Social Inequality Across the Generations provides an innovative perspective on social stratification studies by advancing the theoretical and empirical case for the influence of resource compensation. It examines whether resource compensation is a successful mechanism for social mobility, contrasting it against competing types of resource accumulation such as multiplication. So, this book is the first to extensively cover the role of compensation in intergenerational attainment - a new and rapidly spreading concept in stratification research. The editors bring together research on different types of resources contributing to social mobility from the nuclear family, extended family and society, including in-depth analysis of the influence of wider family members in three different contexts and specific empirical chapters covering European and US societies. The authors cover a variety of institutional systems that achieve similar results through contrasting methods, and this conceptual framework reveals which policies have the biggest effect on social mobility. The book offers original insight into intergenerational inequality and mobility for researchers and students of social stratification research and social mobility, particularly within sociology, social policy and economics. Contributors include: F. Bernardi, H.-P. Blossfeld, D. Boertien, J. Erola, M. Gratz, J. Helemae, M. Kainu, J. Kallio, O. Kangas, E. Kilpi-Jakonen, H. Lehti, A. Minello, J. Palme, F.T. Pfeffer, I. Prix, H. Poeylioe, E. Saar, O.N. Wiborg

As industrial societies increasingly evolve into knowledge-based economies, the importance of education as a lifelong process is greater than ever. This comprehensive book provides a state-of-the-art analysis of adult learning across the world and within varying institutional contexts. The expert contributors examine the structures of formal and non-formal adult learning in different countries, and investigate the levels of success those countries have experienced in encouraging participation and skill formation. The book offers a cross-section of international perspectives, with chapters focusing on Australia, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Great Britain, Hungary, Italy, Russia, Spain, Sweden and the United States. Using empirical, longitudinal data from each of these countries, the contributors identify which types of learning are converted into positive labor market outcomes and assess the potential of adult learning for reducing social inequalities. This book will be of great use to both academics and policymakers with an interest in adult learning, sociology, education and inequality, and the economics of work. Contributors: P. Barbieri, C. Barone, H.-P. Blossfeld, S. Buchholz, S. Buchler, J. Chesters, G. Csanadi, A. Csizmady, G. Cutuli, J. Dammrich, C. Elman, D. Hamplova, M. Haynes, A. Higginson, E. Kilpi-Jakonen, Y. Kosyakova, M. Lugo, P. Martikainen, P. McMullin, P. Miret-Gamundi, V. Myrup Jensen, E. Reichart, P. Robert, E.-L. Roosmaa, E. Saar, S. Scherer, S. Schuhrer, N. Simonova, O. Sirnioe, A. Stenberg, M. Triventi, J. Unfried., M. Unt, D. Vono de Vilhena, S. Wahler, F. Weiss