Investments that promote keeping girls in school, particularly in secondary school, have far-reaching and long-term health and development benefits for individuals, families, and communities. Data consistently demonstrate a strong and positive relationship between increased formal educational attainment among girls and healthier sexual and reproductive behaviors, including contraceptive use (DHS Program, 2012; Lloyd, 2005; Mboup and Saha, 1998). Educating girls helps improve gender equity by increasing agency and empowering girls to engage in decision-making that affects their families and the development of their communities. Benefits of girls’ education extend beyond individual achievement to influence household economics. On average, for every additional year of education, an individual’s wages increase by an estimated 10% (EFA Global Monitoring Report team, 2014).
Access to high-quality contraceptive services for young people plays a key role in helping girls avoid an unintended pregnancy in order to pursue their educational goals. Describing program approaches that allow young men and women to access and use contraception effectively is outside the scope of this document. The purpose of this brief is to describe the relationship of girls’ education on family planning and reproductive health and behaviors; highlight evidence-based practices that increase girls’ enrollment, retention, and participation in school; and provide recommendations for how the health sector can help support keeping girls in school.
Many girls and boys continue to miss out on the potential benefits of school. In 2011, 57 million children globally were not in school. More than one-half of the world’s out-of-school children live in sub-Saharan Africa (EFA Global Monitoring Report team, 2014). Although gender disparities in education are narrowing, UNESCO estimates that only 29% of primary-school-age children live in countries that have achieved gender parity (that is, equal participation for girls and boys in school) at the lower secondary level, and only 15% live in countries with gender parity at the upper secondary level (Fiske, 2012). Governments and their partners can invest in structural changes that facilitate access to formal education, such as equitable gender norms, economic empowerment, and promoting healthy behaviors.