Education as a positional good: Implications for social inequalities in educational attainment in Italy

2016 ◽  
Vol 43 ◽  
pp. 39-52 ◽  
Author(s):  
Moris Triventi ◽  
Nazareno Panichella ◽  
Gabriele Ballarino ◽  
Carlo Barone ◽  
Fabrizio Bernardi
Keyword(s):  
Educational Attainment ◽  
Social Inequalities ◽  
Positional Good

scholarly journals Social inequalities and prevalence of depressive symptoms: a cross-sectional study of women in a Mexican border city, 2014

2020 ◽  
Vol 44 ◽  
pp. 1 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alheli Calderon-Villarreal ◽  
Oscar J. Mujica ◽  
Ietza Bojorquez
Keyword(s):  
Depressive Symptoms ◽  
Educational Attainment ◽  
Social Inequalities ◽  
Depression Scale ◽  
Epidemiological Studies ◽  
Cross Sectional Study ◽  
Absolute Difference ◽  
Adult Women ◽  
Sectional Study ◽  
Cross Sectional

Objective. To assess the association between intersectional disadvantage and clinically significant depressive symptoms (CSDS), describing the magnitude of social inequalities in the prevalence of symptoms among adult women in Tijuana, Mexico. Methods. This was a cross-sectional study. CSDS were assessed using the Centers for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale among a probability sample of 2 345 women from 18 – 65 years of age in 2014. CSDS prevalence was calculated according to categories of three social stratifiers: socioeconomic status (SES), educational attainment, and fertility (number of children). Social inequality was measured with the slope index of inequality (SII) and the concentration index (CIx). Intersectionality among stratifiers was explored descriptively and with multivariable regression analysis. Results. CSDS prevalence was 17.7% (95%CI: 15.1% – 21.0%). The SII and CIx showed inequity in all social stratifiers. The absolute difference in CSDS prevalence between the lowest and highest ends of the SES gradient was 21.9% (95%CI: 21.5% – 22.4%). Among the most disadvantaged women, i.e., those at the intersection of lowest SES, lowest educational attainment, and highest fertility, the CSDS prevalence was 39.5% (95% CI: 26.0% – 52.9%). Conclusions. Disadvantage along multiple axes was associated with CSDS. Efforts to improve the mental health of women should include equity-oriented policies that address its social determinants.

scholarly journals Educational Expansion and Social Mobility: The Scottish Case

2011 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 251-264 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cristina Iannelli
Keyword(s):  
Social Class ◽  
Educational Attainment ◽  
Social Mobility ◽  
Social Inequalities ◽  
Educational Policies ◽  
Educational Expansion ◽  
Class Differences ◽  
Life Chances ◽  
The Social

For over a century, the goal of reducing class inequalities in educational attainment has been based at least in part on the belief that this would help to equalise life chances. Drawing upon the main findings of three ESRC-funded projects, this paper reviews the empirical evidence on trends in social class inequalities in educational attainment and the role of education in promoting social mobility in Scotland. The findings show that in the second half of the twentieth century, despite the increase in overall levels of attainment, class differences in educational attainment persisted. Educational policies in Scotland supported educational expansion which allowed larger numbers of working-class children to climb the social class ladder than in the past. However, these did not translate into any break with the patterns of social inequalities in the chances of entering the top-level occupations. The conclusions highlight that educational policies on their own are not powerful enough to change patterns of social mobility which are mainly driven by labour market and social class structures.

scholarly journals Wider Dental Care Coverage Associated with Lower Oral Health Inequalities: A Comparison Study between Japan and England

2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (15) ◽  
pp. 5539
Author(s):  
Kanade Ito ◽  
Noriko Cable ◽  
Tatsuo Yamamoto ◽  
Kayo Suzuki ◽  
Katsunori Kondo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Oral Health ◽  
Educational Attainment ◽  
Dental Care ◽  
Social Inequalities ◽  
Health Care Systems ◽  
Relative Index ◽  
Health Related ◽  
Care Systems ◽  
Natural Teeth ◽  
Index Of Inequality

Countries with different oral health care systems may have different levels of oral health related inequalities. We compared the socioeconomic inequalities in oral health among older adults in Japan and England. We used the data for adults aged 65 years or over from Japan (N = 79,707) and England (N = 5115) and estimated absolute inequality (the Slope Index of Inequality, SII) and relative inequality (the Relative Index of Inequality, RII) for edentulism (the condition of having no natural teeth) by educational attainment and income. All analyses were adjusted for sex and age. Overall, 14% of the Japanese subjects and 21% of the English were edentulous. In both Japan and England, lower income and educational attainment were significantly associated with a higher risk of being edentulous. Education-based SII in Japan and England were 9.9% and 26.7%, respectively, and RII were 2.5 and 4.8, respectively. Income-based SII in Japan and England were 9.2% and 14.4%, respectively, and RII were 2.1 and 1.9, respectively. Social inequalities in edentulous individuals exist in both these high-income countries, but Japan, with wider coverage for dental care, had lower levels of inequality than England.

scholarly journals Gendered diverging destinies: Changing family structures and inequality of opportunity among boys and girls in the United States

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Diederik Boertien ◽  
Fabrizio Bernardi
Keyword(s):  
Educational Attainment ◽  
Family Structure ◽  
Parental Education ◽  
Social Inequalities ◽  
The United States ◽  
Family Structures ◽  
Standard Family ◽  
Attainment Gap ◽  
Decomposition Models ◽  
Education Gap

The prevalence of non-standard family structures has increased over time and in particular among socioeconomically disadvantaged families. Because children’s attainments are negatively associated with growing up in non-standard family structures, changes in family structures are often considered to have strengthened the reproduction of social inequalities across generations. We argue that the validity of this argument depends on variation in how family structure affects children’s attainments, a premise we label heterogeneity in attainment penalties. Previous research has documented heterogeneity in attainment penalties across social groups and by gender. Therefore, the role of family structure in reproducing inequalities is unclear and might vary by gender too. We use data from the NLSY 1979 and 1997 cohorts to estimate the contribution of changes in family structures to parental education differences in educational attainment for boys and girls. We estimate extended Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition models which take into account both cross-cohort changes in the prevalence of family structures and heterogeneity in related penalties. Changes in the prevalence and penalties related to childhood family structures account for a 15% increase in the parental education gap in educational attainment for girls but reduced the attainment gap for boys by 13%.

Comparison of smoking reduction with improvement of social conditions in early life: simulation in a British cohort

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benoit Lepage ◽  
Hélène Colineaux ◽  
Michelle Kelly-Irving ◽  
Paolo Vineis ◽  
Cyrille Delpierre ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Educational Attainment ◽  
Early Life ◽  
Social Inequalities ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Relative Difference ◽  
Social Characteristics ◽  
Smoking Reduction ◽  
Health Care Evaluation ◽  
Parental Level ◽  
Expected Mortality

Abstract Background Health care evaluation models can be useful to assign different levels of priority to interventions or policies targeting different age groups or different determinants of health. We aimed to assess early mortality in counterfactual scenarios implying reduced adverse childhood experience (ACE) and/or improved educational attainment (childhood and early life characteristics), compared with a counterfactual scenario implying reduced smoking in adulthood. Methods We used data from the 1958 National Child Development Study British birth cohort, which initially included 18 558 subjects. Applying a potential outcome approach, scenarios were simulated to estimate the expected mortality between ages 16 and 55 under a counterfactual decrease by half of the observed level of exposure to (i) ACE, (ii) low educational attainment (at age 22), (iii) ACE and low educational attainment (a combined exposure) and (iv) smoking at age 33. Estimations were obtained using g-computation, separately for men and women. Analyses were further stratified according to the parental level of education, to assess social inequalities. Results The study population included 12 164 members. The estimated decrease in mortality in the counterfactual scenarios with reduced ACE and improved educational attainment was close to the decreased mortality in the counterfactual scenario with reduced smoking, showing a relative difference in mortality of respectively −7.2% [95% CI (confidence interval) = (−12.2% to 1.2%)] versus −7.0% (−13.1% to +1.2%) for women, and −9.9% (−15.6% to −6.2%) versus −12.3% (−17.0% to −5.9%) for men. Conclusions Our results highlight the potential value of targeting early social characteristics such as ACE and education, compared with well-recognized interventions on smoking.

Educational trends, patterns of employment and selected health indicators among young refugees

2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (Supplement_5) ◽  
Author(s):  
A Dunlavy
Keyword(s):  
Labor Market ◽  
Educational Attainment ◽  
Social Inequalities ◽  
Refugee Children ◽  
Primary Study ◽  
Labor Market Participation ◽  
Market Participation ◽  
Or Education ◽  
Nordic Region ◽  
Majority Population

Abstract Background Although the health and integration of young refugees is a top policy priority within the Nordic region, refugees continue to experience health and social inequalities relative to other immigrants and native-origin majority populations. This project explores how such inequities develop during the formative years among refugees who migrated as children, and how they relate to migration and welfare policies in different Nordic contexts, which vary considerably in terms of their generosity. Methods National administrative registers were used to compare key indicators of education, labor market participation, and health among young refugees living Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Sweden. The primary study population consisted of refugee children who were granted residency in the Nordic region as children (0-17 years) between 1986 and 2005, and were followed up through 2015. Results Overall, refugees in Denmark and Finland had the poorest primary and secondary educational outcomes, even when country of origin and age of arrival were considered. In all countries, the gap in secondary educational attainment between refugees and the native-born majority population was of a much greater magnitude than the corresponding achievement gaps in higher education. Refugees in Denmark had the lowest proportion of labor market participation and the highest proportion of NEET (not in employment or education) at age 30 relative to refugees in the other Nordic countries; yet this difference was greatly diminished when secondary educational attainment was considered. Results also showed higher rates of early retirement pension receipt at age 30 among refugees in Denmark than those observed among refugees in other Nordic contexts. Conclusions Policies that facilitate introduction into the educational system and secondary education attainment among refugees should be given greater priority in order to promote labor market integration and health in young adulthood.

scholarly journals Social inequality in obesity in an Eastern Mediterranean population: a national health survey

2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (Supplement_5) ◽  
Author(s):  
A Quattrocchi ◽  
O Kolokotroni ◽  
C A Demetriou ◽  
A Charalambous ◽  
A Heraclides
Keyword(s):  
Social Class ◽  
Educational Attainment ◽  
Household Income ◽  
Social Inequalities ◽  
Health Behaviours ◽  
Mediterranean Population ◽  
Obesity Prevalence ◽  
Men And Women ◽  
Occupational Social Class ◽  
Gender Specific

Abstract Background This study aimed to explore socioeconomic factors associated with obesity in the Republic of Cyprus. Methods We interviewed 3021 Greek-Cypriots aged 25-64 years through a multistage survey. We collected self-reported information on demographics, health behaviours (physical activity, smoking, alcohol consumption and dietary intake), socio-economic characteristics (educational attainment, household income and occupational social class) and anthropometric measurements. Obesity was defined as body mass index ≥30 kg/m2. For the association between obesity and each socio-economic indicator, we conducted sex-specific Poisson's regression with robust variance, adjusting for all demographics and health-related behaviours, reporting adjusted prevalence ratios (aPR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI). Results The prevalence of obesity was 22% and 17% among men and women, respectively. There was a significant trend of higher obesity prevalence with increasing age as well as with being widowed in both genders and being a refugee in men. Obesity prevalence decreased with increasing educational attainment (postgraduate vs. none/gymnasium: a PRmen=0.45; 95%CI=0.25-0.82; a PRwomen=0.41; 95%CI=0.18-0.95; p-trends<0.005), and household income (>€4000/month vs. ≤€1000/month: a PRmen=0.45; 95%CI=0.26-0.81; a PRwomen=0.45; 95%CI=0.22-0.92; p-trends<0.005). Occupational social class did not show any clear association with obesity. After adjustment for health-behaviours as mediators the association between income and obesity in women was attenuated. Conclusions The current study highlights striking social inequalities in obesity among Cypriot men and women, characterised by a linear decrease in obesity prevalence each step up the socioeconomic hierarchy. We recommend that comprehensive and multifaceted public health interventions are considered to address income and education-related barriers resulting in higher obesity rates among specific population sub-groups. Key messages Among Greek Cypriot adults, obesity affects almost one in five whilst obesity prevalence shows gender-specific social inequalities. When investigating social inequalities in health, the choice of socioeconomic indicators should reflect the context of the population and gender-specific differences.

EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT OF NORWEGIAN MEN: INFLUENCE OF PARENTAL AND EARLY INDIVIDUAL CHARACTERISTICS

2009 ◽  
Vol 41 (6) ◽  
pp. 799-814 ◽  
Author(s):  
PETTER KRISTENSEN ◽  
HANS M. GRAVSETH ◽  
TOR BJERKEDAL
Keyword(s):  
Educational Attainment ◽  
Parental Education ◽  
Social Inequalities ◽  
Individual Characteristics ◽  
Life Course Perspective ◽  
Status Attainment ◽  
Marginal Effect ◽  
Study Objective ◽  
General Ability ◽  
Biological Variables

SummaryThe life course perspective in social inequalities in health research has resulted in an increased interest in status attainment processes. Adult status is commonly measured as occupational class, income level or educational attainment, and the latter was applied in this study. The study objective was to estimate the relative contribution of parental and early individual characteristics on educational attainment. The study population comprised all males born in Norway in 1967–1971, and alive at age 28 years (n=160,914). Data on social and biological variables were compiled from birth onwards in several national registers. Information on educational attainment at age 28 years was derived from Statistics Norway. Mean years of education was 12.62 years (SD 2.24). Educational attainment was strongly associated with general ability score at age 18 years and parental educational attainment. Parental income had more limited influence; all other early factors had only marginal effect. Path analysis results suggest that the direct effect of general ability was of the same size as the combined direct and indirect effect of parental education and income. The results suggest that status attainment in this young male population is mainly dependent on general ability and parental education level.

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