BY ESMÉ E.
DEPREZ
ILLUSTRATION BY
ROZALINA BURKOVA
39October 12, 2020WHAT WOULD EMILY OSTER DO?
OVER THE COURSE OF A FEW DAYS
in mid-May in Providence, in between
homeschooling her 5- and 9-year-olds,
grading undergrad research papers, bak-
ing bread, revising her first book, and
co-chairingBrownUniversity’sHealthy
Fall 2020 TaskForceoverZoom,Emily
Ostersatdowninfrontofherlaptop
witha steadysupplyofcoffee.Afew
monthsearliershe’dstartedwritinga
newsletter called ParentData, aimed at
the following of pregnant women and
newparentsshe’samassedoverthe
years.Itstartedasa guidetomaking
data-drivendecisions about such things
as side sleeping and sippy cups. But as
with everything else, the pandemic had
taken over. She’d wake up each day to
an inbox full of frantic questions: Was it
safe to visit the grandparents? Are play
dates off the table? What about sending
kids back to school?
Oster, an economics professor,
has built a thriving career applying
the tools of her discipline to everyday
life. Her first book, 2013’s Expecting
Better: Why the Conventional Pregnancy
Wisdom Is Wrong—and What You Really
Need to Know, shot her from academic
obscurity to household name. It dug
into data to bat down blanket bans
issued by obstetricians (including hers
duringherpregnancies)ondelimeats,
sushi,andalcohol.“Economists’core
decision-making principles are applica-
ble everywhere,” she wrote. “And that
includes the womb.”
NowOsteris usingthoseprinciples
tohelppeoplethinkabouttwoofthe
mostvexingissuesoftheCovid-19 era:
how to stay safe, and how and when
to reopen day care and schools so
America’s 74 million children, their par-
ents, and the economy can reclaim some
semblance of normalcy and productiv-
ity. Although her analyses on school
reopenings have been criticized as too
cavalier (and aligned her more closely
with President Trump than she’d like),
she’s become a go-to authority amid the
anxiety, with bylines in the Atlantic, the
New York Times, the Washington Post, and
Bloomberg Opinion, and appearances on
an array of podcasts.
As for those questions piling up