How the Pill Quietly Transformed Women’s Labor Economics

In this research poster, I explored Nobel Prize Award winner Claudia Goldin’s research on the effect of birth control on women’s labor markets.  The introduction of the birth control pill in the 1960s marked a turning point in women’s economic history. Goldin’s research shows that reliable access to contraception reshaped how women planned their futures, shifting expectations around education, career investment, and family timing. What began as a medical innovation soon became an economic force, altering the trajectory of women’s participation in higher education, professional fields, and the broader labor market.