The evolution of inequality of opportunity across Europe: EU-SILC evidence.

This chapter aims at quantifying the degree of inequality of opportunity across the EU, and assessing its evolution, using the information provided by the thematic modules on intergenerational transmission of disadvantage included in the 2005 and 2011 waves of EU-SILC. It proposes new indicators that are consistent with the normative perspectives on equality of opportunity. These indicators coincide with the expected change in economic (dis)advantage experienced by individuals later in life that is induced by a change in the circumstances of origin. The authors find substantial heterogeneity across European countries in terms of inequality of opportunity, which does not perfectly mirror the portrait drawn from official poverty and social exclusion indicators.