--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Social science now tells us that if we…" description: "\"“Social science now tells us that if we can take indigent girls between the ages of 10 and 14 and give them a basic education, we can change the fabric..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/89b/elizabeth-gilbert-131_child-labor_social-science-now-tells-us-that-if-we-c_1441163.jpg" --- # Social science now tells us that if we can take indigent… ![“Social science now tells us that if we can take indigent girls between the ages of 10 and 14 and give them a basic education, we can change the fabric of an entire community. If we can capture them in that fleeting window, great social advances can be achieved. Give enough young girls an education…” quote by Elizabeth Gilbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/89b/elizabeth-gilbert-131_child-labor_social-science-now-tells-us-that-if-we-c_1441163.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/89b/elizabeth-gilbert-131_child-labor_social-science-now-tells-us-that-if-we-c_1441163.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/89b/elizabeth-gilbert-131_child-labor_social-science-now-tells-us-that-if-we-c_1441163.jpg) > ““Social science now tells us that if we can take indigent girls between the ages of 10 and 14 and give them a basic education, we can change the fabric of an entire community. If we can capture them in that fleeting window, great social advances can be achieved. Give enough young girls an education and per capita income will go up; infant mortality will go down; the rate of economic growth will increase; the rate of HIV/AIDS infection will fall. Child marriages will be less common; child labor, too. Better farming practices will be put into place, which means better nutrition will follow, and overall family health in that community will climb. Educated girls, as former World Bank official Barbara Herz has written, tend to insist that their children be educated. And when a nation has smaller, healthier, better-educated families, economic productivity shoots up, environmental pressures ease, and everyone is better-off. As Lawrence Summers, a former Harvard University president, put it: “Educating girls may be the single highest return investment available in the developing world.” Why is that? Well, you can make all the interpretations you like; you can posit the gendered arguments; but the numbers do not lie.”” [Elizabeth Gilbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-gilbert/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Educating girls yields massive social, economic, and health benefits, making it the highest‑return investment for development. **In simple terms:** Educated girls transform societies. Key Takeaway Invest in girls’ education. Themes education gender equality development health economics Mood hopeful determined Type policy advocacy When to use this quote - policy planning - NGO programs - community outreach - family decisions Key Concepts human capital intergenerational impact Questions to Reflect On - How can societies overcome barriers to girls’ education? - What policies best support sustained educational outcomes? A Different Perspective Cultural resistance and resource constraints can hinder implementation. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Better Educated](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/better-educated-509024/) [Child labor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/child-labor/) [Economic growth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/economic-growth/) [Educated Girls](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/educated-girls-2420641/) [Educating Girls](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/educating-girls-274371/) [Education](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/education/) [Feminism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/feminism/) [Girls Education](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/girls-education-804171/) [Harvard university](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/harvard-university/) [Hiv aids](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hiv-aids/) [Indigent Girls](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/indigent-girls-5157090/) [Infant mortality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/infant-mortality/) [Science](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/science/) [Social science](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/social-science/) [World bank](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world-bank/) [Young girls](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/young-girls/) ## Related quotes > [Girls' education is no silver bullet. 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Give enough young girls an education and per capita income will go up; infant mortality will go down; the rate of economic growth will increase; the rate of HIV/AIDS infection will fall. Child marriages will be less common; child labor, too. Better farming practices will be put into place, which means better nutrition will follow, and overall family health in that community will climb. Educated girls, as former World Bank official Barbara Herz has written, tend to insist that their children be educated. And when a nation has smaller, healthier, better-educated families, economic productivity shoots up, environmental pressures ease, and everyone is better-off. As Lawrence Summers, a former Harvard University president, put it: “Educating girls may be the single highest return investment available in the developing world.” Why is that? 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