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How has the world has changed for women? Inspiring women in their 70s and 80s look back

How has the world has changed for women? Inspiring women in their 70s and 80s look back.

The Age Of Reason

The Age of Reason: Dr Alice Rivlin

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Dr Alice Rivlin, economist

15/12/2012

Dr Alice Rivlin

BBC World Service - The Age of Reason, Dr Alice Rivlin

Dr Alice Rivlin on advising President Obama on solutions to the US's financial crisis.

Dr Alice Rivlin is one of America's leading economists. As the World Service celebrates its 80th birthday we speak to six octogenarians to see how life has changed for women.

As the World Service marks its 80th anniversary, we ask six octogenarians how the world has changed for women in the last eight decades. In no single arena has the world altered so much and in such myriad ways. 

In some parts of the globe, the position of women is unrecognisable compared to 80 years ago, in others, women lead lives virtually unchanged since the days of their grandmothers.

Dr Alice Rivlin is an economist who has seen every boom and bust since World War II. Now aged 81 she is one of President Obama's advisors on debt. It's her job to come up with solutions to America's financial crisis. 

She was a child during the Great Depression and as a young woman she worked on The Marshall, helping rebuild Europe after the war.  

She speaks to Jenni Murray about the challenges of being female and wanting to be an economist – rejected from some universities, and even forbidden from taking out library books because she was female.

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