Women's Empowerment, Population Dynamics, and Socioeconomic Development

Women's empowerment, population dynamics, and socioeconomic development have been studied extensively from a variety of disciplinary perspectives. However, attempts to reconcile these perspectives and apply a holistic view to the relationships among these concepts have been rare, and this lack of consensus limits the extent to which these concepts can be applied toward accomplishing global health and development goals. This report looks to advance the state of knowledge on the impact of women's empowerment and associated population dynamics on socioeconomic development by developing a conceptual framework describing these dynamics and setting an agenda for future policy-relevant research and data collection. Table of Contents Front Matter Summary 1 Introduction 2 Review of Women's Empowerment Frameworks and Measures 3 A New Conceptual Framework to Understand Women's Empowerment, Population Dynamics, and Socioeconomic Development 4 Women's Empowerment and Population Dynamics 5 Women's Empowerment and Women's and Children's Health 6 Women's Empowerment and Socioeconomic Development 7 Levers for Change: Evidence on Programs and Policies to Increase Women's Agency in the Empowerment Process 8 Conclusions and Recommendations References Appendix A: Biographical Sketches of Committee Members Appendix B: Frameworks of Women's Empowerment