The winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics was announced earlier this week. Claudia Goldin’s research showed that at the point of having a child women's wages start to lag behind men's. But why is parenthood a penalty for mothers? Could a more generous parental leave offer - including a ‘use it or lose it’ policy for fathers - be the key to achieving gender equality? Guests Sam Smethers, former CEO, Fawcett Society Katrín Jakobsdóttir, Prime Minister of Iceland Molly Mayer, former senior research and policy officer, Fawcett Society Listen to RTBC episode 64 Sharing and Caring: the case for paternity leave (December 2018) Listen to RTBC episode 194 Go Big #1: A big idea for gender equality (June 2021) Learn more about the charity Pregnant then Screwed and their research that shows boosting paternity leave has economic benefits Read about Claudia Goldin’s work and winning the 2023 Nobel Prize in Economics We'll be back on Monday with our next full episode of Reasons to be Cheerful! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.