Career and Family
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Bibliographic details
- Authors: FRANCESCA DONNER
- Published: March 1, 2022
Overview
- Review of Career & Family by Claudia Goldin as summarized by FRANCESCA DONNER, an executive editor at Quartz focusing on the future of work, women, and gender.
- Central argument: over the past century, women in the United States have made extraordinary gains in the world of work, expanding possibilities from mere jobs to careers for many women.
Historical trends in women’s work and family choices
- A woman graduating in 1910 typically had to choose between a family and a career.
- In the 1920s and 1930s, many women worked for pay before going on to have children.
- The trend flipped in the 1950s as the marriage age dropped and women began their families earlier, often entering paid work later.
- The broad adoption of the birth control pill changed trajectories so that by the 1970s many women opted for a career first, sometimes at the expense of family.
- By the 1980s and 1990s, women were pursuing career and family at the same time.
The gender pay gap and structural drivers
- Women’s earnings in the United States have been stuck somewhere between 77 cents and 82 cents for every dollar a man earns for 25 years.
- This aggregate figure masks larger disparities for women of color.
- Goldin’s diagnosis: attributing the pay gap solely to gender bias, sexism, negotiation skills, or occupational choice misses the central issue—“the very structure of work.”
The “greedy work” concept
- Work is characterized as “greedy”: it demands time from employees, and greater time commitment is rewarded.
- In labor markets, firms pay more for staff willing and able to put in endless hours and to drop everything for deadlines.
- Time constraints become acute with family responsibilities—e.g., when a child requires attention, employees cannot match the time demands expected by greedy jobs.
- Client-facing white-collar professions (law, banking) still expect continuity—clients expect “their guy” to be available—making these sectors less accommodating to time constraints.
Potential responses and examples
- One proposed solution is to incentivize or redesign industries where professionals can be easily substituted without loss of quality.
- Example: pharmacists—consumers do not need the same person to fill prescriptions each month, allowing scheduling flexibility.
- Contrast: many white-collar professions have not adopted substitutable models, perpetuating time-based penalties for caregivers.
Key takeaways and implications
- Significant progress over the last century has not eliminated economic parity or gender equality.
- Structural redesign of work and industry practices is central to closing persistent earnings gaps tied to caregiving and time constraints.
- The core obstacle is that work demands more of a resource we cannot increase: time.
F&D Magazine — “Greedy Work,” FRANCESCA DONNER, March 2022.
Content in this bundle
- Book Donner P65
- Greedy Work
- Le travail, ce maître avide
- Книжное обозрение – Финансы и развитие – Переосмысление бюджетных основ – март 2022 года
- Trabajo codicioso
- 贪婪的工作