Breaking Down Barriers: The Nobel Prize in Economics Awarded to Claudia Goldin Who Clarified Factors Creating the "Motherhood Penalty"
Her research has contributed to our understanding of the economic and societal factors at play in the "Motherhood Penalty."
You may not know her name, but she is a pioneer for working women. Claudia Goldin is a 77 year-old economics professor at Harvard. Her research has had a significant impact on our understanding of gender disparities, income inequality, labor market dynamics, and educational choices.
Last week I wrote about the “motherhood penalty” illustrating this phenonmenon with my personal story of a long career in medicine. You can read that here. My story illustrates how having children during your career can delay your promotion, relegate you to part-time work, and even precipitate career changes well into your midlife.
Working mothers often face a "motherhood penalty" in the workplace, which can result in lower pay, fewer promotions, or fewer job opportunities. This is due to factors like maternity leave, childcare responsibilities, and bias and/or stereotypes about women's commitment to their careers. Goldin’s research showed the income gap in wealthy countries persists today in part due to motherhood and largely arises with the birth of the first child.
Goldin made pioneering contributions to the study of the gender wage disparities and labor force participation. Her research explored factors contributing to the gender pay gap, including the roles of occupational segregation (think: teachers and nurses), differences in labor market experience, and the impact of family and caregiving responsibilities (think: working mothers).
One of the key contributors to the gender pay gap is occupational segregation, where women are disproportionately concentrated in lower-paying fields or roles, such as secretarial, service, education, and healthcare. Men are more likely to be in high-paying professions, such as engineering, law, medicine, or finance, while women are often found in lower-paying sectors.
Women are underrepresented in leadership positions and executive roles, which come with higher salaries. This contributes to the gender pay gap. Goldin conducted extensive research on the economics of education, with a focus on the returns to education and the factors influencing educational choices. (Think: women getting college and graduate degrees.) Women have outpaced men in education, however, even when women and men have similar educational backgrounds and experience, disparities in earnings still persist.
Goldin's research addressed issues related to income inequality (think: women in the U.S. earning 82 cents for every dollar earned by men) including the evolution of income inequality over time. Higher levels of education reduce but do not eliminate pay disparities between women and men.
Interestingly, she demonstrated that access to the birth control pill played an important role in accelerating the number of women delaying childbirth and investing in their careers and their education. Goldin conducted extensive research on career patterns and life-cycle earnings, particularly related to women's careers. She collected over 200 years of historical data from the U.S. to analyze the changing fortunes and representation of women in the labor market.
Claudia Goldin is only the third woman to be awarded the Nobel Prize in economics! She is undoubtedly a pioneer for working women and working mothers everywhere. Clearly, women work not only to support themselves, “but also because work is a fundamental aspect of their identity and satisfaction.” She is a shining example of this positive attitude.