ABSTRACT
Within societies, there is a well-established relation between socioeconomic position and a
wide range of outcomes related to well-being, and this relation is known to vary in magnitude
across countries. Using a large sample of nations, the authors explored whether differences
in social policies explain differences in socioeconomic gradients across nations. Analyses
were conducted on reading literacy in 15-year-olds, as an outcome related to cognitive
development and to a host of factors that contribute to future well-being, including educational
attainment and health. The results show a systematic variation in socioeconomic gradients and
average scores across countries. Scores were favorable in countries with a long history of
welfare state regimes, but countries where institutional change unfolded more recently
and rapidly, or where welfare states are less well developed, clustered at the bottom of the
rankings. Strong support was found for the “flattening up” hypothesis, which suggests that
nations with higher average scores have less socioeconomic inequality in scores (or flatter
gradients). Potential explanations for the observed patterns include differences between
nations in the extent and distribution of income and social goods important for children’s
development.
