Almost every woman I have spoken to about pregnancy has a story about her doctor giving her a hard time about her weight. Later in my pregnancy it felt like all of my time with my doctor was focused on how fat I was getting – so fat! Emily Oster Read Quote
I had always been told that you shouldn’t clean the litter box when you’re pregnant, because of your cat. And I think that is overblown – unless you have, like, three kittens in your house that are living outside and eating raw meat, this shouldn’t really be a significant source of concern. Emily Oster Read Quote
Because economics is all about optimising, doing the best you can with what you have – it’s usually the first place you should look for answers if you want to maximise your happiness. Emily Oster Read Quote
To put it mildly, I’m not crazy about the implication that pregnant women are incapable of deciding for themselves. Emily Oster Read Quote
Economics works great for planning your life when you don’t have a work passion, since we tend to assume that your job delivers only money and you trade off job hours with leisure hours. If you think your job will just be a job, pick one that pays well per hour and leaves you some time off, even if the activity of the job is boring. Emily Oster Read Quote
The enjoyment of work – to the extent that you have any – is likely highest in the first hours of the day when you are fresh, not tired, working on the most important things. Emily Oster Read Quote
The biggest food-related risk in pregnancy is listeria. It’s a dangerous bacteria, to which pregnant women are especially susceptible, that can lead to miscarriage or stillbirth. Emily Oster Read Quote
One of the big take-aways from a lot of economic theory is that people should engage in consumption smoothing. Emily Oster Read Quote
