Claudia Goldin won the 2023 Nobel Prize in Economics for studying women’s labour-market outcomes.
Goldin’s research traces women’s participation in paid work, education, occupational choices and earnings over several centuries of United States history. Her work showed that women’s employment did not rise steadily; instead, it changed through distinct historical phases.
A major finding concerns the gender pay gap. Goldin showed that the gap often widened after the birth of a first child and that modern high-paying jobs frequently reward long, inflexible hours. This helps explain why equal education and similar early-career earnings do not always produce equal lifetime pay.
The award was given to Goldin alone, an unusual distinction because many economics prizes are shared. She became the third woman to win the economics prize and the first woman to receive it as the sole laureate.