Viewing archives for Policy And Interventions

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.

Bitesize research series highlights promising wellbeing interventions in schools

Researchers have highlighted some of the most promising pathways to improving wellbeing in schools in a new series of bitesize research reports.

An interdisciplinary team from the Wellbeing Research Centre at the University of Oxford, in partnership with the IB, have published a set of resources on five important wellbeing themes for students, teachers, and schools. The topics covered include:

Online interventions;
Peer relations (bullying);
Physical activity;
Teacher wellbeing;
And a whole school approach to wellbeing.

Researchers examined hundreds of peer-reviewed studies of wellbeing support in schools in order to identify some of the most promising evidence-based interventions.

While there is no one-size-fits-all approach to improving wellbeing in schools, the team have highlighted interventions which have been shown to boost levels of wellbeing in specific circumstances. They range from large-scale interventions trialled across countries, to smaller actions rolled out at a more local scale.

Resources are available both in a summary format (in English, French, and Spanish) and, for readers seeking further insight, as a number of detailed literature reviews (in English). An overview poster with key findings from all five reports, suitable for display in the classroom, is also available to download in English, French, and Spanish.

The mini reports serve as companion resources to two Wellbeing Research Centre reports previously published in partnership with the IB: Wellbeing in Education in Childhood and Adolescence (2022), and Wellbeing for Schoolteachers (2024).

Dr Laura Taylor, Deputy Director of the Wellbeing Research Centre at the University of Oxford, said: “Each child and each school environment is unique, there is no one-size-fits-all approach to improving wellbeing in schools. We highlight how school leaders can use research evidence, alongside crucial elements like staff and student voice activities, in order to support the wellbeing of their school community.”

All five research reports, plus further resources for schools, can be found at wellbeing.hmc.ox.ac.uk/schools.

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

Add event to calendar

The implications of climate change impacts on wellbeing

Add event to calendar

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

Add event to calendar

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.