In our final wrap-up of 2025, we explore different facets of inequality around the world – from gender justice in Bangladesh and racial divides in South Africa, to the unfulfilled promises of democracy in Brazil – as well as some “global” perspectives. #LSEInequalitiesBlog

In the UK, feelings of class antagonism and injustice run deep. Do we need a new politics of class? Which narratives help us make sense of the intersection of social class and inequalities? And what are the prospects for healing these divides? #LSEInequalitiesBlog

Catch up now on our Black History Month event 💻 Our fantastic panel of speakers explored the legal, political and community-based racial justice work that emerged 40 years ago from the Broadwater Farm riots in Tottenham. ⬇️

What are the social harms caused by extreme concentrations of wealth? What is the case for wealth taxes – and more broadly what can be done to reduce the huge gaps between rich and poor? #LSEInequalitiesBlog

“Typically, resources flow from parents to their adult children.... But within communities of colour, financial transfers also flowed upwards from adult children back to their parents” – Esiri Bukata in our latest blog post #LSEInequalitiesBlog

📣 New III working paper: This paper uses a survey experiment embedded in the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement (SHARE) for Luxembourg to show how provision of information influences elicited support for inheritance taxation. 🔗 buff.ly/vdhkEFR

The 2nd International Workshop of the Network on Welfare & Policy in Latin America and the Caribbean (WAPLAC) is taking place. The workshop brings together over 50 academics and policy makers to discuss topics related to welfare, poverty, inequality and public policy.

🚨 Applications are now open for the Opportunity Mobility and Inherited Inequalities visiting PhD grant! The grant supports research students from other universities to spend one academic term at the International Inequalities Institute. Apply by 30 January 2026 ⬇️

The growth pattern of Latin American economies was once dubbed “Belindia” - you have a small part as rich as Belgium & the remainder as poor as India. Does this hold true today? Francisco H. G. Ferreira & Pranab Bardhan discuss #LSEInequalitiesBlog

📣 New III working paper: Victoria Hünewaldt and @paolobrunori.bsky.social contribute to the growing evidence that inequality is often misperceived, and that personal experience plays a more significant role than objective conditions in shaping beliefs and attitudes toward it. 🔗 buff.ly/2pi2sZ9

The UK’s racial wealth gap is in part rooted in the UK’s colonial legacy and is reinforced by unequal access to assets and the need to send remittances abroad, writes Esiri Bukata. Why is it essential to tackle this divide? #LSEInequalitiesBlog buff.ly/5is7oRu

What’s the state of inequality in Latin America? What is the significance of a very large informal sector? Why is capital so concentrated? And can Brazil balance growth with protection of the Amazon? Francisco H. G. Ferreira & Pranab Bardhan discuss #LSEInequalitiesBlog buff.ly/9MsuWoV

We are delighted to be joined by humanitarian, author and media host Zainab Salbi. At this exciting public lecture, she will discuss how women’s leadership is providing new pathways to address the climate crisis. Registration is now open ⬇️ buff.ly/52E72BT

Missed last week's seminar with Professor Marlies Glasius? The super-rich evade wealth-based taxation a great deal, but little is actually known about how, how much and why the people at the very top of the wealth chain avoid taxation - this talk explores these questions. ⬇️

The number of young people in the UK not in education, employment or training (NEET) is rising. But who are these young people? Are they claiming benefits? Has AI taken their jobs? Louise Murphy of @resfoundation.bsky.social explores #LSEInequalitiesBlog

“[Previously] he would help with the dinner, meals, or cleaning. Now that I’m not working, it’s not even [in] the realm of… anything he’s thinking about” – Aliya Hamid Rao's interviewee on how unemployment is different for married men vs women #LSEInequalitiesBlog

Stone Center Director @durlauf.bsky.social joined @lseinequalities.bsky.social for their 10th-anniversary conference. During a panel, Durlauf shared two suggestions for the future of inequality research. Watch to hear his take on trajectories, meritocracy, and their evolving roles → bit.ly/4iRQ8W3

Are all NEETs (young people Not in Education, Employment or Training) claiming benefits? Is the UK’s NEET problem due to AI replacing graduate jobs? Louise Murphy of @resfoundation.bsky.social looks at myths around NEETs in our latest blog post #LSEInequalitiesBlog buff.ly/JEwzZLc

Missed last week's seminar with Dr Beatriz Jambrina Canseco? She highlights the importance of accounting for spatial variation in prices for poverty and inequality measurement, with clear policy implications. Watch now ⬇️

"The London Consensus offers a framework for rethinking economic policy in a fractured age of inequality, populism, and political crisis". New edited volume from @lsepress.bsky.social discussed in @newyorker.com ⬇️ buff.ly/NAYSmFi

How is unemployment different for married men vs women? Do they face equal pressure – and receive equal time, space and emotional support – in the search for a new job? Or is it assumed that women have plenty to do at home? Aliya Hamid Rao explores #LSEInequalitiesBlog buff.ly/ydYqWv6

“We estimate that decisions from this government so far have been progressive: incomes of the poorer half have risen roughly £90 on average, compared with losses of £1,000 for the top half” – James Smith of @resfoundation.bsky.social on the latest UK Budget #LSEInequalitiesBlog

📄 New paper by Olivier Bargain, H. Xavier Jara, and David Rivera In the context of Chile, they explore how latent feelings of economic vulnerability and social stagnation may have catalysed the unprecedented uprisings that shook Latin America in 2018–2019. 🔗 buff.ly/MzStB6I

Missed our recent seminar with @tarunkhaitan.bsky.social? This talk argues that discrimination law's failure to regulate the family discriminates indirectly based on grounds such as sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, age, and marital status. Watch it here ⬇️ buff.ly/OQddFeZ

Ahead of the release of the UK's Child Poverty Strategy, @kittyjstewart.bsky.social, Ruth Patrick & @aaronreeves.bsky.social @lsesociology.bsky.social @lseinequalities.bsky.social consider whether boosting parental employment is part of the solution to #ChildPoverty @lsepoliticsblog.bsky.social

📣 Join our final seminar of the year! Professor Marlies Glasius presents a new dataset on the responses of the hundred richest billionaires in democracies to various forms of wealth-based taxation. 🎟️ Register in-person: buff.ly/0L8DPRL 💻 Register online: buff.ly/GvL1fRX

Rachel Reeves’s 2025 Budget pairs fiscal repair with measures to counter child poverty and the cost-of-living crisis. In our latest blog post, James Smith of @resfoundation.bsky.social asks: was the Budget progressive overall? #LSEInequalitiesBlog

Pranab Bardhan has published his conversation with III Director Francisco Ferreira 💬 They discuss the Latin American political economy, and the historically high levels of economic inequality in the region. Read the full piece here ⬇️

⏰ Today! This event brings together authors of the Wealth Tax Commission to reflect on its influence on research, policy and public debate. They will discuss what they learned, and explore the viability of a wealth tax in the UK today.

“If Reeves and Starmer have the political will to abolish the two-child limit, they should be able to muster the same boldness for reforming the tax system” – Will Snell of @fairness.bsky.social on the UK Budget in our latest blog post #LSEInequalitiesBlog

Is upward mobility a solo journey, fuelled by talent and hard work? Or is it an inherently relational process, shaped by enduring connections to one’s class and family origins? Malik Fercovic explores in our latest blog post #LSEInequalitiesBlog

📄 New III working paper: Using a new database on the net worth and self-reported cognitive impairment for almost two million adults, this paper provides the first large-scale evidence linking community wealth to age-related cognitive decline. 🔗 buff.ly/sxwFitX

Following significant penalties and prosecutions faced by carers over Carer’s Allowance, III Visiting Professor in Practice Liz Sayce has published an important independent review. Her report highlights how the overpayments scandal created injustice and limited opportunities.

Will Snell of @fairness.bsky.social assesses the UK Budget: “Failing to increase capital gains tax rates and leaving the top tax rate on dividends untouched meant that the very rich were let off the hook”. See more in our latest post #LSEInequalitiesBlog buff.ly/3FnrGNZ

💡 Research spotlight: Our SOUTHMOD team is strengthening policy capacity across Latin America. This year, the team have delivered specialised training for government partners in Bolivia, as well as Ecuador’s National Statistical Institute (INEC). More on p.36 ⬇️ buff.ly/SQaN1zl

📣 Call for applications for the Nineteenth Doctorate Winter School on Inequality and Social Welfare Theory (IT19) The School provides the opportunity to discuss issues concerning the topic 'Inequality and Big Challenges'. 📆 Apply by 27 November Further details here ⬇️

📣 Upcoming seminar: Standard measures of poverty and income inequality often overlook how sharply the cost of living varies across places. Dr Beatriz Jambrina Canseco uses the case of Spain to explore this issue. 🎟️ Register in-person: buff.ly/zioZK79 💻 Register online: buff.ly/dUYC6ys

📢 Upcoming event | “The politics of hunger in Sudan” with @nisrinelamin.bsky.social. We'll look at how war, foreign investment & extractivism are deepening famine in a country rich in resources. 🗓️ 3 Dec | 6.30pm 📍Hong Kong Theatre & Online #LSEEvents #Sudan

Catch up on last week's special event with @uk.theconversation.com 💻 Our expert panel discussed what measures they think the chancellor should prioritise in her budget when it comes to taxation and spending, wealth and inequality. Watch it here ⬇️ buff.ly/X74VloG

🔜 Next week! @andy-summers.bsky.social, @arunadvani.bsky.social, and Emma Chamberlain explore how the wealth tax conversation has evolved and whether the UK should be looking to implement a wealth tax today. Register now ⬇️

We were delighted to celebrate Chris Oechsli’s remarkable contributions to AFSEE, the III and his global leadership in philanthropy, social and economic equity with the award of an LSE Honorary Fellowship 🎓. 📖 Read the press release: afsee.atlanticfellows.lse.ac.uk/en-gb/news/l...

“Upward mobility is rarely a solo journey… «moving up» often means «reaching back» – providing financial, emotional and practical support to one’s family of origin” – Malik Fercovic in our latest blog post #LSEInequalitiesBlog buff.ly/n78qB6S

“Specifying an extreme wealth line would facilitate measurement of a growing democratic, environmental, economic and social problem – and spark debate about how to tackle it” – Tania Burchardt @ingridrobeyns.bsky.social and @michaelvaughan.bsky.social in our latest blog post

On measuring poverty & well-being – and the need for leadership from the G20: “If we want to shift the dial at the global level, we need international consensus and harmonisation” – Jakob Dirksen in our latest blog post #LSEInequalitiesBlog @ophioxford.bsky.social

💡 Our Perceptions of Inequality programme is advancing our understanding of how people view and react to inequality. Highlights include: 🔴 An international workshop (May 2025) 🔴 Two special journal issues 🔴 A new PhD & ECR Visiting Programme More on p.16 ⬇️ buff.ly/Mwmv7tF

📄 New III working paper: This paper analyses how intergenerational mobility and inequality of opportunity reflect the inheritability of inequality in Latin America, documenting high educational and income persistence driven by inherited circumstances. 🔗 buff.ly/6BMMxGt

What can be *said* about extreme wealth – and what should be *done*? The two should not be conflated. An extreme wealth line is a social indicator – the starting point for discussion, write Tania Burchardt @ingridrobeyns.bsky.social & @michaelvaughan.bsky.social #LSEInequalitiesBlog buff.ly/SDu1oki

📣 Upcoming seminar: @tarunkhaitan.bsky.social assesses discrimination law’s choice to only regulate discrimination in the state and the market, and not within the family. 🎟️ Register to attend in-person: buff.ly/gnDB8Yp 💻 Register to attend online: buff.ly/QchWorg

Ahead of the G20 summit, Jakob Dirksen asks: how are we measuring poverty and well-being? To make progress on the SDGs and whatever comes after they “expire” in 2030, what single thing should the G20 focus their attention on? @ophioxford.bsky.social #LSEInequalitiesBlog 🔗 buff.ly/Ff14gig

TODAY: Join our special online event with @uk.theconversation.com ahead of the UK budget announcement. We explore how wealth is closely linked to inequality, and why a failure to address current wealth trends could present a serious threat to future generations. Register here ⬇️