What we do and why business should care

• About Girl Stats

  Girls Stats empowers businesses to empower girls. We encourage companies to think about how their operations impact girls, and provide them with the information they need to successfully target investments to reduce gender inequality, and improve the lives of girls and young women around the world. 

  The interactive platform offers global data on adolescent girls and young women (aged 15-24) across issues such as health, education and labour market participation. This data enables businesses to identify gaps and understand where their engagement will have the most positive impact. In 2017, we aligned the data with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Companies can now use Girl Stats to better target their investments to contribute to the realisation of the SDGs. 

  Girl Stats also features some of the most compelling CSR initiatives by organisations currently investing in girls and young women, as well as links to relevant NGOs working on the ground to improve the lives of girls worldwide. Businesses can use Girl Stats to identify the relevant NGOs they may like to partner with in order to develop their own initiatives and improve their social impact.

  Drawing on the Women’s Empowerment Principles, Girl Stats focuses on telling positive stories about the role businesses can play in improving the lives of girls around the world.

  Girl Stats at a glance:
  

  • Over 50 datasets covering six themes (conflict, employment, education, health, legal status and migration) across 198 countries
    
  • Data aligned with SDG targets to help businesses identify where they can contribute to the realisation of the goals
  • Written analysis on how these issues impact both businesses and girls
  • Country profiles allowing users to compare data within each country 
  • Links to innovative NGOs working on girls' issues that enable businesses to identify partnership opportunities
  • Links to girl-focused CSR initiatives by industry leaders investing in girls and young women 
  • In-depth analysis of women and girls' issues in selected emerging economies
  • Links to studies about the benefits of investing in girls and young women 

  
  

  Girl Stats is funded by Verisk Analytics and is implemented by Verisk Maplecroft.  

• Girl Stats Mission & Vision

  Mission

  Be the authoritative source of data and analytics that empower businesses and NGOs to reduce gender inequality and improve the lives of adolescent girls and young women worldwide. 

  Vision

  • Support business decision making by providing data and analytics on the issues that girls and young women face around the world
    
  • Provide links to organisations working on the ground so that businesses can collaborate with the best partners to deliver social impact and stimulate positive change for girls and young women 
    
  • Provide insightful data and analytics to influence responsible investment, lending and procurement decisions, as well as help businesses contribute to the realisation of the Sustainable Development Goals
    

• Business Case

  Why invest in girls?

  Girls represent an important group of potential employees in both developed economies and emerging markets. Yet, across the globe, girls and young women face a number of legal, societal, cultural and religious barriers that prevent them from achieving full equality with men.
  

  Research shows that investing in girls is vital for sustained economic growth. The president of the World Bank, Jim Yong Kim, has stated that investing in female employment is “essential for business.” Investment in girls yields considerable social and economic returns for businesses and society alike. These include increased purchasing power, wider tax bases for governments and better outcomes for health and education. Economically empowered girls contribute towards more productive societies.

  By learning about the issues that girls face around the world, and by investing in their development, business can recruit and retain talented girls and young women, unlock more potential and improve their competitive edge.

• Untapped Potential

  Population of girls aged 15-24 (2015): 578 million

  Girls aged 15-24 make up 15.9% of the world’s population. However, of that figure, only 34% are employed, a figure that has been decreasing since 2006. While this decrease can be attributed partially to strengthened efforts to tackle child labour, girls continue to be disproportionately affected by unemployment and early exit from the labour market. Girls and young women are also more likely to face higher risks of vulnerable employment (i.e. self-employment or working as part of a family business). These factors have a significant impact on economic development. The International Labour Organisation (ILO) estimates that the countries with the largest gender gaps in the labour force incur income losses of up to 30% of GDP per capita. 

  Why are girls absent from the labour market?

  • Poverty: In many countries, boys’ education is prioritised when low-income families cannot afford the direct costs of sending all of their children to school.
    
  • Early drop-out rates: Often, young girls bear the chore burden in the home, and many do not complete their schooling due to family responsibilities. Child marriage and pregnancy also play central roles in why many girls leave education early.
    
  • Child marriage: Although child marriage is a human rights violation, in developing countries one in every three girls is married before the age of 18, and one in every nine is married under the age of 15. Child marriage has serious implications for a girls health and career prospects. This negative impact on girls’ employment prospects can also have a long-term effect on the wider family unit. 
    
  • Pregnancy: 7.3 million babies are born to girls under the age of 18 each year. Pregnancy is the second leading cause of death among adolescent girls aged 15-19 globally. Along with the significant health consequences, pregnancy affects both a girl’s education and her potential to earn an income. Many girls will drop out of school to assume household and childcare responsibilities. In some countries, such as Sierra Leone, girls are prohibited from attending school once they fall pregnant.
    
  • Conflict: Girls continue to be disproportionately affected by conflict and emergencies. The use of rape and sexual violence by security forces against girls not only contributes to early pregnancies and the spread of diseases such as HIV/AIDS, but in some cultures it can also ‘dishonour’ a girl, reducing her chance of marrying at a later stage. Conflict also negatively impacts girls’ education and their access to healthcare as families will often forbid girls from leaving the home during outbreaks of violence.
    
  • Cultural values and legal framework discouraging women to work: In some countries, girls require the express permission of their husband or male guardian to go to school, work and travel. 
    

  Encouraging girls’ economic empowerment makes sense

  • A wider tax base for governments: More girls working means greater contributions to government taxes and associated welfare provisions.
    
  • Increased purchasing power for girls: More money is usually available in women-headed households as women tend to spend less on themselves and more on their families. 
  • Substantial positive multiplier effects: Women’s economic empowerment has a direct positive impact on the health and educational outcomes within a household.
  • A new inheritance paradigm: When labour market opportunities improve, gender bias in inheritance is reduced. As children begin to seek work outside their parental occupation, families are less likely to discriminate between sons and daughters in terms of inheritance. Rather, wealth is viewed by parents as a human capital investment rather than as work incentives for sons.