A Century of Women, Couples & Kids

The Five Ages of our Contemporary Juggling Act, with Harvard Prof. Claudia Goldin

5 Ages: Jeanette Rankin, Alice Kober, Jeanne Kirkpatrick, Sonia Sotomayor and Tammy ... [+]

This post was previously published behind a paywall on FORBES, March 2023. It’s reproduced here, in full, for paid subscribers of elderberries.

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Emerging from a century-shaking pandemic that has upended work norms, it’s helpful to take a step back. A big step. Harvard Professor Claudia Goldin is the perfect person to do so. Economic historian and labour economist, she is uniquely positioned to zoom out and summarise a century of women’s “journey towards equity,” the subtitle of her most recent book, Career & Family. In it, she charts out a sort of Five Ages of Women, distinct phases shaped by history, war and technological evolutions. It’s fascinating, profound – and subtly optimistic.

Professor Goldin has been one of the leading analysts of women’s move into the labour force over the past three decades. Her perspective brings an economist’s lens to a range of issues – from the gender gap in employment and earnings, to income inequality and education. Goldin’s research insightfully interprets the present through the lens of the past. You may never see your career with quite the same eyes again…