Getting the education you dream of. Living where you want to live. And access to care when you need it. In an ideal world, this is possible for everyone. We just see that the opportunities are not equally distributed. How can we improve this?
Opportunity inequality in society
Underpayment and poor working conditions. Children of parents on welfare often also end up in a similar situation. Even in the Netherlands, opportunities are not equally distributed. Moreover, your chances in life are already determined at birth by the neighborhood in which you are born. Several EUR scientists are doing research on these issues. They are working to improve them.
Longer paternity leave after EUR study
Family sociologist Renske Keizer went to visit Lodewijk Asscher, then Minister of Social Affairs, in 2016. There, she provided input for a bill: parental leave for partners to 5 weeks. That's a big step forward. "When I started my research into fatherhood, fathers were entitled to only two days of paid leave. That created barriers to involvement in childrearing right from the start of the child’s life", tells Keizer.
Does your post code determine your chances in life?
Already in the cradle at a disadvantage
Your chance of buying a house, your chance of having a good income and your chance of getting a particular job is already largely fixed at birth.
As it turns out, the place where you were born plays a big role in this.
Difference of thousands of euros
Two young families have the same income. One family lives in Blijdorp. Another family in Oud-Crooswijk. The children of the family from Blijdorp turn out years later as thirty-somethings to earn on average thousands of euros more per year.
Inequality quickly apparent after birth
Data show that babies born to lower-income families have a higher BMI than their wealthier peers as early as four months.
This is how the odds are distributed on the map
In which Dutch neighborhoods do children have the best chance of leaving poverty behind? You can find out on the KansenKaart developed by EUR researchers.
Platform work: stressful and unhealthy
Ordering food through Thuisbezorgd, a cab ride through Uber or domestic help through Helping. All are examples of platform work. Research shows that work experiences of platform workers are more often negative than those with other employment contracts. Work-life balance is less, job insecurity is greater and they are more likely to feel exhausted. How can this be improved?
Equal opportunities in education
Opportunity inequality occurs when students with the same talents do not achieve the same results in education due to their specific backgrounds. Our university also works in this area to promote equity of opportunity. Like with the NIEUWsgierig project. EUR students teach children who have just arrived in the Netherlands.
Characterized as a 'chav'
There is an "empathy wall" between practical and theoretical educators. This emerges from research by professor and ex-mavo scholar Jeroen van der Waal. "People with a practical education notice that theoretically educated people characterize them as if they are 'chavs,'" he says.
