Também com uma década, um estudo de Diane Elson sobre a relação entre o género e o desenvolvimento económico, numa perspectiva da necessidade de elevar a educação feminina e o promover o acesso das mulheres ao mundo do trabalho (qualificado) como medida essencial para o desenvolvimento dos países mais pobres.

G e n d e r   a n d   e c o n o m i c   d e v e l o p m e n t

Introduction: women and development
It is well known that women are generally worse off than men in most countries, especially in the Third World. In addition to their income-generating activities (in cash and in kind), women’s household duties include caring for the children, the sick and elderly, house
maintenance, preparing food, and fetching firewood and water. Yet because of women’s more limited access to education and other opportunities, their productivity relative to their potential (and to men’s productivity) remains low. Improving women’s productivity can contribute to both economic growth, efficiency, and poverty reduction.
Investing in women (with respect to education, health, family planning, access to land, etc.) therefore not only directly reduces poverty, but also leads to higher productivity and a more efficient use of resources. It often produces significant social gains: lower fertility, better
household nutrition, and reduced infant, child, and maternal mortality. This payoff notwithstanding, the gender gap remains substantial in many countries. Girls’ school enrolment rates lag behind those of boys. Women’s life expectancies are often lower than men’s due to discrimination in food intake, despite natural advantages at birth.
Parents in developing countries are less likely to send their daughters to school than their sons: educational costs are higher for girls than for boys, and the expected benefits are lower. As a result, women are at a disadvantage in the labour market, giving rise to a vicious circle of low earnings and low investment in schooling. Women in developing countries also often lack access to family planning services, which in combination with low education can be lethal, as high maternal mortality rates show.