, Brazil, Kenya and South Africa, among others, reliable evidence shows that children’s welfare (nutritional status, schooling attendance) in poor households improves more when income is in women’s hands.Policies and spending in response to past economic crises have hurt women more than men.

Background VI

Past stimulus packages have focused on physical infrastructure projects, which overwhelmingly favour men.Women represent 60 per cent of the world’s poor. Directing funds to women and girls helps mitigate potential collapses in human development, especially in health.

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madhukar katiyar