Accessing education is not easy in many poor areas of the world. Widening access to education is a key method in reducing global poverty. Here are 15 poverty and education statistics to better understand the relationship of how these two issues interplay.

1. There are more than 124 million primary or secondary school-aged children who are not in school around the world.
2. The reasons children do not attend school vary. Some children belong to families who cannot afford it, while others are too sick or too hungry to attend. All of these reasons trace back to poverty.
3. The cost of providing 13 years of education for a child living in a developing country is around $1.18 a day.
4. One of the first steps in overcoming poverty is receiving an education.
5. With each year of schooling, an individual’s income potential increases by around 10 percent.
6. With more education, one has more opportunities.
7. Girls have a harder time accessing education than boys. Ten million boys and 15 million girls will never receive a primary education.
8. Gender inequality in education is predominantly seen among the poor.
9. If every girl had access to an education, the number of child marriages could decrease by 14 percent.
10. If a mother has the ability to read, her children have a 50 percent greater chance of surviving past the age of five.
11. Nearly 800 million people do not have the basic ability to read or write.
12. Conflict, one of the many causes of poverty, is also a leading cause of disruption in education. About 35 percent of kids who are not in school are not receiving an education due to conflicts such as war.
13. Poverty decreases as more people have access to education. Investing in education leads to further development.
14. Rural areas yield more poverty and less access to education. A child from a rural area is twice as likely to not attend school as a child from an urban area.
15. According to WE Charity, $26 billion more each year would give every person a basic education, which is “less than five percent of what the U.S. military spent in 2015.”

According to Children International, “education is one of the most powerful ways to reduce poverty and improve health, gender equality, peace and stability.” These 15 poverty and education statistics show that access to education is key to overcoming poverty.

– Shannon Elder

Photo: Flickr