Current:Home > MyEconomics Nobel Prize goes to Claudia Goldin, an expert on women at work -OceanicInvest
Economics Nobel Prize goes to Claudia Goldin, an expert on women at work
View
Date:2025-04-15 07:43:59
Harvard University's Claudia Goldin has won the 2023 Nobel Prize in Economics for her research on women in the labor market. She studies the changing role of working women through the centuries, and the causes of the persistent pay gap between men and women.
The award — formally known as The Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel — comes with a prize of 11 million kronor, or about $1 million. Goldin is the third woman to receive the prize.
"Claudia Goldin's discoveries have vast society implications," said Randi Hjalmarsson, a member of the Nobel committee. "She has shown us that the nature of this problem or the source of these underlying gender gaps changes throughout history and with the course of development."
Goldin's research showed that women's role in the job market has not moved in a straight line, but has waxed and waned in line with social norms and women's own ideas about their prospects in the workplace and the home. Some of these ideas are shaped early in life and are slow to change.
"She can explain why the gender gap suddenly started to close in the 1980s and the surprising role of the birth control pill and changing expectation," Hjalmarsson said. "And she can explain why the earnings gap has stopped closing today and the role of parenthood."
Tracing the history of women in the workplace was easier said than done. The Nobel committee said Goldin often had to contend with spotty records.
Gender pay gap remains
Women currently fill nearly half the jobs in the U.S. but typically earn less. They briefly outnumbered men on payrolls in late 2019 and early 2020, but women dropped out of the workforce in large numbers early in the pandemic, and their ranks have only recently recovered.
In a 2021 interview with NPR, Goldin offered a recipe for narrowing the pay gap between men and women: more government funding of child care and more jobs in which people could share duties rather than what she termed "greedy jobs".
"The solution isn't a simple one, but part of it is reducing the value of these 'greedy jobs,' getting jobs in which individuals are very good substitutes for each other and can trade off," she said. "And I know there are people who will tell me this is impossible. But in fact, it's done in obstetrics. It's done in anesthesiology. It's done in pediatrics. It's done in veterinary medicine. It's done in various banking decisions. And if it can be done in all of that with all the amazing IT that we have, we could probably do it elsewhere as well. "
Some forecasters think women's role in the workplace will continue to grow as they surpass men on college campuses and as service-oriented fields such as health care expand.
"Understanding women's role in labor is important for society," said Jakob Svensson, chair of the prize committee. "Thanks to Claudia Goldin's groundbreaking research, we now know much more about the underlying factors and which barriers may need to be addressed in the future."
veryGood! (597)
Related
- Man can't find second winning lottery ticket, sues over $394 million jackpot, lawsuit says
- Aaron Taylor-Johnson Unveils Rare Photos With Stepdaughter Jessie on 18th Birthday
- Colorado’s Supreme Court dismisses suit against baker who wouldn’t make a cake for transgender woman
- 'Avoid spreading false information,' FEMA warns, says agency is 'prepared to respond'
- Military service academies see drop in reported sexual assaults after alarming surge
- Not all elections look the same. Here are some of the different ways states run their voting
- Sandbags, traffic, boarded-up windows: Photos show Florida bracing for Hurricane Milton
- Hurricane Milton grows 'explosively' stronger, reaches Category 5 status | The Excerpt
- Taylor Swift makes surprise visit to Kansas City children’s hospital
- Yes, voter fraud happens. But it’s rare and election offices have safeguards to catch it
Ranking
- Travis Hunter, the 2
- Disney World and Universal Orlando remain open ahead of Hurricane Milton
- 'Our fallen cowgirl': 2024 Miss Teen Rodeo Kansas dies in car crash, teammates injured
- Love Is Blind's Amber Pike and Matt Barnett Expecting First Baby
- Don't let hackers fool you with a 'scam
- The Office's Jenna Fischer Shares Breast Cancer Diagnosis
- Airlines say they’re capping fares in the hurricane’s path as Biden warns against price gouging
- A Georgia mayor indicted for allegedly trying to give inmates alcohol has been suspended
Recommendation
Trump suggestion that Egypt, Jordan absorb Palestinians from Gaza draws rejections, confusion
NCAA cracking down on weapon gestures toward opponents in college football
Angel Dreamer Wealth Society: Conveying the Power of Dreams through Action
In ‘Piece by Piece,’ Pharrell finds Lego fits his life story
Paula Abdul settles lawsuit with former 'So You Think You Can Dance' co
Election conspiracy theories fueled a push to hand-count votes, but doing so is risky and slow
A Georgia mayor indicted for allegedly trying to give inmates alcohol has been suspended
Bring your pets to church, Haitian immigrant priest tells worshippers. ‘I am not going to eat them.’