50 Things That Made The Modern Economy With Tim Harford

The contraceptive pill had profound social consequences.

Everyone agrees with that.

In fact, that was the point.

At least in the view of Margaret Sanger, the birth control activist who urged scientists

to develop it.

Sanger wanted to liberate women sexually and socially to put them on a more equal footing

with men.

But the pill wasn't just socially revolutionary.

It also sparked an economic revolution, perhaps the most significant economic change of

the late 20th century.

To see why, first consider what the pill offered to women.

For a start, it worked, which is more than you can say for many of the alternatives.

Over the centuries lovers have tried all kinds of unappealing tricks to prevent pregnancy.

There was crocodile dung in ancient Egypt, Aristotle's recommendation of cedar oil, and

Cassanova's method of using half a lemon as a cervical cap.

But even the obvious modern alternative to the pill, the condom, has a failure rate.

Because people don't tend to use condoms exactly as they're supposed to, they sometimes

rip or slip.

With the result that for every hundred sexually active women using condoms for a year,

18 will become pregnant.

Not great.

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