Pill Power: The Prequel

Lena Edlund () and Cecilia Machado
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Lena Edlund: Columbia University

No 5468, IZA Discussion Papers from Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)

Abstract: Goldin and Katz [2002], in an influential paper, argued that giving unmarried minors access to the contraceptive Pill was instrumental for women's professional advancement, because such access allowed marriage to be postponed. However, by 1960, married women could get the Pill and thence it is not clear why early marriage would interfere with the pursuit of professional interests. We explore the effects of this alternative, earlier, and common, route to the Pill. Using variation in state minimum-age marriage laws (EMA), we find that EMA precipitated marriage, delayed fertility within marriage, and improved the educational and occupational outcomes of women, especially non-college women. Thus, fertility control, marriage notwithstanding, emerges as a key enabler of women's educational and professional advancement.

Keywords: education; marriage; contraceptive pill; occupation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J13 J24 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 46 pages
Date: 2011-01
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (6)

Published - published as 'How the other half lived: Marriage and emancipation in the age of the Pill' in: European Economic Review. 2015, 80, 295 - 309

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