Call for papers Workshop ‘Socio-economic inequalities in mortality over time’ – deadline 1 October 2025

The Health & Society group of Wageningen University & Research invites paper proposals for a one-day workshop, supported by GREATLEAP COST Action.

There is evidence that the relationship between socioeconomic status and health, particularly mortality, is not constant. Depending on the context, inequalities in mortality have emerged, widened, or decreased over the past two centuries. It is not yet clear why this is the case. This workshop will bring together demographers, historians, economists, and other scholars to understand how socioeconomic inequalities in mortality change over time, exploring the changing dynamics. This one-day workshop is designed as a forum for in-depth discussion and feedback, aiming to bring together early-career and senior researchers working on aligned questions. As follow-up, the organisers foresee a collaborative output, either as a joint paper or as a special issue of a journal.

The keynote will be delivered by Professor Sean Clouston, Professor at the Department of Family, Population, and Preventive Medicine of Stoney Brooke Medicine. The workshop will center on discussing and testing the four-stage model proposed by Clouston et al. (2016), in which the following stages are described:

1. natural mortality – characterized by little or no population-level understanding of disease risk factors or treatments;
2. producing inequalities – marked by unequal access to new knowledge, technologies, or treatments;
3. reducing inequalities – as innovations become more widely accessible;
4. reduced mortality/disease elimination – where prevention and treatment are effective and broadly distributed.

Those wanting to participate should submit an abstract of 500 words max. via the submission form. Especially welcome are papers examining:

• the timing and mechanisms through which socio-economic inequalities in mortality emerge and evolve;
• the diffusion of medical, behavioral, or public health innovations and their differential uptake;
• whether and when Clouston et al. (2016)’s framework applies when considering different causes of death, time periods, and national or regional contexts;
• interactions between social policy, health systems, and population health inequalities.

Abstracts should be submitted ultimately 1 October, notification of acceptance is to be expected by mid-October 2025.

SUBMISSION FORM