How one woman's fortune fundamentally reshaped the American workforce and female education
The birth control pill is often viewed through a social lens, but its economic impact was transformative. This video examines how the contraceptive pill enabled women to plan their professional and academic futures, fueling a historic rise in female labor force participation since the 1960s.
At the turn of the 20th century, female college graduation and long-term workforce participation were rare. Katharine McCormick, the second woman to graduate from MIT, became a pivotal figure in changing this trajectory. When funding for birth control research stalled in the 1950s, McCormick personally contributed nearly $23 million in today's currency to ensure the development and eventual FDA approval of the pill.
By granting women control over the timing of childbirth, the pill allowed for unprecedented long-term planning. Since the mid-1960s, this shift has correlated with a massive increase in women pursuing higher education and entering the workforce, fundamentally altering the economic landscape for women in the United States.
