Noah Smith, Columnist

Equal Marriages Go Along With More Equal Pay

Working women boost household incomes. But some Americans, especially low-income men, have had trouble adapting.

March 13, 2017 at 4:29 PM UTC

Noah Smith is a former Bloomberg Opinion columnist. He was an assistant professor of finance at Stony Brook University, and he blogs at Noahpinion.

That's a start.
Photographer: Joe Raedle/getty images

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A friend recently asked me whether women's entry into the workforce has been good for men. I couldn't give him a clear answer, because it's a complicated question. Overall, the answer is yes, but the change hasn't been equally good for all men. Those who have successfully adapted their family structure and social norms to the new economic realities have done very well and will continue to do so. But those who haven't managed to make the necessary adjustments have suffered, and will probably continue to suffer unless something is done.

Women haven't achieved full economic equality, and may never do so, but much of the gender gap closed in the late 20th centuries. Here's a picture of the difference between the labor force participation rates of men and women in the U.S.: