the power of the pill: oral contraceptives and women’s career and marriage decisions claudia...
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The Power of the Pill: Oral Contraceptives and Women’s
Career and Marriage DecisionsClaudia Goldin and Lawrence F
Katz
Presented by Jennifer Windh
Background
• Birth Control Pill approved by FDA in 1960
• Removed penalties of abstinence and uncertainty about pregnancy, thereby decreasing the costs of investing in human capital for women
• Analyzes effect on age of first marriage and career choices
• Proposes a natural experiment is created by differential changes in single women’s access to pill across states
The Pill and Single Women:Diffusion of the Pill among Single
Women• Pill rapidly adopted by married women;
legal and social barriers blocked single women’s access
• Late 60’s – early 70’s: age of majority lowered and mature minor laws adopted
• Data is very limited on this topic• Laws were not necessarily perfectly
enforced• Decision to focus on college graduate
women
The Pill and Single Women:Diffusion of the Pill among Single
Women
The Pill and Single Women:State Variation in Laws Affecting
Contraceptive Services
• Age of majority lowered• Mature minor laws• Family Planning available without
parental consent• University health services tended to
conform to state laws
The Pill and Single Women:The Impact of State Laws on Pill Use
The Effect of the Pill on Marriage and Career
• Direct Effect: reduce cost of marriage delay and career investment
• Indirect Effect: lower cost of career investment through “thickening” of marriage market
• Rest: better marriage matches– Women’s marriage desirability as a
function of “nurturing” and career– Preferences not fully formed until older
The Effect of the Pill on Marriage and Career
Evidence for the Power of the Pill:
Time Series – Career Investment
Evidence for the Power of the Pill:
Time Series – Age at First Marriage
Evidence for the Power of the Pill:
Formal Analyses – Age at First Marriage & State Law Changes
Evidence for the Power of the Pill:
Formal Analyses – Career and Marital Status Outcomes
Alternative Explanations
• Abortion Reform; Availability of other methods of birth control
• Resurgence in feminism• Anti-discrimination legislation• Advancement and affordability of home
production technology• Sex-ratio changes• End of draft deferments for graduate
students
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