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The Effect of Oral Contraceptives on Women's Labor Force Participation Rates

The first oral contraceptive was introduced in the United States during the 1960s, and, subsequently, there was an increase in women’s labor force participation rates. Although the economic role of oral contraceptives is still highly debated by scholars, previous studies have found that the pill had a statistically significant impact on women’s labor force participation rates. Using the National Longitudinal Survey of Young Women, I will analyze how hours worked, hourly wages, weekly earnings and occupations for women were affected by oral contraceptives. By controlling for various governing statutes that affected the availability of the use and distribution of oral contraceptives in different states, I am able to provide evidence highlighting the extent of the pill’s significance. I find that early legal access (ELA) to oral contraceptives that resulted from residential states legalizing abortion before others positively and significantly affects women’s hours worked, hourly wages, weekly earnings and whether or not women entered into professional occupations.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:CLAREMONT/oai:http://scholarship.claremont.edu/do/oai/:scripps_theses-1201
Date01 April 2013
CreatorsYamanaka, Jackie E
PublisherScholarship @ Claremont
Source SetsClaremont Colleges
Detected LanguageEnglish
Typetext
Formatapplication/pdf
SourceScripps Senior Theses
Rights© 2013 Jackie E. Yamanaka

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