Educational Expansion and Demographic Change: Pathways of Influence

Investments in education, particularly in girls’ education, can play an important role in promoting demographic changes conducive to slower population growth. Increased education raises the mean length of generation, that is, the amount of time a cohort of women takes to reproduce itself. Increased education is also associated with better utilization of public health and family planning services, higher infant and child survival rates, and reduced fertility preferences. This paper presents the conditions known to stimulate favorable demographic changes, then outlines the role that education can play in creating those conditions. It also highlights lessons learned from empirical studies of the demographic returns on investments in education. Finally, it discusses the implications for educational policymaking in the context of demographic transition.