Dr Leen Vandecasteele
Small Group Project 2015-16
Keeping Up or Falling Behind? Personal debt: examining the role of social comparison and income inequality across Europe
With Julia Gumy
This project examines the role of inequality for personal debt uptake in Europe. Up until the global economic crisis personal debt levels have soared in most Western countries. Similarly, these countries have experienced increases in income inequality (Giesecke & Verwiebe, 2009; Machin, 2003; OECD, 2008; Smeeding, 2005). It is now well documented that income inequality hinders economic growth (OECD, 2014), negatively affects health and accentuates social disadvantage (Wilkinson and Pickett, 2009). We argue that income inequality is also a driver of debt accumulation.
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Biography
Leen Vandecasteele is Associate Professor at the Life Course and Inequality Research Centre (LIVES) at the University of Lausanne.
Their research is in the areas of social inequality, gender, family and employment, as well as poverty and social policy in a life course perspective. They are particularly interested in understanding processes of cumulative disadvantage during critical life transitions, and the role of the welfare state in mitigating adverse life outcomes.
Leen's work employs large-scale quantitative data and longitudinal research methods, often analyzing cross-national data to uncover differences and trends both between and within countries.
They obtained their PhD from the University of Leuven with a thesis on poverty dynamics and social stratification. Subsequently, they worked as Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Manchester and as Max Weber Fellow at the European University Institute in Florence. From 2012 – 2017 they worked as Junior Professor at the University of Tübingen. They were also a visiting fellow at the Harvard Multidisciplinary Program in Inequality and Social Policy, and at the Social Science Center Berlin (WZB).
Their research is in the areas of social inequality, gender, family and employment, as well as poverty and social policy in a life course perspective. They are particularly interested in understanding processes of cumulative disadvantage during critical life transitions, and the role of the welfare state in mitigating adverse life outcomes.
Leen's work employs large-scale quantitative data and longitudinal research methods, often analyzing cross-national data to uncover differences and trends both between and within countries.
They obtained their PhD from the University of Leuven with a thesis on poverty dynamics and social stratification. Subsequently, they worked as Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Manchester and as Max Weber Fellow at the European University Institute in Florence. From 2012 – 2017 they worked as Junior Professor at the University of Tübingen. They were also a visiting fellow at the Harvard Multidisciplinary Program in Inequality and Social Policy, and at the Social Science Center Berlin (WZB).
Biographical details correct as of 14.09.26