Bangladesh Priorities: Sexual and Reproductive Health, Zaman

Early marriage is far from the only challenge Bangladeshi girls and women face. New research by Ahsan Zaman, an assistant economics professor at North South University, examines two other pressing gender issues: access to education and family planning.

Family planning, which can save lives of mothers and children by widening the time gap between births, improve health for both, and empower women by allowing them to stay in school longer.

A year of family planning services that delays pregnancy costs just 655 takas and can add nearly half a year of extra schooling for one girl.

 

Strategy	Takas of benefits per taka spent
Access to contraception	3

And in Bangladesh, an additional year of school boosts girls’ lifetime earnings by an estimated 13.2 percent. When combining the health and education benefits, the small investment in family planning gives 3 takas of benefits for each taka spent

.