Crafts Lecture 2022

Career and Family: Then and Now

Professor Claudia Goldin (Harvard University)

Thursday, 5 May 2022, 4-5pm (UK Time). This event will be held online.

Register here

A century ago, women had to choose between having a career and a family. Now, huge advancements in gender equality make it possible to work and have children. Yet the balance of career and family is still far from equal among couples.

High-paying professions are 'greedy' for their workers' time, meaning that, for most families, only one parent (usually the man) can pursue such a career. More often than not, the other parent (usually the woman) chooses a less career-focused job that provides flexibility for childcare.

In this special lecture, renowned economic historian Claudia Goldin will trace women's struggle for equity at work and at home from 1900 to the present day. Her findings reveal that in order to achieve true equity we need to make fundamental changes to the way we work and the value we place on caregiving.

Publication details

Goldin, Claudia (2021), Career and Family: Then and Now, Princeton University Press: Princeton and Oxford.