I first picked up Career and Family in 2023 when Claudia Goldin won the Nobel Prize in Economics. As someone who is interested in gender research in economics, it was fascinating to see a related scholar win the Nobel Prize. Career and Family is one of Goldin’s books, and in it, she provides insight into the trajectory of how women have navigated employment and family since the late 1800s.

This first chapter, which I summarize here, introduces the book and interesting terms such as “The new problem with no name” and “greedy work,” which will be used in subsequent pages.

In summary, the chapter says the following:

• Earnings of men and women are typically similar right out of college, and the minimal pay gap in the early few years of work experience can be largely explained by differences in occupational choices and fields of study.
• About 10 years into working, the pay gap widens owing to working in different labour markets and firms and the onset of childbearing and marriage.
• In the book, we will explore a study sample of women who graduated college in America from 1900 onwards.
• As of 2020, college-graduate women account for 45% of women compared to 36% of men college graduates.
• In 1961, the pill was invented.
• As couples grow and proceed in their careers and children set in, one of the partners often needs to be able to respond and react promptly to the children’s needs. The partner often needs to be more flexible at work, and flexibility can be correlated with reduced availability at work and slower growth possibilities. Often, this responsibility falls on women.
• The family and child-raising association is “problematic” (my own words now) because, while the woman loses career progress to caregiving, the man forgoes time with family to do greedy work, which brings more money for the family.
• The chapter also talks about the generation of women before the 21st century, and these women will, in fact, be examined as a case study of five groups of women in the book. Goldin describes how the different groups of women have had differing or similar narratives about careers or jobs and/or family. She also briefly highlights the possibility of remote working that COVID-19 has afforded us despite the household challenges that the pandemic also accentuated.
• Finally, it speaks about the redundancy of progress made by the American economy regarding achieving women’s aspirations for family, career, and equity. According to Goldin, the economy is still trapped in an old-fashioned way of functioning, hampered by primaeval methods of dividing responsibilities.

If you have read this chapter, let me know if I have left out something. If you are thinking about picking up the book, here is a headstart on what to look forward to, so get started and read with me. Lessons in Chemistry is a related novel that plays out the discussion on women’s history with work and family. You might want to add this to your reading list as well. And please read the book before watching the Apple series. I have not watched it, but I have heard good reviews; however, the depth of satisfaction from the book is really rich.