Women's Economic Rights in US History- Jayme Lemke

In this talk, Dr. Jayme Lemke explores the history and enduring impact of restrictions on women’s property rights and job market opportunities in the United States, including discussion of how these limitations shaped women’s lives, what led to improvements over time, and why this history matters when we look globally today.

The practice of treating men and women differently under the law began before the time of the American founding, with a legal tradition that prevented married women from owning and making economic decisions independently of their husbands. These gender differences in law continued well into the 20th century, including in the form of labor regulations that applied exclusively to working women.

Dr. Jayme Lemke (Ph.D., Economics, George Mason University) is a Senior Research Fellow and Associate Director of Academic and Student Programs at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University, and a Senior Fellow in the F.A. Hayek Program for Advanced Study in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics. Her specialization is in public choice economics, constitutional political economy, and the political economy of women’s rights. In addition, she is co-editor with Virgil H. Storr of Economy, Polity, and Society, an interdisciplinary book series in political economy published by Rowman & Littlefield International.