There are 132 million girls who do not have access to school. Equal access to education is a human right. To fix this issue we need to recognize how it negatively affects us so we can recognize the urgency and fix it. All of society benefits from girls having equal access to education because it will lower birth rates, strengthen economies, and create more diversity in schools.

Equal access to education will cause lower birth rates, benefiting all of society. The ratio of human births to deaths is 3:1 and is causing overpopulation which is projected to peak in 2064 with 9.7 billion people on earth. The birth rate is a direct effect of girls in school because when girls are in school, they are 77% less likely to have a child. Over one million girls under the age of fifteen give birth each year. While in school, girls do not experience child marriages as often, which makes them less likely to get pregnant. In Ethiopia, 61% of women who do not have access to education have a child before turning 20 but only 16% of women who have access to education will have a child will have a child before turning 20 after eight years of schooling.[1] Oman has the largest population growth and one of the lowest enrollment rates for girls in school, proving the direct correlation.[2] Overpopulation has a negative effect on everyone on earth because it increases poverty levels, causes overuse of natural resources, and harms human health. More issues like food shortage and disease will stem from this issue if we do not help to resolve it by giving girls equal access to education.

Economies will strengthen when girls have equal access to education because with higher education, girls are able to make more money. When a girl attends one year of secondary school, her salary later in life increases by 25%. This is demonstrated in Pakistan where women with high literacy skills earn 95% more than women with low or no literacy skills. It is especially important that we provide girls with access to school because they tend to invest 90% of their earnings into their families which will lower poverty levels and strengthen economies. [3] Author of Harry Potter, JK Rowling, proves the importance of education for girls and how it positively affects their income later in life. After graduating from University of Exeter, her marriage ended in a divorce and she struggled to support herself. She began to write Harry Potter, using the literary skills school had taught her, and published the first book seven years later. Rowling has now donated about 140 million dollars to various charities and created a franchise that is worth about 25 billion dollars.[4] Her story embodies the connection between girls having access to education and a strong economy.

Allowing girls access to education will create diversity in schools and set children up for a better adulthood. Bringing different genders together will increase productivity of children in school because of the different perspectives and experiences brought into the classroom. Diverse teams are 87% better decision makers than individuals, and children are better prepared to work a job with a diverse team when they are surrounded by boys and girls in school.[5] Being prepared to collaborate with diverse co-workers better prepares children for the work place as well as diminishes discrimination while increasing acceptance for the other gender. This growing acceptance makes children better citizens in their communities and more compassionate adults. Although girls and boys go to school together every day in the United States, 40% of people think that there is a double-standard against hiring women. Both men and women are more likely to hire men over women. However, there has been significant progress made in the last 5 years because of the importance placed on the diversity present in schools.[6] As soon as girls have equal access to education, diversity in schools will increase and children around the world will be better prepared for adulthood.

Girls having equal access to education will benefit every person and is a cause worth advocating for. Once girls have this access the population will decrease, economies will be strengthened, and create more diverse classes in school. Education is a human right and including girls in schools is the only humanitarian option.

[1] “Female Education and Childbearing: A Closer Look at the Data.” World Bank Blogs, blogs.worldbank.org/health/female-education-and-childbearing-closer-look-data.
[2] “Countries Compared by Education > Children out of School, Primary. International Statistics.” NationMaster.com, NationMaster, www.nationmaster.com/country-info/stats/Education/Children-out-of-school,-primary.
[3] Bourne, Jo, et al. Why Educating Girls Makes Economic Sense. 6 Mar. 2014, www.globalpartnership.org/blog/why-educating-girls-makes-economic-sense.
[4] India, Seruds. “JK Rowling Charity Work- Billionaire Became Millionaire Due to Donations.” Seruds, 18 Oct. 2020, serudsindia.org/blog/jk-rowling-charity-work-donations/.
[5] Jacimovic, written by Darko. “22 Powerful Diversity in the Workplace Statistics.” WhatToBecome, 11 Aug. 2020, whattobecome.com/blog/diversity-in-the-workplace-statistics/.
[6] Petersen, Blaze. “The State of US Workplace Diversity in 14 Statistics.” ArchPoint Consulting, 1 Dec. 2016, archpointconsulting.com/culture/the-state-of-us-workplace-diversity-in-14-statistics.