Female Demographic Research
Education is widely recognized as a critical mechanism for equalizing life and career chances for everyone, but particularly for girls and women. recent research on the social and the economic benefits of female education and considers the pathways through which women's schooling leads to social gains. Female deprivation is particularly acute in the developing countries with high levels of poverty, though in affluent nations women also suffer low status due to conservative attitudes. The most dramatic and telling statistic of women's status is the sex-ratio in the population, that is, the number of females per 100 males. It is a well-known fact that life-expectancy at birth favours females. This appears to be a biological constant. Yet, the
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proportion of females to males varies greatly across different regions of the world. For example, the proportion of females is 52.5% in the industrialised world but in sub-Saharan Africa women account for only 51% of the population. The figures are 48% of the population in East Asia and less than 47% in South Asia. Differential mortality is only the most dramatic manifestation of systematic discrimination against females. Women and girls are more likely to be impoverished than men and boys. Also, studies have found that girls are fed less than their brothers and that their illnesses are less likely to be treated. It should come as no surprise then that, in most regions of the world, female literacy and education fall far short of male literacy and education. Equality of the sexes - in terms of men and women's command over resources, their access to education and health, and in terms of freedom to develop their potential - has an intrinsic value in its own right. The equal treatment of the sexes for intrinsic reasons is, in the parlance of welfare economics, the equity reason for reducing gender-imbalances.
A second important reason in favour of reducing gender-imbalances is what might be termed the instrumental reason, that is, the gains to be had from granting equality. For example, if with equal education, women's contribution to economic development (or to other desirable goals) is comparable to men's, then reducing gender-imbalances in education will enhance women's capacity to contribute to economic progress. This is the efficiency reason for reducing gender inequality in areas where women are currently deprived. Why should education of females significantly reduce the fertility and mortality rates and improve child health? What are the pathways through which girls' education leads to these social gains? This benefit is now prominently recognised outside the region..The value of an educated woman for the upbringing and education of her offspring. The reason that female education lowers the fertility rate by reducing desired family size and that this, in turn, is because education raises the value of women's economic activities by raising the labour market rewards from going out of the home for
work. In other words, the opportunity-cost of staying at home for child bearing and rearing increases as women become more educated and, so, educated women desire smaller families. Education may also change women's preferences about the quantity versus the quality of children, with educated women choosing fewer children but of better "quality". Female education has an impact on the demand for children via these variables: (1) Desired family size; (2) Son preference; (3) Labour contributions of offspring during childhood; (4) Children as old age support; (5) Children as sources of prestige; and (6) Economic, time and opportunity costs of raising children In some societies in Asia and Africa, a woman's sense of identity, legitimization, recognition, security, and prestige in the family is dependent on her having children. Although very few studies have been carried out in this area, the evidence suggests that the education of women serves as an alternative means of gaining respect. As an educated person, an educated woman is considered to be knowledgeable. If she earns money by working in an `honourable' occupation, she is likely to be highly valued. Education brings in prestige for a woman, in spite of not having many children through social and economic autonomy and self-reliance .Across all countries, access to schooling is expanding, and with it the participation of girls and women. Access to primary education has been increasing over time, and girls have reached parity with boys in most world regions, except sub-Saharan Africa and South/West Asia. However, many rural and ethnic minority populations still do not have access to formal education, and a considerable number of children do not attend school at all, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa and South/West Asia. Recent estimates suggest that between 67 and 73 million children of primary school age and 71 million children of lower secondary school age—one in five within this age group—do not attend school. The primary reasons for girls’ lack of parity in these regions are 1) poverty, which requires girls to contribute to domestic tasks such as providing fuel and water; and 2) traditional gender norms that assign women rigid domestic roles that exalt their responsibilities as mothers and care providers.
proportion of females to males varies greatly across different regions of the world. For example, the proportion of females is 52.5% in the industrialised world but in sub-Saharan Africa women account for only 51% of the population. The figures are 48% of the population in East Asia and less than 47% in South Asia. Differential mortality is only the most dramatic manifestation of systematic discrimination against females. Women and girls are more likely to be impoverished than men and boys. Also, studies have found that girls are fed less than their brothers and that their illnesses are less likely to be treated. It should come as no surprise then that, in most regions of the world, female literacy and education fall far short of male literacy and education. Equality of the sexes - in terms of men and women's command over resources, their access to education and health, and in terms of freedom to develop their potential - has an intrinsic value in its own right. The equal treatment of the sexes for intrinsic reasons is, in the parlance of welfare economics, the equity reason for reducing gender-imbalances.
A second important reason in favour of reducing gender-imbalances is what might be termed the instrumental reason, that is, the gains to be had from granting equality. For example, if with equal education, women's contribution to economic development (or to other desirable goals) is comparable to men's, then reducing gender-imbalances in education will enhance women's capacity to contribute to economic progress. This is the efficiency reason for reducing gender inequality in areas where women are currently deprived. Why should education of females significantly reduce the fertility and mortality rates and improve child health? What are the pathways through which girls' education leads to these social gains? This benefit is now prominently recognised outside the region..The value of an educated woman for the upbringing and education of her offspring. The reason that female education lowers the fertility rate by reducing desired family size and that this, in turn, is because education raises the value of women's economic activities by raising the labour market rewards from going out of the home for
work. In other words, the opportunity-cost of staying at home for child bearing and rearing increases as women become more educated and, so, educated women desire smaller families. Education may also change women's preferences about the quantity versus the quality of children, with educated women choosing fewer children but of better "quality". Female education has an impact on the demand for children via these variables: (1) Desired family size; (2) Son preference; (3) Labour contributions of offspring during childhood; (4) Children as old age support; (5) Children as sources of prestige; and (6) Economic, time and opportunity costs of raising children In some societies in Asia and Africa, a woman's sense of identity, legitimization, recognition, security, and prestige in the family is dependent on her having children. Although very few studies have been carried out in this area, the evidence suggests that the education of women serves as an alternative means of gaining respect. As an educated person, an educated woman is considered to be knowledgeable. If she earns money by working in an `honourable' occupation, she is likely to be highly valued. Education brings in prestige for a woman, in spite of not having many children through social and economic autonomy and self-reliance .Across all countries, access to schooling is expanding, and with it the participation of girls and women. Access to primary education has been increasing over time, and girls have reached parity with boys in most world regions, except sub-Saharan Africa and South/West Asia. However, many rural and ethnic minority populations still do not have access to formal education, and a considerable number of children do not attend school at all, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa and South/West Asia. Recent estimates suggest that between 67 and 73 million children of primary school age and 71 million children of lower secondary school age—one in five within this age group—do not attend school. The primary reasons for girls’ lack of parity in these regions are 1) poverty, which requires girls to contribute to domestic tasks such as providing fuel and water; and 2) traditional gender norms that assign women rigid domestic roles that exalt their responsibilities as mothers and care providers.