Claudia Goldin, an economic historian and professor at Harvard University, bagged this year’s Nobel prize in economics for her pioneering research that advances our understanding of labour market outcomes for women. Mint explains her findings:
What is Goldin’s Nobel win all about?
Goldin’s research was one of the first in economics to acknowledge women’s work. It shed light on the historical trend in wage gap and factors contributing to it. The jury noted her work to be “the first comprehensive account of women’s earnings and labour market participation through the centuries”. Women are drastically under-represented in the world of work, and while their numbers are growing, wages are much lower than those of men. The jury said only about half of women participate in the global workforce compared with 80% of men; they earn less and are also less likely to advance in their careers.
What are her findings about women in work?
Goldin’s study of data over a 200-year period showed a U-shaped curve: female participation at first declined in the 19th century but began to rise again in the 20th century. While women were earlier involved in agricultural activities, they dropped out during industrialization. With the rise of the services sector and access to contraceptive pills, women started participating in the job market. Goldin’s findings also showed that despite this, the gender gap in earnings remained high—in fact, the difference between men and women workers in the same occupation rose with the birth of the first child.
How many women have been awarded the Nobel?
Just 65 out of the 1,000 laureates so far have been women. They have won the highest number of Nobel prizes for peace (19) followed by literature (17). Economics has had the fewest woman winners: three. But the other two before Goldin—Elinor Ostrom (2009) and Esther Duflo (2019)—had shared the prize, so she is the first woman to get it alone.
What is India’s story on female labour?
India’s female labour force participation has fallen over the past two decades as the jobs moved from farms to construction, manufacturing and services. The State of Working India report by Azim Premji University shows a U-shaped pattern for urban married working women in India, too. Women’s chance of going out to work falls as their husbands’ pay rises, but increases again as the figure crosses ₹40,000 per month. The gender pay gap is huge, too, with women earning just 76% of what men do.
How can we move toward equal pay?
Goldin’s research showed two factors as key to bringing more women into the workforce: higher education investments and raising age of marriage. Family life shaped wage gaps—it widened when mothers cut their work hours. Gender gap could be narrowed or closed “if firms did not have an incentive to disproportionately reward individuals who laboured long hours and worked particular hours”, Goldin argued. Such changes were missing from the health, corporate, financial and legal sectors, she pointed out.
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Updated: 11 Oct 2023, 12:03 AM IST