Is a child in the US equal to a child in Africa?

I saw the documentary "Girl Rising" tonight at a Room to Read event.  I was in charge of the registration desk -- with great power comes great responsibility some would say.

It was a well-made documentary, complete with good storytelling and solid cinematography.  I even started getting teary-eyed at the end.  

As the lights turned on, I immediately felt a pang of cognitive dissonance (i.e., the discomfort from holding 2 conflicting beliefs or values).  I looked around and saw an auditorium full of upper-middle class, nicely dressed women living in one of the wealthiest countries in the world.  Yes, we "care" about causes, but not enough to really sacrifice our comforts or conflicting belief in the power of capitalism.

The documentary made a strong case for educating children in developing countries.

Here's the sad stuff I learned:

• 66M girls are out of school WW (UNESCO)
• 33M fewer girls are in primary school than boys (Education First)
• 150M girls are victims of sexual violence per year (UNIFEM)
• 14M girls under 18 will be married this year -- that's 26 girls per minute (UNFPA)
• #1 cause of death for girls 15-18 is childbirth (WHO)

Here's the education stuff I learned:

• A girl with an extra year of education can earn 20% more as an adult (the WorldBank)
• If India enrolled 1% more girls in secondary school, their GDP would rise by $5.5B (CIA Factbook)
• Girls with 8 years of education are 4 times less likely to be married as children (National Academy Press)
• A child born to a literate mother is 50% more likely to survive past the age of 5 (UNESCO)
• School is not free in 50 countries WW (UNESCO)

Okay, now get ready for a little market sizing.

Assumption 1: Let's say we agree that the 66M girls should be in school

Assumption 2: And, that a child, regardless of nationality, has the same innate value

In the United States, 6M children are enrolled in private school, paying an average tuition cost of $10K.  Technically, none of the students need to go to private school since public school is free.  It's a luxury.

That's $60B spent on over-and-above schooling.  According to the Girl Rising website, it costs $50 to pay a girls' fees for a year, in places like India, Peru and Sierra Leone.

That's enough to pay for 1.2B children to go to school -- way more than the ones that can not attend right now.

Which, brings me back to the title of this post.  Our actions are not connected to our beliefs.

We believe an American child is in fact worth
(a lot) more than an African child.