Yue Louise Hu (Freie Universität Berlin)
Freya Rubel and Max Friedrich Steinhardt
This paper examines the impact of the 1930s American drought on female labor supply by leveraging spatial variation in meteorological drought exposure across Great Plains counties as a quasi-natural experiment. Using linked individual records from the 1930 and 1940 full-count censuses, we find that drought exposure led to an increase in labor supply among women, but not men. Further analysis indicates that this effect is primarily driven by delayed marriage, increased human capital investment, and male out-migration. Our study reveals that sustained environmental hardship can alter womens roles in the workforce and society.