This open access volume identifies the common and specific aspects of social mechanisms that generate inequalities, through comparative analyses of different dimensions in which inequalities are expressed. It includes studies on social inequalities in 5 European and 5 Latin American countries, along 11 thematic axes: inequalities in the labour market and labour trajectories; asymmetries in the relationship between training and employment; inequalities in work and family life; educational inequalities; geographical and social inequalities: ethnicity and language; social inequalities, migration and space; uncertainty, strategies, resources and capabilities; inequality of opportunity: intergenerational social mobility; social policies; gender inequalities; and research methodology. This volume is the result of a large collaborative project on social inequality funded by the European Commission: the International Network for Comparative Analysis of Social Inequalities. Taking into account diverse perspectives and approximations, the collaborators have created a general analytical framework as a model of analysis of social inequalities. The various contributions in this volume help readers gain a global outlook and help reflect on social inequalities in a comparative perspective. This volume addresses social science graduate and postgraduate students, researchers, social policy makers, as well as a broader academic audience interested in social inequality.

Recoge: 1. Research aims and methodology. - 2. Process and results of the research. - 3. Outlook for the relationship between education and employment. - 4. Conclusions and policy recommendations. - 5. Bibliografhy. - 6. Annexes.

The economics and sociology of the relationship between training and employment in Europe were examined through a comparative study conducted in six countries: Germany, Spain, France, Italy, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom. In each country, teams of researchers used a standardized methodology to collect the data needed to estimate (over a period of approximately 10 years) the structure of occupational skills triggered by the following: the rise in the level of education of successive generations (supply model); the variation in the strength of the occupational work force (demand model); and the two effects simultaneously (simultaneous effects model). The three models were used to establish a common "occupations, age, and certification" job market database for the six countries. Analysis of the database established that, even outside regulated occupations, there is a preferential deployment of certain certificates in certain occupations. The internal certification structures within occupations were themselves closely correlated to the age of the work force. In all six countries, the continuing rise in the level of education was spread over all occupations in proportion to initial skill structures. (The report contains 25 references. Appended are information on the study methodology and 10 figures and tables.) (MN)