Career and Family - by Claudia Goldin (Hardcover)

About the Book

"In Career and Family, Claudia Goldin builds on decades of complex research to examine the gender pay gap and the unequal distribution of labor between couples in the home. Goldin argues that although recent public and private discourse has brought these concerns to light, the actions taken-such as a single company slapped on the wrist or a few progressive leaders going on paternity leave-are the economic equivalent of tossing a band-aid to someone with cancer. These solutions, Goldin writes, treat the symptoms and not the disease of gender inequality in the workplace and economy. Goldin points to data that reveals how the pay gap widens further down the line in women's careers, about 10 to 15 years out, as opposed to those beginning careers after college. She examines five distinct groups of women over the course of the twentieth century: cohorts of women who differ in terms of career, job, marriage, and children, in approximated years of graduation-1900s, 1920s, 1950s, 1970s, and 1990s-based on various demographic, labor force, and occupational outcomes. The book argues that our entire economy is trapped in an old way of doing business; work structures have not adapted as more women enter the workforce. Gender equality in pay and equity in home and childcare labor are flip sides of the same issue, and Goldin frames both in the context of a serious empirical exploration that has not yet been put in a long-run historical context. Career and Family offers a deep look into census data, rich information about individual college graduates over their lifetimes, and various records and new sources of material to offer a new model to restructure the home and school systems that contribute to the gender pay gap and the quest for both family and career"--

Book Synopsis

Winner of the 2023 Nobel Prize in Economics

A renowned economic historian traces women's journey to close the gender wage gap and sheds new light on the continued struggle to achieve equity between couples at home

A century ago, it was a given that a woman with a college degree had to choose between having a career and a family. Today, there are more female college graduates than ever before, and more women want to have a career and family, yet challenges persist at work and at home. This book traces how generations of women have responded to the problem of balancing career and family as the twentieth century experienced a sea change in gender equality, revealing why true equity for dual career couples remains frustratingly out of reach.

Drawing on decades of her own groundbreaking research, Claudia Goldin provides a fresh, in-depth look at the diverse experiences of college-educated women from the 1900s to today, examining the aspirations they formed--and the barriers they faced--in terms of career, job, marriage, and children. She shows how many professions are "greedy," paying disproportionately more for long hours and weekend work, and how this perpetuates disparities between women and men. Goldin demonstrates how the era of COVID-19 has severely hindered women's advancement, yet how the growth of remote and flexible work may be the pandemic's silver lining.

Antidiscrimination laws and unbiased managers, while valuable, are not enough. Career and Family explains why we must make fundamental changes to the way we work and how we value caregiving if we are ever to achieve gender equality and couple equity.

Review Quotes

"Why do women still tend to earn less than men? There is nobody better placed to answer that question than economic historian Claudia Goldin, the winner of the 2023 Nobel memorial prize in economics. Her answer tells us how to fight unfairness, but also how to create saner and more productive working lives for everybody."-- "Financial Times"

"Goldin's research carries important implications for addressing gender equality within the economics profession."---Leonora Risse, The Conversation, Australia & New Zealand

"[Career and Family] traces the history of work and family for college-educated women, and diagnoses what still troubles their careers today."-- "The Economist"

"[Career and Family] looks at how women have struggled to balance work and home over the decades. Among its many takeaways is the notion that female participation in the workplace changes the very nature of work."---Rana Foroohar, Financial Times

"This is no ordinary book. . . . Goldin has written a chatty, readable sequel to [Betty] Friedan's [The Feminine Mystique], destined itself to become a paperback best-seller--all the more persuasive because it is rooted in the work of hundreds of other labor economists and economic historians over the years."---David Warsh, Economic Principals

"Career and Family is a radical book. It is also brilliantly researched and argued."---Lily Meyer, New Republic

"

There are many reasons to read [Career and Family]. The main one being that [it is] excellent. . . . Goldin is a natural teacher, which comes across on the page. The book is also, in some ways, deeply personal.

"---Emily Oster, ParentData

"A must-read for those who care about gender gaps. . . . Goldin does a compelling job of running through the historical data, providing the surrounding cultural context, and explaining how technological and legal changes affected women over the years. . . . In Career and Family, Goldin expertly lays out the history of college-grad women's advances in the work force, and she carefully dissects where the remaining gender gap originates."---Robert VerBruggen, Institute for Family Studies

"A Behavioral Scientist's Notable Book"

"A FiveBooks Best Nonfiction Books of the Year"

"A Wall Street Journal Favorite Political Book of the Year"

"An Economist Book of the Year"

"Combining diligent research with acute observations, accessible case studies, and practical solutions, this is a refreshing take on a pernicious social problem."-- "Publishers Weekly"

"Goldin weaves together complicated data sets that no one else thought to look at. . . . [She] brings such data to life."---Joan C. Williams, Times Literary Supplement

"In this deeply researched, engagingly written, and surprisingly personal book, Goldin summarizes the history and current state of gender disparities in employment and pay, both in general and specifically for college-educated women."---Barry Eichengreen, Foreign Affairs

"Provocative and compelling."-- "The Economist"

"This book is a must-read."---Melissa Davies, Society of Professional Economists

"Winner of the Richard A. Lester Book Award, Industrial Relations Section Industrial Relations Section"

About the Author

Claudia Goldin, winner of the 2023 Nobel Prize in economics, is the Henry Lee Professor of Economics at Harvard University. Her books include Women Working Longer, The Race between Education and Technology, The Defining Moment, and Understanding the Gender Gap. She lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Twitter @PikaGoldin