Nor is the gender pay gap driven primarily by women’s choice of occupation, an explanation sometimes favoured by the right. Drawing on reams of research Ms Goldin argues that most women no longer suffer much labour-market discrimination in the sense of unequal pay for equal performance, as is often claimed by the left. It is at this point that the book becomes provocative. For college graduates, the gap is larger, at 26%. American women earn on average 20% less per hour worked. Yet, despite the staggering extent of the change Ms Goldin documents, a clear gender gap still exists for these women, most notably with respect to pay.

The shift was aided by the contraceptive pill, which helped women delay marriage improved fertility treatments, which helped them delay child-bearing and more liberal social norms. It is only by the fifth group, born after 1958, that many women aspired to achieve “career and family”.

But her prolonged absence from work meant she did not have the skills and experience necessary to thrive in the workplace. She returned once her children were in school, and the gradual removal of formal discriminatory barriers opened up opportunities for her. The typical woman worked after graduation, but soon married, had children and dropped out of the workforce. By the third generation, those born between 19, college-educated women had a more uniform life experience: “family then job”.

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