The Economics Show The economics of birth control. With Martha Bailey
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Oct 8, 2025 Martha Bailey, an economics professor at UCLA and director of the California Center for Population Research, discusses the transformative impact of the contraceptive pill on women's economic choices. She highlights how contraception led to delayed marriages and increased workforce participation among young women. Bailey also addresses its role in narrowing the gender pay gap and improving outcomes for disadvantaged groups through Title X. With recent policy changes looming, she emphasizes the need for access to contraception to avoid regressive economic consequences.
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Birth Control Changed Life Trajectories
- The pill created a new ability to choose when to become a parent and thus redirected life trajectories.
- Martha Bailey says this choice reshaped careers, education, and societal norms over decades.
Younger Women Stayed In The Workforce
- The pill shifted younger women's labour force participation by enabling them to delay marriage and childbearing.
- Bailey notes younger women began working in their 20s and 30s as much as women in their 40s do today.
Delaying Parenthood Raises Wages
- Delaying childbearing by a few years produced lasting wage gains and career track changes.
- Bailey reports roughly an 8% pay premium for women who delayed marriage and children.