This paper takes three key European Union documents on extended working lives (EWL) and looks at them from the perspective that policies are not entirely shaped by problems: in fact, problems are often shaped, in narrative terms, around policies. It concludes that the ‘problem’ which shapes much EU policy on EWL is questionable – the … Read more
European Union Extended Working Life Policies: On Pension Systems, Public Finances and Biopolitical Disciplining
Life Course Trajectories and Wealth Accumulation in the United States: Comparing Baby Boomers and Millennials
This paper empirically assesses the widespread belief that Millennials are economically worse off than their parents’ generation, the Baby Boomers. The research used US data from the 1979 and 1997 National Longitudinal Surveys of Youth to analyse the work and family life courses of Millennials and Baby Boomers from age 18 to 35, and then … Read more
Union dissolution and income inequality among separating women
This study looks at women’s standard of living immediately after divorce or separation. It finds that women who had a higher standard of living tend to lose more from divorce or separation. At the same time, overall income inequality among separated women increases. The researchers compared the household incomes of separated women to a hypothetical … Read more
Heterogeneous unemployment dynamics of ancestral Swedes and second-generation immigrants
This paper uses Swedish registry data for almost 450,000 people born in Sweden between 1977 and 1981 to compare the experience of unemployment over the working careers of second-generation immigrants (children born in Sweden with at least one foreign-born parent) and ancestral Swedes (individuals born in Sweden with two parents born in Sweden). It finds … Read more
Inequality of socio-emotional skills: a cross-cohort comparison
This paper shows that inequality in a crucial dimension of human capital – socio-emotional skills at age five – increased dramatically between two cohorts of British children born in 1970 and 2000. The authors used data from the British Cohort Study and the Millennium Cohort Study, which followed two cohorts of children born in 1970 … Read more
Family Background, Educational Qualifications and Meritocratic Labor Market Allocation: Evidence from Danish Siblings
This paper looks at how education and family background shapes the occupation and earnings of a generation of Danes, and concludes that education plays a powerful role in explaining why children from advantaged backgrounds have higher earnings than chil-dren from disadvantaged backgrounds. The researchers studied all children born in Denmark between 1965 and 1971 and … Read more
LGBTQI+ In/Exclusions: History Month, intersections, and research design
Matson Lawrence and Yvette Taylor reflect upon the events they participated in, as connected to the LGBTQI+ Lives Scotland project, and their plans for upcoming fieldwork in their CILIA-LGBTQI+ blog post. To read more click here.
Can We Really Rely on Income Distribution Statistics? Some Issues in the Swedish Data
The Swedish Income Distribution Statistics have shown rising gaps in disposable income since the early 1980s. Several reports have shown that capital income is an important driver behind this development. I identify several weaknesses in the measurement of capital income in these statistics. One weakness is that realised capital gains, which generally are included in … Read more
The baby year parental leave reform in the GDR and its impact on children’s long-term life satisfaction
This paper finds that children who spend 12 months at home with their mother after being born become adults who are more satisfied with life than those who spend just 5 months at home or in childcare. The study analyses the effects of reforms in the former German Democratic Republic where, in 1976, mothers with … Read more
Workplace Contact and Support for Anti-Immigration Parties
This is an updated version of the working paper (updated 14th June 2021) This paper asks whether support for anti-immigration political parties increases or decreases when native-born voters work alongside migrants. It finds that working together significantly reduces opposition to immigration and this leads to lower support for those parties. The researchers used detailed data … Read more