India’s economy ranks as the 6th largest on the planet, according to a 2021 economic survey published in the Times of India. Our growing GDP of over $3.1 trillion has seen our country shoot to the top as one of the most promising economies to watch out for in the coming years. While the government and other stakeholders look for more avenues to bolster our economy’s health, there’s a much simpler solution that lies right under our nose: ensuring that Indian girls get a good education. But what does educating girls have to do with the Indian economy? Let’s find out.
Educated women pay higher taxes
A woman can increase her wages by 25% for every year she spends in a higher secondary girls school, which means by the end of her 4-year studies, her earning potential will have doubled before she even sets foot in college.
These findings are unearthed from a UNESCO report, which further outlines that highly literate women tend to make close to twice more than their uneducated counterparts. And with higher wages, this means that women can contribute positively to the country’s GDP by:
- Paying higher tax through their salary (The government collects more in income taxes)
- Increasing their spending power, which raises VAT tax collection, while also financially empowering the businesses that they spend on.
More capable leadership
Female representation in parliament remains a heated debate in 2022, but one thing we can all agree on is that there aren’t enough Indian women in higher legislator positions. Just to paint a picture, among 193 countries polled to gauge female representation across legislative bodies, India came in a shocking 148.
A situation that can only be flipped by addressing the matter at the root of its cause: education. When girls go to the best girls schools in Madurai and India at large, they are armed with the foundational skills to pursue a career in politics among other higher offices. This produces more capable lawmakers who can:
- Enact policies that open up our country for more investment
- Push transformative agendas to see even more women in legislative bodies, such as the Women’s Reservation Bill which has stalled for over 2 decades.
Educating women cuts down on tax evasion
Tax evasion remains a menace in India, depriving the economy and the government of about Rs 75,000 crore annually. It can mostly be narrowed down to willful avoidance or negligence, the latter often arising from the insufficient understanding of how our tax laws work.
Educating girls is a great way to empower women to be more aware of the tax act, as pertains to planning, evasion, and avoidance, which enables them to stay compliant by:
- Learning how to file taxes on time
- Understanding the repercussions of misappropriating income tax
- Let when accounts need to get audited
What’s more, a good upbringing at a good girls school, cultivates women who are accountable and hold fast to their moral principles. With the right foundation, educated women will be less likely to take part in tax evasion conspiracies.
An educated woman can educate her own
When women don’t get an education, the chances are low that they will be able to take their offspring to school and India thus loses out on its human capital. That’s because an uneducated girl won’t get the best paying jobs, and therefore won’t be able to afford a good education for her children.
Many of them even end up being entirely dependent on their husbands to bring home the bacon, and in the case of a sudden demise, children may be forced out of school.
Educating girls empowers them to create their own self-sufficient families that can thrive even when the home’s breadwinner can’t fulfill his obligations, for one reason or the other. Such women can make more informed decisions, such as taking out life insurance policies, that safeguard the education and future of those that rely on her to get by. And the more people get an education, the higher the chances of growing revenue for our economy.
Lower levels of population growth
At 1.3 billion, we are well on course to surpass China, which ranks as the country with the biggest population in the world at 1.4 billion. There are many concerns for the government and its economy with overpopulation surges, some of which include:
- Limited employment opportunities that lead to increased poverty levels
- The depletion of finite resources such as land that causes accommodation problems and puts extra strain on the economy
- Economic development stalls as the government has to cater to a high consumption burden at the expense of investments.
While our country is yet to reach China’s desperation which has seen them enforce a one-child policy, the red flags show we’re hitting all the stops and coming up behind them quite steadily. Short of such extreme measures, a great way to control the population is to start giving priority to a girls higher secondary school in Madurai, and generally educating girls in India.
When girls stay in school, the rate of early marriages dwindles by 64%, with research showing that the higher the level of education, the fewer kids she will have. This is also compounded by that the fact that educated women tend to get married later in life and have more awareness about birth control.
The future of our economy depends on girls
With much of our economy already dependent on a male-dominated workforce, the key to growth for India lies in empowering young girls through their education. If we are to change our economy for the better, there’s no better place to start. Besides higher earning and tax potential, educated women stand a better chance of being capable leaders of tomorrow who enact policies that shepherd us toward further growth. To learn more about girl child education, and its impact on society, the economy, and families, check out our blog. Alternatively, if you’re keen to see your child join the best girls schools Madurai has to offer, contact us now for admissions.