The increasing economic inequality in Norway and other high-income countries, combined with changes in demographic and socio-economic structure through immigration, is creating new challenges for social mobility and equal opportunities. At the same time, there is growing concern that various forms of inequality are becoming more persistent across generations. Society’s ability to create equal opportunities for everyone, regardless of the family one is born into, is a fundamental value in the Nordic model.
The research literature on intergenerational mobility has primarily focused on education and income as indicators of socio-economic status. However, the significance of health in this dynamic has received little attention, despite health having considerable consequences for educational and labour market outcomes. The HEALTHMOBILITY project aims to fill this knowledge gap by examining the relationship between health, socio-economic status, and intergenerational mobility in a society marked by increasing economic inequality and ethnic diversity.
The project will utilise comprehensive Norwegian register data that links health information with socio-economic indicators across multiple generations. We will also use data from population-wide administrative registers and extensive surveys, containing detailed information about the use of health services, self-reported health measures, and key socio-economic and demographic characteristics.
The project’s contribution will be to examine the significance of both parents' and children's health as a dimension of intergenerational mobility, social exclusion, and life chances across generations. The project will provide new insights into the importance of health for social mobility and how these processes vary over time and among different population groups.
Privacy Policy Guidance
This project utilizes personal data from individuals who are difficult to contact for the purpose of providing individual information. The data is processed for research purposes, and the legal basis for the processing is the public interest. The project involves the use of ordinary personal data and health data. The data is obtained from the following sources: Statistics Norway (SSB), health registries, public/national registries and national data collections. In collaborative research projects, datasets may also be shared with external project participants and their affiliated institutions.
The legality and privacy implications of the personal data processing have been assessed prior to the commencement of the project, which adheres to ethical guidelines for research. The Institute for Social Research is the data controller for the project.
Individuals who can be identified in the dataset have rights and may lodge complaints regarding the processing. Please feel free to contact our Data Protection Officer, the project manager, or the Norwegian Institute for Social Research if you have any questions or require guidance.
