MiSoC Key Findings

The MiSoC Research Programme 2014-2019 “Understanding individual and family behaviours in a new era of uncertainty and change” aims to point to ways in which our society can navigate the post-war transition from solidarity built on a sense of common purpose to the integration of people with diverse backgrounds, preferences and abilities in an era of new pressures.

Read MiSoC’s themed Explainers here

Here are some of the other highlights of the Centre’s findings to date:

New dynamics in the labour market

• Ethnic and gender pay gaps
• Unemployment and fertility: Is fertility a procyclical or countercyclical phenomenon?
• Labour market policy evaluations

Dynamics of income and poverty, and inequalities in individual and family living standards

• Income inequality

Welfare reforms, insurance and vulnerability

• Disability benefits and social care for older people

Interaction between private and public investments in children

• Private response to public investments: the impact of school quality information on parental inputs
• The impact of free childcare for three year olds on children and parents
• The ‘production’ of attainment in secondary schools

Sibling and peer influences on children’s development and outcomes

• Sibling spillover effects in school achievement
• Mother’s time and child outcomes
• Response of parental time investments to children’s skills and health
• Parental and child time investments and the cognitive development of adolescents

Childhood circumstances, resilience, and adult outcomes

• Grammar schools
• Health-related behaviours and adolescent wellbeing

Inequalities in Higher Education outcomes, student preferences

• A longitudinal study of undergraduate students – BOOST2018
• Student preferences over fees, grants and loans

Social mobility and integration amongst immigrants

• Immigration and the integration of the foreign born
• The causes and consequences of ethnic and racial harassment
• The integration of children of immigrants

Formation of expectations, preferences and values in childhood

• Transmission of liberal professions from parents to children

Subjective expectations and decision making under uncertainty

• Measuring subjective expectations to understand choices under uncertainty

Understanding changes in values, attitudes and behaviour

• Ethnicity and housework
• Gender identity and housework share between partners
• Religious decline in the West

Methodology for longitudinal data analysis

• Advancing statistical methods

The use of twin births as an instrument

• Twin births