Women and Economic Development
Introduced| English |
|---|
| microfinance/ˌmaɪkrəʊfaɪˈnæns/ |
| Sustainable Development Goals/səˈsteɪnəbl dɪˈveləpmənt ɡəʊlz/ |
Women drive development
- The role of women is both a cause and a measure of development.
- As women's education and paid work rise, household income and health improve.
- It also lowers fertility, linking back to the demographic transition.
Rising female education and employment tend to lower fertility.
Educated, working women marry later and have fewer children.
Microfinance
- Microfinance 小额信贷 gives small loans, often to women, to start businesses.
- It helps people in poorer regions who cannot get normal bank loans.
- Small investments can lift a whole family out of poverty.
Effect of empowering women?
Sort each outcome by whether it results from empowering women or holds development back.
Small loans, often given to women to start businesses, are called...
Microfinance provides small loans to fight poverty.
Match each term to its meaning.
Microfinance = small loans; education = empowerment; pay gap = barrier.
Closing the gap
- Gender gaps in pay, land, and schooling hold development back.
- Closing them raises output and well-being for everyone.
- It is one of the UN's key Sustainable Development Goals.
Closing gender gaps is one of the UN's Sustainable Development ____.
Gender equality is a key Sustainable Development Goal.
Select all benefits of investing in women.
Investing in women raises output, lowers fertility, improves health; it reduces inequality.
Investing in women is not just fair — it is economically powerful. Educating girls and lending to women (via microfinance) raises whole-community output and lowers fertility. Treating women's development as a side issue misses one of the strongest levers of development.
A woman in a poor village takes a small microfinance loan to buy a sewing machine, starts a business, and pays for her children's schooling. Her success raises the family's income and health — showing how women's empowerment drives development.
The status of women both drives and measures development. Rising female education and work raise income and lower fertility. Microfinance (small loans, often to women) fights poverty. Closing gender gaps in pay, land, and schooling is a key Sustainable Development Goal.