The Most Influential Investment

Abstract

Investment in womens education possibly has a greater return than investing in areas such as power generation. Education is an economic issue. When the self-fulfilling prophecy of girls lack of education yielding lower economic worth is compared with the self-fulfilling prophecy of educated women having healthy children and greater earning ability there is no doubt which scenario is more beneficial to the individual and society. Wages of educated female workers rise by 20% and personal hygiene and public health improvements contribute to lower fertility and infant mortality. In Pakistan educating an additional 1000 girls/year would cost $40000 in 1990 prices. Each year of schooling would reduce the under-5 year child mortality rate by 10%. 1000 women with an extra year of schooling would prevent 60 infant deaths which if prevented through health care interventions would cost an estimated $48000. Female fertility would be reduced by about 10% for an extra year of schooling and thus would avert 660 births or a saving $43000. Social improvement alone is worth the extra cost. Investing in female education means establishing scholarship funds providing more free books and other supplies adapting curricula to cultural and practical concerns and hiring female teachers. Increasing female primary school enrollment to equal boys enrollment in low income countries would mean educating an extra 25 million girls every/year at a total cost of about $938 million. Equalizing secondary school enrollment would entail educating an extra 21 million girls at a cost of $1.4 billion. The total cost of $2.4 billion constitutes less than .25% of the gross domestic product of low income countries less than 1% of investment in new capital goods and less than 10% of defense spending. Investment statistics on power plants in a sample of 57 developing countries showed a return on physical plant assets of less than 4% over the past 3 years and less than 6% over the past 10 years. Return was low because of maintenance and pricing problems; the expectation is that efficiency will be improved. The point is still germane that the return on investment of female education is high and that taking the savings from building 19 out of 20 planned power plants and financing equal education opportunity for girls is desirable.