Gender equality is good for economic growth

Over 500 years, the economy developed better in parts of Europe where women married in their 20s instead of their teens, according to a study by economic historians Alexandra de Pleijt from Wa-geningen University in the Netherlands and Jörg Baten from the University of. Their study has been published in the journal World Development . "Early marriage shortened the time in which young women could pursue a job on the farm or in the labor market. After marriage, women were then confined to life in the household," says Jörg Baten , professor of economic history at the School of Business and Economics in. Women's age at marriage is therefore considered by economists to be a measure of gender equality. The research team has now demonstrated that women developed better numerical skills as a result of being more independent for longer. Such skills include the handling of numbers, proportions and probabilities, and may be acquired without formal schooling.