Harmony but Difference
Nowadays, the majority of income differences are between women in the same profession and largely arise with the birth of their first child.
Han and Yuan
Nowadays, more than ever before, various couples are striving to find a balance between career and family, as well as between work and life. We are collectively realizing the significance and value of taking care of our families for the present and future generations. We begin to fully perceive its costs, including income loss, career stagnation, trade-offs between partners, and the harsh demands faced by single mothers or fathers. How to balance family responsibilities and career development has always been a focus of social attention.
Unfortunately, family responsibilities generally fall more heavily on women. In almost every OECD country, the proportion of women with higher education is about 10 percentage points higher than that of men, but the median income of women working full-time is 10% to 20% lower than that of men.
Where does this gender income gap come from? How did women with higher education in history allocate time between professions and families? Harvard University professor Claudia Goldin undoubtedly has a voice. She has long been engaged in research on gender and the labor market. She divided the group of women who received university education from the early 20th century to the present into five groups and conducted in-depth research on their ideal aspirations in career, marriage, children, and various obstacles encountered in reality, as well as the evolution process between generations. Her related research has been compiled into a book titled 'Career or Family? - Women's Centennial Journey towards Equality'.
Her groundbreaking research has recently received the expected rewards. On the evening of October 9th Beijing time, the 2023 Nobel Prize in Economics was announced, awarded to her for "discovering key factors behind gender differences in the labor market". The Nobel Prize official believes that this year's winner of the Economics Prize, Golding, provided the first comprehensive introduction to women's income and labor market participation over the centuries. Her research reveals the reasons for the changes and the main sources of remaining gender disparities, "promoting our understanding of the results of the female labor market," and revealing the main driving factors of gender disparities in the labor market.
The Nobel Prize official wrote in his evaluation of Golding that historically, gender differences in income can be largely explained by differences in education and career choices. However, Golding has shown that the majority of this income difference now occurs between women in the same profession, and is largely due to the birth of their first child. Golding's research has given us a new and often surprising understanding of the historical and modern roles of women in the labor market, "the jury said, Understanding the role of women in labor is crucial for society. Golding's groundbreaking research has given us a better understanding of potential factors and obstacles that may need to be addressed in the future.
According to public sources, Golding was born in New York, USA in 1946 and received a Bachelor's degree in Economics from Cornell University, a Master's degree in Economics from the University of Chicago, and a PhD in Economics. He has previously taught at the University of Wisconsin, Princeton University, and the University of Pennsylvania, and is currently a professor of economics at Harvard University. According to public sources, in 1990, Golding became the first woman in the economics department of Harvard University to receive a tenured professor. Now, she has become the third woman to win the Nobel Prize in Economics and the first woman to exclusively enjoy the Nobel Prize in Economics. In addition, Golding has also served as the President of the American Society of Economic History and the President of the American Economic Society, and has been elected as an academician of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and a member of the National Academy of Sciences.
As an economic historian and labor economist, Golding's research covers a wide range of topics, including female labor, gender disparities in income, income inequality, technological change, education, and immigration. Most of her research explains the present from a past perspective and explores the origins of current concerns.
It is worth mentioning that Golding's husband Lawrence Katz is her colleague at Harvard University. As a pair of academic couples who are mutual confidants, they jointly conduct research in areas such as gender, discrimination, education, and skill biased technological progress. They are also talked about with great interest, including their brother-in-law relationship, Katz is 13 years younger than Golding. And 2023 is undoubtedly a lucky year for this family, shortly before Golding won the Nobel Prize in Economics, when Katz was elected as the President of the American Economic Society.
(The author is a Guangzhou economist)
The column articles in this newspaper only represent the author's personal views.