Pathways
Women’s Economic Empowerment offers a Win-Win Scenario
Naila Kabeer’s blog for The Guardian argues that not only does gender equality lead to higher economic growth, it is key to ensuring a fairer world for both men and women.
Does gender equality contribute to economic growth? If yes, it might galvanise our growth-obsessed policymakers to take a more serious interest in gender equality. And does economic growth contribute to gender equality? If so, perhaps many hitherto sceptical feminists may take more interest in growth. We would have a win-win situation. But what if the answer to one of these questions is no?
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Featured Research Projects
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Working Women Creating Particular Pathways of Change in Bangladesh
This research project explored how paid work can change women’s lives in terms of dealing with the public sphere and institutions, accessing services, commodities, resources, information, reducing isolation, increasing negotiation/bargaining skills, ability to protect themselves, etc. The context under which work can be empowering and the kinds of work that change lives was compared through comparisons of similar research undertaken by the West Africa and Middle East Pathways regional hubs in Ghana and Egypt. …
Featured Archive Resources
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Gender Equality And Economic Growth: Is There A Win-Win?, IDS Working Paper 417
To what extent does gender equality contribute to economic growth? And to what extent does the reverse relationship hold true? There are a growing number of studies exploring these relationships, generally using cross-country regression analysis. They are characterized by varying degrees of methodological rigour to take account of the problems associated with econometric analysis at this highly aggregated level, including the problems of reverse causality. Bearing these problems in mind, a review of this literature suggests that the relationship between gender equality and economic growth is an asymmetrical one. The evidence that gender equality, particularly in education and employment, contributes to economic growth is far more consistent and robust than the relationship that economic growth contributes to gender equality in terms of health, wellbeing and rights. …