Women's Empowerment, Population Dynamics, and Socioeconomic Development (2025)
Chapter: Front Matter
Consensus Study Report
NATIONAL ACADEMIES PRESS 500 Fifth Street, NW Washington, DC 20001
This activity was supported by a contract between the National Academy of Sciences and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (INV-039679). Additional support was provided by the National Academy of Sciences W. K. Kellogg Foundation Fund. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect the views of any organization or agency that provided support for the project.
International Standard Book Number-13: 978-0-309-72624-5
International Standard Book Number-10: 0-309-72624-7
Digital Object Identifier: https://doi.org/10.17226/27955
Library of Congress Control Number: 2025932139
This publication is available from the National Academies Press, 500 Fifth Street, NW, Keck 360, Washington, DC 20001; (800) 624-6242; http://www.nap.edu.
Copyright 2025 by the National Academy of Sciences. National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine and National Academies Press and the graphical logos for each are all trademarks of the National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.
Printed in the United States of America.
Suggested citation: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2025. Women’s Empowerment, Population Dynamics, and Socioeconomic Development. Washington, DC: National Academies Press. https://doi.org/10.17226/27955.
The National Academy of Sciences was established in 1863 by an Act of Congress, signed by President Lincoln, as a private, nongovernmental institution to advise the nation on issues related to science and technology. Members are elected by their peers for outstanding contributions to research. Dr. Marcia McNutt is president.
The National Academy of Engineering was established in 1964 under the charter of the National Academy of Sciences to bring the practices of engineering to advising the nation. Members are elected by their peers for extraordinary contributions to engineering. Dr. John L. Anderson is president.
The National Academy of Medicine (formerly the Institute of Medicine) was established in 1970 under the charter of the National Academy of Sciences to advise the nation on medical and health issues. Members are elected by their peers for distinguished contributions to medicine and health. Dr. Victor J. Dzau is president.
The three Academies work together as the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine to provide independent, objective analysis and advice to the nation and conduct other activities to solve complex problems and inform public policy decisions. The National Academies also encourage education and research, recognize outstanding contributions to knowledge, and increase public understanding in matters of science, engineering, and medicine.
Learn more about the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine at www.nationalacademies.org.
Consensus Study Reports published by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine document the evidence-based consensus on the study’s statement of task by an authoring committee of experts. Reports typically include findings, conclusions, and recommendations based on information gathered by the committee and the committee’s deliberations. Each report has been subjected to a rigorous and independent peer-review process and it represents the position of the National Academies on the statement of task.
Proceedings published by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine chronicle the presentations and discussions at a workshop, symposium, or other event convened by the National Academies. The statements and opinions contained in proceedings are those of the participants and are not endorsed by other participants, the planning committee, or the National Academies.
Rapid Expert Consultations published by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine are authored by subject-matter experts on narrowly focused topics that can be supported by a body of evidence. The discussions contained in rapid expert consultations are considered those of the authors and do not contain policy recommendations. Rapid expert consultations are reviewed by the institution before release.
For information about other products and activities of the National Academies, please visit www.nationalacademies.org/about/whatwedo.
COMMITTEE ON WOMEN’S EMPOWERMENT, POPULATION DYNAMICS, AND SOCIOECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
ANITA RAJ (Co-Chair), Executive Director of Newcomb Institute, Nancy Reeves Dreux Endowed Chair and Professor in the School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, Tulane University
SUSAN CROSBY SCRIMSHAW (Co-Chair), President, Russell Sage College (retired)
RAGUI ASSAAD, Professor of Planning and Public Affairs, University of Minnesota
SONALDE DESAI, Professor of Sociology, University of Maryland
ALETHEIA DONALD, Senior Economist, Gender Innovation Lab, The World Bank
PASCALINE DUPAS, Professor of Economics and Public Affairs, Princeton University
KELLI STIDHAM HALL, Associate Dean of Research, Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine (committee member from September 29, 2023)
POONAM MUTTREJA, Executive Director, Population Foundation of India
LUCA MARIA PESANDO, Associate Professor of Social Research and Public Policy, New York University Abu Dhabi
GOLEEN SAMARI, Associate Professor of Population and Public Health Sciences, University of Southern California
TOM VOGL, Associate Professor of Economics, University of California, San Diego
YOHANNES DIBABA WADO, Research Scientist, African Population and Health Research Center
KATHRYN M. YOUNT, Asa Griggs Candler Professor of Global Health and Professor of Sociology, Emory University
Study Staff
KRISZTINA MARTON, Study Director
ALEX HENDERSON, Senior Program Assistant
MALAY MAJMUNDAR, Director, Committee on Population
Consultants
KELLI STIDHAM HALL, Associate Professor of Population and Family Health, Columbia University (July 1, 2023–September 29, 2023)
DENNIS HODGSON, Professor Emeritus of Sociology, Fairfield University
National Academy of Medicine Emerging Leaders in Health and Medicine Fellow
KELLI STIDHAM HALL, Associate Professor of Population and Family Health, Columbia University (December 14, 2022–July 1, 2023)
COMMITTEE ON POPULATION
ANNE R. PEBLEY (Chair), Fielding School of Public Health and California Center for Population Research, University of California, Los Angeles
EMILY M. AGREE, Johns Hopkins University
RANDALL K. AKEE, Department of Public Policy and American Indian Studies, University of California, Los Angeles
DEBORAH BALK, Institute of Demographic Research, City University of New York
COURTNEY C. COILE, Wellesley College
SONALDE DESAI, University of Maryland
KATHARINE M. DONATO, Institute for the Study of International Migration, Georgetown University
ROBERT A. HUMMER, Carolina Population Center, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
SEEMA JAYACHANDRAN, Princeton University
HEDWIG LEE, Duke University
TREVON D. LOGAN, College of Arts and Sciences, The Ohio State University
JENNIFER J. MANLY, Department of Neurology, Columbia University Irving Medical Center
JENNA NOBLES, University of Wisconsin–Madison
FERNANDO RIOSMENA, Institute for Health Disparities Research, University of Texas at San Antonio
DAVID T. TAKEUCHI, School of Social Work, University of Washington
MALAY MAJMUNDAR, Director
This page intentionally left blank.
Reviewers
This Consensus Study Report was reviewed in draft form by individuals chosen for their diverse perspectives and technical expertise. The purpose of this independent review is to provide candid and critical comments that will assist the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine in making each published report as sound as possible and to ensure that it meets the institutional standards for quality, objectivity, evidence, and responsiveness to the study charge. The review comments and draft manuscript remain confidential to protect the integrity of the deliberative process.
We thank the following individuals for their review of this report:
Although the reviewers listed above provided many constructive comments and suggestions, they were not asked to endorse the conclusions or recommendations of this report, nor did they see the final draft before its release. The review of this report was overseen by JERE R. BEHRMAN, University of Pennsylvania, and CYNTHIA M. BEALL, Case Western Reserve University. They were responsible for making certain that an independent examination of this report was carried out in accordance with the standards of the National Academies and that all review comments were carefully considered. Responsibility for the final content rests entirely with the authoring committee and the National Academies.
Preface and Acknowledgments
We were charged with leading a committee to examine the evidence on the relationships between population dynamics, socioeconomic development, and women’s empowerment in a rapidly changing world. We conducted this work in the contexts of change, persistence, great complexity, and wide variations between countries, regions, and cultural groups.
Throughout human history, cultures have established norms or expectations of women and men (e.g., socially constructed gender norms), in terms of their roles, behaviors, and presentation. These social norms govern key behaviors of population dynamics including women’s agency, sexual activity, relationship formation, control over fertility, number and spacing of children, and gender preferences. Gender norms influence socioeconomic development and domestic life including access to education; occupational opportunities; expectations around responsibilities for cooking, childcare, and maintenance of the home; and leadership opportunities. We sought to understand these issues through analysis of women’s experiences of restriction but also via exploration of women’s empowerment and how women’s empowerment across diverse populations can influence socioeconomic development—directly or via increases in women’s control over their reproductive and all other domains of their lives.
We had the advantage of a multidisciplinary committee that brought diverse perspectives and evidence to the task at hand. It was obvious that no one disciplinary approach can fully explain the complexities across women’s empowerment, population dynamics, and socioeconomic development in our changing world, and that interdisciplinary work is essential to
understanding these dynamics. This interdisciplinary approach requires understanding and appreciating the methodologies and theoretical approaches of diverse disciplines and how these can inform the questions at hand. It also requires compromise.
As co-chairs, we wish to express our profound appreciation to the committee members who listened to each other, learned from each other’s disciplines, and came together with this report. We would also like to thank the experts who participated in the committee’s public meetings and provided valuable input: Daniela Behr, Amanda Clayton, Michele Decker, Arjan De Haan, Nadia Diamond-Smith, Jocelyn Finlay, Margaret Greene, Jody Heymann, Mala Htun, Sandra Pepera, Ndola Prata, Elizabeth Sully, Jakana Thomas, and Aili Mari Tripp. The committee is also grateful for the research assistance provided by Namratha Rao and Edwin Thomas of the Newcomb Institute at Tulane University. Nafeesa Andrabi, Christine Mirzayan Science and Technology Policy Graduate Fellow, also participated with the project.
This report would not have been possible without the strong support of our study director, Krisztina Marton; the steady presence of Malay K. Majmundar, Director of the Committee on Population; and the logistical support of Alex Henderson. We are also grateful to our sponsor, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
It is our hope that this report will improve understanding of the complex relationships between women’s empowerment, population dynamics, and socioeconomic development by generating more multidisciplinary collaboratives, building theory-driven identification of best evidence measures to help advance the field, and creating and evaluating empowerment-focused interventions and policies for their impact. Future work can inform strategies around women’s empowerment approaches for women’s choice and agency and also for socioeconomic development.
Anita Raj and Susan C. Scrimshaw, Co-Chairs
Committee on Women’s Empowerment, Population
Dynamics, and Socioeconomic Development
Contents
COMMITTEE APPROACH TO THE STUDY
2 Review of Women’s Empowerment Frameworks and Measures
A BRIEF HISTORY OF WOMEN’S EMPOWERMENT IN POPULATION DYNAMICS AND SOCIOECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
REVIEW OF EXISTING FRAMEWORKS ON WOMEN’S EMPOWERMENT
MULTILEVEL UNDERSTANDING OF WOMEN’S AGENCY IN EMPOWERMENT
4 Women’s Empowerment and Population Dynamics
WOMEN’S EMPOWERMENT AND UNION FORMATION, FAMILY FORMATION, AND FERTILITY
WOMEN’S EMPOWERMENT AND MIGRATION
WOMEN’S EMPOWERMENT AND MORTALITY
5 Women’s Empowerment and Women’s and Children’s Health
WOMEN’S EMPOWERMENT AND ACCESS TO FAMILY PLANNING
WOMEN’S EMPOWERMENT AND ACCESS TO ABORTION
WOMEN’S EMPOWERMENT AND WOMEN’S ACCESS TO HEALTHCARE AND SERVICE UTILIZATION
WOMEN’S EMPOWERMENT AND HEALTH OUTCOMES
6 Women’s Empowerment and Socioeconomic Development
CHILD NUTRITIONAL STATUS AND SCHOOLING
DECENT WORK AND SUSTAINABLE LIVELIHOODS
POLITICAL PARTICIPATION AND GOOD GOVERNANCE
PEACE, SECURITY, AND SAFETY FROM VIOLENCE
FINANCIAL AND EMPLOYMENT PROGRAMS FOR WOMEN
YOUTH DEVELOPMENT INTERVENTIONS
SOCIAL AND LEGAL PROTECTIONS AND POLICIES
8 Conclusions and Recommendations
Boxes, Figures, and Table
BOXES
3-2 Equitable Development Goals
FIGURES
2-1 Visualization of women’s empowerment, building on existing theories
