Gender inequality isn’t just unfair — it’s also a drag on the world economy. Giving women the same economic opportunities as men would add about US$12 trillion to global gross domestic product by 2025, one analysis found. That’s an 11% boost.

The link between women’s empowerment and economic growth is well established. When women are economically empowered, they invest more in their families, creating a cycle of positive outcomes that spans generations. Women’s participation in the workforce leads to greater productivity and brings diverse perspectives that enhance decision-making and drive innovation.

Recognizing these benefits, governments and nongovernmental organizations have increasingly directed aid — funds provided to developing countries to foster economic growth — toward promoting women’s empowerment.

As an economist who studies development, I wanted to know: Does all that money really make a difference? So, in a recent study, my colleagues and I analyzed the impact of gender-related aid on gender inequality using data from 118 countries over a 13-year period, from 2009 to 2022.

What we found was uplifting: Gender-related aid reduced inequality in most countries we studied.

We looked at two types of gender-related aid. The first is funding for projects that tie gender into larger economic goals. Development experts call this “significant gender-related aid.” There’s also aid funding that narrowly and explicitly targets gender equality. Experts call this “principal gender-related aid.”

We found that the first approach consistently and significantly reduced gender inequality in........

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