3 Reasons Why Educating Girls is Critical to End Poverty

Throughout my childhood and early adult years, my family ingrained in me the idea that an education is the key to a bright future. The desire to grow as a person and make a difference motivated me to further my education. It fueled my love of learning. My parents, teachers and mentors helped lay the foundation for a life filled with big dreams. It didn’t cross my mind as a young girl that my aspirations might not happen because of my gender.

Growing up, the thought of my brothers’ education being more important than mine did not exist. I never thought my worth hinged on whether or not I married before reaching adulthood. However, the heartbreaking truth is that is not the case in every little girl’s story. These are only a couple of the many reasons why girls all over the globe do not have the opportunity to go to school. A lack of education ultimately inhibits girls from reaching their God-given potential. That is not ok! All girls deserve the freedom to attend and complete school. Educating girls has the power to decrease child marriages, create healthier families and break generational poverty.

Educating Girls Decreases Child Marriages

Child marriage is a common obstacle to girls completing their education. Approximately 14 million girls marry every year before they reach 18 years, according to UNICEF. It’s not ok that girls get married off before they reach adulthood. Additionally, girls who marry young generally begin bearing children at a young age.

Completing secondary school is not an option for girls who are married as teenagers and quickly begin having children. However, hope remains.If all girls have a secondary education, there would be two-thirds fewer child marriages, according to UNESCO. One of the many aspects I appreciate about our work at Food for the Hungry is the desire to see a world where all girls can live out their childhood, complete school and chase their dreams for the future.

Educating Girls Creates Healthier Families

Providing all girls with the opportunity to complete both primary and secondary school does far more than solely benefit their lives. Educated women increase the health of their family. It starts with mom. If every mother completed primary school, maternal deaths would decrease by two-thirds! Healthy mothers then have the chance to nurture healthy babies. If every woman finished primary and secondary school, child deaths would be cut in half and roughly 12 million children would be saved from stunting caused by malnutrition.

Educating Girls Helps Break Generational Poverty

Many of us have experienced the confidence and abilities that come from learning new information. Education equips women with the tools to develop aspirations and the capacity to be more successful in a career. Education narrows the pay gap between men and women and increases the likelihood of women finding work, reported by UNESCO. This means girls have choices and opportunities. They have the chance to overcome generational poverty and pursue a bright future!

Women play a crucial role in ending global poverty. It is instrumental for the well-being of the individual and society as a whole that we strive for equality for women and men.

Will you help Food for the Hungry in our effort to educate both girls and boys? You can select from a variety of items in the gift catalog.

Food for the Hungry has prepared this free ebook to introduce you to what it’s like for a mother to help her children survive on $1.25 per day. You’ll meet a real mother whose daily life was a worrisome struggle … until she met a group of women who helped her buy a cow.

In this free ebook, you’ll:

Discover startling facts about what chains women and their children in a life of poverty

Learn about amazingly simple ways to help women break the bonds of extreme poverty

Find ways you can make a life-altering difference for a mother and her children!