Education can save lives:
- If all women completed upper secondary education in sub-Saharan Africa by 2030, there would be 300,000 to 350,000 fewer child deaths per year by 2050. (i)
- If all women completed primary education, there would be a 70% reduction in maternal mortality (i)
- If all mothers had a secondary education, over 12 million children would be saved from stunting, equal to a reduction of stunting by 26% in low income countries. (i)
- If universal secondary education is achieved by 2030, by 2040–2050 there will be 10,000 to 20,000 fewer disaster related deaths per decade (i)
- Educating mothers increased reliance on exclusive breastfeeding by 90% for the first six months. (i)
- Education can reduce poverty:
- We could cut poverty by 55% if all adults completed secondary education. Numbers could be reduced by two-thirds in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. (i)
- Achieving universal secondary education by 2030 would increase per capita income by 75% by 2050 and bring poverty elimination forward by 10 years (i)
- Over forty years, income per capita is 23% higher in a country with more equal education (i)
- Increasing tertiary education in 10 recent EU member states would reduce numbers at risk of poverty by 3.7 million (i)
Education can empower girls and women:
- If all girls had a secondary education, there would be 64% fewer early marriages (i)
- If all girls had a secondary education, 59% fewer girls would become pregnant under the age of 17 (i)
- In sub-Saharan Africa, women with secondary education have greater freedom to take decisions that affect their lives and on average have three fewer children than those with no education at all. (i)
- Education can protect the planet:
- Field schools and extension education help farmers increase productivity by 12% and net revenue by 19%. (i)
- Education is crucial for disaster preparedness: If education progress is stalled, it could lead to a 20% increase in disaster-related fatalities per decade. (i)
- Education is the most effective tool for reducing fertility rates: For example, one extra year of education in Madagascar increased spaces between births by 0.5 years. (i)
- Education can foster peace:
- In 106 countries, people with higher levels of education were more likely to engage in non-violent protests. (i)
- Tolerance for people who speak a different language increases by 34% amongst people in the Arab States who have a secondary rather than primary education. (i)
- Tolerance for immigrants amongst people in Latin America increases by 26% between those who have a secondary rather than primary education. (i)
