This paper looks at the gender gap in housework during Covid-19. It finds that there was some increased input from men during the early stages of lockdown, but families with young children were the first to return to previous patterns. The researchers used data gathered by the Understanding Society COVID-19 study in April, May, June … Read more
Gendered division of housework during the COVID-19 pandemic: temporary shocks or durable change?
Queer(y)ing Agent-Based Modelling: An example from LGBTQ workplace studies
This paper explores the ways in which Agent Based Modelling (ABM) can contribute to the study of LGBTQ lives, and conversely, how theory and insights from LGBTQ studies can inform the practice of ABM. In doing so, it introduces an example model of LGBTQ workplace inequality to illustrate several uses and challenges associated with research … Read more
Trends in Absolute Income Mobility in North America and Europe
This paper looks at trends in social mobility in eight wealthy countries and finds significant differences between them. It compares the real incomes of parents and children born between 1960 and 1987, linking the two generations where possible. Where this is not possible, absolute movements between generations are inferred by combining information on moves up … Read more
Stop Meta-Analyzing, Start Instrumenting: Maximizing the Predictive Power of Polygenic Scores
Polygenic scores have become the workhorse for empirical analyses in social-science genetics. Because a polygenic score is constructed using the results of finite-sample Genome-Wide Association Studies (GWASs), it is a noisy approximation of the true latent genetic predisposition to a certain trait. The conventional way of boosting the predictive power of polygenic scores is to … Read more
Educational tracking and long-term outcomes by social origin: Seven countries in comparison
This paper uses longitudinal data from seven countries to assess how systems of educational tracking can impact on social mobility. Studies which simply compare comprehensive and tracked systems may be flawed, the research suggests, because of differences in how countries separate students for instructional purposes. The researchers used large-scale longitudinal data from Denmark, England, Finland, … Read more
Dynamic complementarity in skill production: Evidence from genetic endowments and birth order
This study looks at how nature and nurture interact in influencing individuals academic attainment, and finds support for the theory that early life parental inputs increase later gains – especially in those children who have genetic advantages. The researchers used data on a sample of 15,000 siblings, whose genetic and demographic information is stored in … Read more
Gender roles and selection mechanisms across contexts: A comparative analysis of the relationship between unemployment, self-perceived health, and gender
This paper looks at gender differences in the way unemployment impacts on health. It finds on average women suffer less from unemployment than men, and this effect is more pronounced in countries with traditional gender roles than in more egalitarian societies. The researchers wanted to know if the negative effect of unemployment is stronger among … Read more
Does re-partnering behavior spread among former spouses?
This study investigates whether divorcees who re-partner play a role in their former spouse’s decisions to do the same. The researchers used administrative data from Statistics Netherlands to look at divorcees who remarried or lived with a new partner and the likelihood of their former spouse doing the same soon after and showed this was … Read more
The Interplay between Maternal Smoking and Genes in Offspring Birth Weight
This paper looks at the relationships between genes, smoking, and birth weight. It finds that each additional daily cigarette smoked during pregnancy reduces birthweight by between 20 and 40 grams, regardless of the childs’s genetic predisposition. The researchers used information from a sample of 5000 mother-baby pairs in the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and … Read more
The heterocisnormative glass ceiling: a literature and survey review of LGBTQI+ discrimination in the workplace in Portugal
Drawing on work done within the CILIA LGBTQI+ study in Portugal, this paper analyses existing literature on the tangible and symbolic effects of workplace practices. The paper uses qualitative surveys by Portuguese NGOs along with a review of scholarly work to identify patterns of inequality which affect the professional lives of people with non-normative sexual … Read more