Workshop: Socio-Economic Inequalities in Mortality Over Time

Call for Papers

GREATLEAP-COST Action

Workshop: Socio-Economic Inequalities in Mortality Over Time

27 February 2026 | Akoesticum, Ede, the Netherlands

There is evidence that the relationship between socio-economic 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.

We invite paper proposals for a one-day workshop, supported by GREATLEAP COST Action, exploring these changing dynamics. This workshop will bring together demographers, historians, economists, and other scholars to understand how socio-economic inequalities in mortality change over time.
Prof. Sean Clouston will also deliver the keynote lecture at this workshop. The workshop centers on discussing and testing the four-stage model proposed by Clouston et al. (2016). The model’s four stages are:

Natural mortality – characterized by little or no population-level understanding of disease risk factors or treatments;
Producing inequalities – marked by unequal access to new knowledge, technologies, or treatments;
Reducing inequalities – as innovations become more widely accessible;
Reduced mortality/disease elimination – where prevention and treatment are effective and broadly distributed.

We particularly welcome submissions 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.

Format & Output:
This one-day workshop is designed as a forum for in-depth discussion and feedback. We aim to bring together early-career and senior researchers working on aligned questions.
Following the workshop, we plan to pursue a collaborative output, either as a joint paper or as a special issue of a journal.

Submission Guidelines:
Please submit an abstract of maximum 500 words via Google forms: https://lnkd.in/efTFCBbB
Deadline for submissions: 1 October 2025
Notification of acceptance: mid-October 2025
Questions? Contact: kristina.thompson@wur.nl