Project description
Understanding how genetics and family shape inequality
Children’s educational achievement and health are strongly influenced by their family environment, yet the ways in which socioeconomic circumstances interact with genetic predispositions remain poorly understood. Supported by the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions programme, the IneqGen project is investigating how family socioeconomic resources shape the influence of children’s genetic propensities on education and health. Using causal methods and family-based genetic designs, it will examine the impact of parenting practices, expectations, and health behaviours. The combination of genetics and social science is expected to offer new insights into the mechanisms driving intergenerational inequality. Ultimately, the project’s goal is to inform evidence-based strategies to promote equal opportunities.
Objective
Children from socioeconomically advantaged families tend to achieve higher levels of education and enjoy better health. Research shows that this phenomenon is at least partially explained by differences in parenting practices shaped by parental resources, for example, in how parents support learning, guide school decisions, or promote healthy behaviours. However, this previous research focuses on observable traits, overlooking that the child’s genotype - an early, often hidden factor - can be amplified, triggered, or compensated for by the family socioeconomic environment and shapes later educational and health outcomes.
The recent unprecedented availability of large-scale molecular genetic data now makes it possible to integrate genetic information with rich survey and administrative datasets. This enables IneqGen to study whether, and how, parents with different socioeconomic resources compensate for, amplify, or trigger their children’s genetic propensities, thereby sustaining or reinforcing social inequalities. IneqGen seeks to understand how (dis)advantaged parents pass on their (dis)advantages by examining whether the influence of children’s genetic propensities varies by family socioeconomic status. IneqGen is at the forefront of the emerging field of using molecular genetics data to understand social inequalities by applying causal designs and using family genetic data.
This project makes three main contributions. First, the project will deliver theoretical innovation by developing the first comprehensive, interdisciplinary typology of how family socioeconomic background moderates genetic influences on education and health. Second, it will achieve causal identification by combining exogenous variation from the Norwegian oil boom with trio-based genetic designs. Third, it will uncover mechanisms, such as parental expectations, involvement, and health-related practices, through which family socioeconomic background moderates genetic propensities.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
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CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
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Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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HORIZON.1.2 - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA)
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Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
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Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-PF-EF - HORIZON TMA MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
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Call for proposal
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(opens in new window) HORIZON-MSCA-2025-PF
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OX1 2JD Oxford
United Kingdom
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