There are a number of key European policy agendas related to income on which the DIAL research can shed light. This policy brief gives an overview of findings from DIAL projects in this area. Key Findings A widening gap between those with ‘advantaged’ and ‘disadvantaged’ employment and family trajectories has led to increased wealth inequality … Read more
DIAL Policy Brief No. 8 ‘Working towards reducing income and wealth inequalities: What can policymakers learn from Dynamics of Inequality Across the Life-course (DIAL) research?’
DIAL Policy Brief No. 7 ‘Investing in early childhood: What can policymakers learn from Dynamics of Inequality Across the Life-course (DIAL) research?’
There are a number of key European policy agendas related to early childhood on which the DIAL research can shed light. This policy brief gives an overview of findings from DIAL projects in this area. Key Findings Early childhood investments are key to social mobility, and inequalities which can be measured in early childhood have … Read more
DIAL Policy Brief No. 6 ‘Improving wellbeing among older people: What can policymakers learn from Dynamics of Inequality Across the Life-course (DIAL) research?’
There are a number of key European policy agendas related to older people on which the DIAL research can shed light. This policy brief gives an overview of findings from DIAL projects in this area. Key Findings Differences between countries in retirement ages are narrowing over time. Workers are increasingly encouraged to work up to … Read more
DIAL Policy Brief No. 5 ‘Causes and consequences of educational inequalities: What can policymakers learn from Dynamics of Inequality Across the Life-course (DIAL) research?’
There are a number of key European policy agendas related to education on which the DIAL research can shed light. This policy brief gives an overview of findings from DIAL projects in this area. Key Findings The more selective an education system is, and the earlier the age at which selection takes place, the more … Read more
Addressing inequalities early in life
The trajectory of a human’s life course is by no means determined at birth. Nevertheless, the circumstances a child is born into and events taking place during the early childhood, or even gestation, shape life-course trajectories. A substantial amount of research in the Dynamics of Inequality Across the Life-course (DIAL) research programme has examined what … Read more
Geographical mobility and children’s non-completion of upper secondary education in Finland and Germany: Do parental resources matter?
It is often assumed that families migrate to improve their economic and social prospects, and that these additional resources can benefit the whole family. However, existing research suggests that many children who have experienced (internal) migration underperform compared to their non-migrating peers in terms of different socioeconomic outcomes. In this article, we study the effects … Read more
The role of partnering and assortative mating for income inequality: The case of Finland, 1991–2014
This paper considers why, contrary to expectations, relationships between people with similar backgrounds, especially similar levels of education, hasn’t done more to increase income inequality. It finds that what matters more for inequality is a combination of background characteristics and a consideration of who partners in the first place. The research uses Finnish register data … Read more
Deepening our understanding on the ways in which social origins shape our lives
Family background influences our lives in multiple ways: from genes to work-life connections, the role that parents can play in their children’s lives is almost ubiquitous. Yet these relationships are far from deterministic. Institutional contexts shape the strength and manner in which the influences take place. Even the way that genes shape our lives depends … Read more
Policy agenda around social inequalities across the life-course
The policy agenda around social inequality is multifaceted and its relevance only heightened following global crises such as the Great Recession and more recently the Covid-19 pandemic. The Dynamics of Inequality Across the Life-course: structures and processes (DIAL) research programme was designed with this policy agenda in mind – and it has also responded to … Read more
DIAL Policy Brief No. 4 ‘Life-course insights on unemployment: What can policymakers learn from Dynamics of Inequality Across the Life-course (DIAL) research?’
There are a number of key European policy agendas related to health on which the DIAL research can shed light. This policy brief gives an overview of findings from DIAL projects in this area. Key Findings The education and working lives of adolescents and young people continue to be negatively and disproportionately affected by unemployment … Read more