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Equality of opportunity and mortality around the world: implications for global public health

Alexi Gugushvili, Elias Nosrati and Caspar Kaiser

Abstract

Background Educational mobility is considered a key driver of population health. While prior studies suggest that intergenerational equality of opportunity may be linked to mortality, most evidence comes from high-income countries. Little is known about whether these associations apply globally.

Objective This study assesses the relationship between intergenerational educational mobility and all-cause mortality across a global sample of countries.

Methods We combine country-level data from the WHO Mortality Database and the World Bank’s Global Database on Intergenerational Mobility, covering five birth cohorts across 148 countries. Using multilevel random effects models, we estimate associations between four dimensions of educational mobility (upward, downward, stagnant, and correlation-based) and age- and sex-adjusted all-cause mortality, controlling for national indicators of education, income, inequality, health spending, unemployment, and political freedoms.

Results Higher upward educational mobility and lower stagnant mobility are significantly associated with reduced all-cause mortality. In fully adjusted models, a one standard deviation greater measure of upward mobility is associated with a reduction of 29.1 deaths per 100,000 population, while a one standard deviation lower stagnation measure is associated with a reduction of 27.3 deaths per 100,000 population. These patterns are consistent across high- and low-income countries.

Conclusions Our findings suggest that promoting educational equality of opportunity may reduce mortality and improve public health worldwide. Strengthening social mobility, especially in settings with persistent educational inequality, can be an effective policy lever for reducing health disparities and supporting healthier populations.

National Worry and the Psychological Value of Social Spending

Lucía Macchia and Andrew J. Oswald

Abstract

This paper studies “national worry.” It finds that in the West European nations the intensity of worry seems to be inversely linked to the level of social spending in a country. We also demonstrate that the proportion of citizens in Western Europe who report extreme-worry levels has risen steadily over the last two decades. The United Kingdom experienced the fastest increase in worry. Our country-panel estimates point to a potentially central role for the little-discussed ex ante psychological value of the welfare state (i.e., the benefit to the whole population, and not just the mental-wellbeing gains going ex post to the smaller number of citizens who actually draw upon welfare-state help). Worry levels move with other economic variables, including the unemployment rate, and we provide some of the first estimates of the patterns of worry across different kinds of individuals. Finally, the analysis is extended to the set of OECD countries. We believe that much needs to be understood about the troubling rise of worry in modern society.

Is motivated memory (just) a matter of mood?

Alberto Prati and Charlotte Saucet

Abstract

In recent years, there has been an increasing interest in motivated memory as a psychological determinant of economic outcomes. According to motivated memory, people tend to better recall pleasant information because it serves their psychological needs. Another phenomenon, however, predicts the same pattern: According to mood congruence, pleasant information is easier to recall for individuals in nonnegative mood, regardless of any psychological needs. Since most people tend to have some need for self-esteem and to experience more positive than negative feelings during the day, the two phenomena predict similar outcomes in most ordinary situations, but not all. To test the predictive power of these two phenomena, we collect data from a laboratory experiment and from a nationally representative survey. We study how individuals in a temporarily induced negative mood (via a video clip) or those who report a low baseline mood (relative to the population) recall negative feedback. Our results meet the predictions of motivated memory: Individuals better recall positive than negative feedback, even when they are in negative mood. Motivated memory is not just a matter of mood.

The Association Between Quality of Life, Subjective Well-Being, and Menstrual Health Among Adolescent Girls in Secondary Schools in Uganda

Hope and the Life Course

Unemployment and Climate Worries

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The implications of climate change impacts on wellbeing

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Beyond GDP: A review and conceptual framework for measuring sustainable and inclusive wellbeing

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Forget meditation; Oxford study reveals a smarter way to beat stress and it could supercharge your productivity

The Economic Times

A study from the University of Oxford challenges traditional stress management advice centered on self-care. Published in the Industrial Relations Journal, it analyzed over 46,000 UK workers and found that mindfulness training, stress management, and resilience coaching offered little to no improvement in well-being. Instead, volunteering and charity work stood out as effective, boosting purpose and belonging. The research suggests stress is best relieved through helping others, not isolated self-care.

How We Can Build Trust In Times of Division, with Jan-Emmanuel De Neve

What Do You Mean By That?

It’s not controversial to say that we are living in times of deep division, where there are so many forces keeping us apart, politics being a big part of that. But did you know that there’s a link between how satisfied you think you are with your life, how much you trust others, and how you vote? It’s a mind-blowing, less-discussed topic, despite being a chapter in the latest World Happiness Report. Importantly, to make a difference, we wonder this – how do we actually build trust with people who hold different viewpoints, especially if our first impulse is to block them, disregard their comments, or ignore them entirely?

We’re so glad today to have one of the co-authors of the World Happiness Report here to talk with us about how we can use our understanding of wellbeing and trust to build stronger communities, reconnect with each other, and also bridge the politics of division.