Understanding the economic impact of the 'girl effect'

In this post in the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation's "Impatient Optimists" blog, Jill Sheffield, founder and President of Women Deliver, responds to an opinion piece published in the Guardian's "Poverty Matters Blog" on Friday in which Ofra Koffman -- a Leverhulme postdoctoral fellow in the department for culture, media and creative industries at King's College London -- "questions the contributions that girls and young women can make to economies when they delay childbirth," and argues "that the so-called 'Girl Effect' of delaying childbirth does not necessarily 'stop poverty before it starts,' as the Department for International Development (DFID) claims." Sheffield writes, "The ability to choose if and when to have children is a huge piece of the puzzle to the 'Girl Effect,' but it is not the only piece. ... The 'Girl Effect' is an amalgamation of exactly these three components: security, health, and power" (2/15).