According to Claudia Goldin of Harvard University, in the United States prior to 1940, most married women who worked had limited education and came from lower-income families. She argues that: “Their decisions were made as secondary workers and their market work evaporated when family incomes rose sufficiently.”
a. Discuss the likely relative sizes of the income and substitution effects for women during these years.
b. Given your answer to part a., discuss the shape of the labor supply curve for women during these years.