Birth control mean higher wages for women
by digby
Hmmm. Younger women not getting pregnant enhances their chances of having a successful career and making more money. Whodda thunk?
While women still earn 77 cents for every dollar that men make in the United States, the gender wage gap has closed significantly over the past several decades. Now, for the first time ever, a new study has connected the narrowing of that pay gap to increased access to birth control pills.
The University of Michigan study, which analyzed the careers of 4,300 women, shows that the earlier a woman can start taking birth control pills, the more likely she is to earn higher wages later in life.
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“As the pill provided younger women the expectation of greater control over childbearing, women invested more in their human capital and careers,” said Bailey. “Most affected were women with some college, who benefited from these investments through remarkable wage gains over their lifetimes.”
Since members of virtually all species will have sex in any case, birth control allows women to plan their lives beyond their fecundity. It doesn’t make sense to be educated, to travel to try out new jobs or start a business if your plans can be derailed at any moment by the very likely result of pregnancy and the raising of infants and small children. Women simply cannot have equal access to everything the world has to offer if they cannot control their reproduction.
Birth control doesn’t just allow women to make more money, although it does. It allows them to make choices about their lives and fulfill their dreams. It allows them to be fully human. And that’s really the problem isn’t it?
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