Lena Edlund on Women, Wealth, and Opportunity

Over the past century, women’s roles in society have been transformed. It is straightforward enough to list changes in norms — around marriage, sex, jobs, and more. What is less obvious is how these updated norms have reshaped economies. Relationships have shifted between men and women, between women and their workplaces, and between the state and the family. The challenge now is evaluating the success of this new order: What has truly changed, and where is there more work to be done?

Lena Edlund is an Associate Professor of Economics at Columbia University. Her research interrogates the economics of gender and family, drawing on a range of other fields, including anthropology and evolutionary biology. In this conversation, she discusses her work on a variety of topics — from the long history of marriage, to contemporary gender gaps in wealth and voting patterns — with host Steven Durlauf.