““Women make up half the world’s population and yet represent a staggering 70% of the world’s poor. In the United States, American Community Survey data from 2014 tells us that 55.2 percent of the 48.2 million people living in poverty are women and girls.”
We live in a world in which women living in poverty face gross inequalities and injustice from birth to death. From poor education to poor nutrition to vulnerable and low pay employment, the sequence of discrimination that a woman may suffer during her entire life is unacceptable but all too common.”
The Global Poverty Project and the American Community Survey Data
“ “Two thirds of the 781 million adult illiterates worldwide are women – the same proportion for the past 20 years and across most regions.”
58 million children of primary school age are not attending school, out of which over 39 million (or 54 per cent) are girls.”
UNITED NATIONS Statistics Division: The World's Women 2015: Trends and Statistics
“International evidence shows that increasing the share of household income controlled by women changes spending in ways that benefit children.”
And improvements in women’s education and health have been linked to better outcomes for their children in countries as varied as Brazil, Nepal, Pakistan, and Senegal.
World Bank: Gender Inequality and Development Report 2012
