Social mobility needs a re-boot. The narrow, economistic way of measuring it favoured by politicians and academics is unsustainable and is contributing to rising inequality.
This timely book provides an alternative, original vision of social mobility and a route-map to achieving it. It examines how the term ‘social mobility’ structures what success means and the impact that has on society. Providing a new holistic approach that encompasses education, the economy and politics, Atherton recasts the relationship with employers, embracing radical opportunities provided by technology and rethinking what higher education means. He also goes beyond employment to incorporate progress in non-work areas of life.
Based on the need to improve well-being, not just income or occupation, the book addresses one of the key issues facing 21st century society in a new way and provides valuable insights for policymakers and academics.
This Handbook is the definitive resource for anyone wishing to quickly look up and understand key concepts and measurements relating to socioeconomic position and inequalities.
A range of key concepts is defined and measures of socioeconomic position and inequality described. Alphabetical listings, cross-referencing, graphs and worked examples, references to web and other sources of further information, all contribute to making the Handbook both engaging and accessible for a wide audience.
For students, academics and others involved in social science research it answers questions such as:
'What's the official government measure of poverty?'
'What factors make up the Townsend Index of Deprivation?'
'What is a gini coefficient?'
'I have to write a report on tackling inequalities in my area - what are the key issues I should consider before I begin?' For practitioners, policy makers, journalists and others who must read, understand and use research in fields as diverse as health, criminology, education, the environment, transport and housing it provides a one-stop, authoritative guide to making sense of and evaluating the significance of often complex methodologies. The authors are all eminent researchers in the field of health inequalities. They have together produced two glossaries for the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health and have published a large number of books and articles in learned academic journals.
This controversial book argues that concepts such as ‘successful’ and ‘active’ ageing - ubiquitous terms in research, marketing and policy making concerned with older adults – are potentially dangerous paradigms that reflect and exacerbate inequalities in older populations.
This author presents a new theory to make sense of the popularity of these ‘successful’ and ‘active’ ageing concepts. Readers are invited to view them through the prism of Model Ageing – a theory that throws light on the causes and consequences of attempts to model ageing as a phenomenon and stage of life that is in need of direction, reshaping and control.
This is essential reading for anyone seeking to make sense of social constructions of ageing in contemporary societies.
When New Labour came to power in 1997, its leaders asked for it to be judged after ten years on its success in making Britain ‘a more equal society’. As it approaches the end of an unprecedented third term in office, this book asks whether Britain has indeed moved in that direction.
The highly successful earlier volume “A more equal society?” was described by Polly Toynbee as “the LSE’s mighty judgement on inequality”. Now this second volume by the same team of authors provides an independent assessment of the success or otherwise of New Labour’s policies over a longer period. It provides:
· consideration by a range of expert authors of a broad set of indicators and policy areas affecting poverty, inequality and social exclusion;
· analysis of developments up to the third term on areas including income inequality, education, employment, health inequalities, neighbourhoods, minority ethnic groups, children and older people;
· an assessment of outcomes a decade on, asking whether policies stood up to the challenges, and whether successful strategies have been sustained or have run out of steam; chapters on migration, social attitudes, the devolved administrations, the new Equality and Human Rights Commission, and future pressures.
The book is essential reading for academic and student audiences with an interest in contemporary social policy, as well as for all those seeking an objective account of Labour’s achievements in power.
Where people live matters to their health. Health improvement strategies often target where people live, but do they work? Placing health tackles this question through an examination of England’s Neighbourhood Renewal Strategy and its health targets. It evaluates the evidence base for the strategy, compares experiences from the United States and elsewhere in Europe, and illustrates the relevance of complexity theory to area-based health improvement work.
The book brings together these topical issues with a social science analysis of current programmes based on the methods and concepts of complexity thinking. It concludes by setting out how local action based on these ideas offers a new approach to area-based health improvement work.
Placing health is aimed at researchers, academics and students in the social and health sciences with an interest in area-based health improvement work, as well as practitioners in health services, local government and voluntary agencies working on neighbourhood renewal and health projects.
East London has undergone dramatic changes over the last 30 years, primarily as a result of London’s large scale de-industrialisation and the rise in its financial sector. Large parts of inner East London remain deprived, but a once overwhelmingly white working class area is now home to a more complex and mobile class and ethnic mix. This topical book focuses on the aspirations of these different groups and the strategies they have pursued about where to live, driven in part by a concern to ensure a good education for their children. The book will be essential reading for students and academics in sociology, urban studies, geography and multicultural studies.
An emerging consensus sees British pension policy as unravelling. Yet the gender impact of expanding private pension provision and relying increasingly on means-testing has been largely overlooked.
This book examines key issues such as: how pension choices over the lifecourse are structured by gender, class and ethnicity; the impact of changing patterns of partnership and parenthood on pension building; the distributional impact of privatising pensions; questions about individualisation of rights, survivor benefits, a citizen’s pension and means-testing; the EU dimension - comparing alternative strategies for improving gender equity.
The book is essential reading for teachers, researchers and students in social gerontology, sociology, social policy and women’s studies; practitioners in social work and welfare rights; policy makers concerned with income in later life; and all those who wish to improve their understanding of pensions issues.
The Nordic countries have been able to raise living standards and curb inequalities without compromising economic growth. But with social inequalities on the rise how do they fare when compared to countries with alternative welfare models, such as the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Germany?
Taking a comparative perspective, this book casts new light on the changing inequalities in Europe. It will be invaluable for students and policy makers interested in European social policy and living conditions.
This book documents the early lives of almost 19,000 children born in the UK at the start of the 21st century, and their families. It is the first time that analysis of data from the hugely important Millennium Cohort Study, a longitudinal study following the progress of the children and their families, has been drawn together in a single volume. The unrivalled data is examined here to address important policy and scientific issues. The book is also the first in a series of publications that will report on the children’s lives at different stages of their development.
The fascinating range of findings presented here is strengthened by comparison with data on earlier generations. This has enabled the authors to assess the impact of a wide range of policies on the life courses of a new generation, including policies on child health, parenting, childcare and social exclusion.
Babies of the new millennium (title tbc) is the product of an exciting collaboration from experts across a wide range of health and social science fields. The result is a unique and authoritative analysis of family life and early childhood in the UK that cuts across old disciplinary boundaries. It is essential reading for academics, students and researchers in the health and social sciences. It will also be a useful resource for policy makers and practitioners who are interested in childhood, child development, child poverty, child health, childcare and family policy.
The lifecourse perspective on adult health and on health inequalities in particular, is one of the most important recent developments in epidemiology and public health. This book brings together, in a single volume, the work of one of the most distinguished academics in the field. It is the first to specifically take a lifecourse approach to health inequalities and will be essential reading for academics, students and policy makers with an interest in public health, epidemiology, health promotion and social policy.
