Fascinating

So, I really need to go to bed right now, but before I do, I wanted to link to this piece in Slate. It's a fascinating discussion- in economic terms- of how the widespread imprisonment of young men, the easy availability of birth control pills, and divorce has led to the rise of women as an educated and working class. It's not quite as simple as that, though it is very interesting. And it all made a lot of sense to me.

Also, the author postulates that the high rate of divorce does not necessarily mean that people are more unhappy in their marriages. Actually, contrarily, the high rate of divorce means that people are making rational choices to go find happiness elsewhere. Also, the enactment of no-fault divorce laws meant that

"by giving women an exit-option, they gave men stronger incentives to behave well inside a marriage. The result? Domestic violence fell by almost a third, and the number of women murdered by their partners fell by ten percent. Female suicide also fell."

There's a whole lot more there, about people acting rationally and division of labor and how rational division of labor led to the "Leave It to Beaver" style relationships with Dad going off to work in the morning while Mom stayed at home taking care of the kids and the house. And how easy birth control turned all that on its ear and led to me being able to be a lawyer and have a family (after having been a lawyer for awhile) and do ridiculously small amounts of housework, all at the same time.

Anyway, I don't have time to think about it or write about it more now, but I promise. It's interesting. And lest you think it's another Up With Women! piece, it's far more economically focused. And it makes complete sense, to me, at least.

So go read it, and be sure you read both entries, because I have (poorly) summarized both here. Maybe I'll write more about it later. Or maybe I'll just leave you alone with your own thoughts about it. If I've given you a few thought-provoking minutes of reading, then I consider it a good day.