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Heather Joshi

University College London, UK

I always welcome the opportunity to explain the availability of longitudinal studies and their value for many research and policy purposes. I highlight their application to the study of gender inequality—the topic which introduced me to using the British cohort studies—and which also deserves continuing attention

IZA World of Labor role

Author

Current position

Emeritus Professor of Economic and Developmental Demography at the Centre for Longitudinal Studies, University College London, UK

Research interest

The family, the labor market, gender, child development, spatial issues

Website

https://iris.ucl.ac.uk/iris/browse/profile?upi=HEJOS44

Positions/functions as a policy advisor

Scientific committees advising the child cohort studies in France and New Zealand; Advisor to UNICEF report card, Consultant on Child Wellbeing to OECD

Past positions

Professor of Social Statistics at City University London (1993–1998); Director of the UK Millennium Cohort Study (2000–2011); Director of the Centre for Longitudinal Studies (2003–2010)

Qualifications

M.Litt. Economics, University of Oxford, 1970

Selected publications

  • “The Millennium Cohort Study: The making of a multi-purpose resource for social science and policy in the UK.” Longitudinal and Lifecourse Studies 7:4 (2016) (with E. Fitzsimons).

  • “Moving home in the early years: What happens to children in the UK?” Longitudinal and Life Course Studies 7:3 (2016): 265–287 (with L. Gambaro).

  • “Age at motherhood and child development: Evidence from the Millennium Cohort Study.” National Institute Economic Review October (2012): R52–R63 (with D. Hawkes).

  • “Does mothers’ employment conflict with child development? Multilevel analysis of British mothers born in 1958.” Journal of Population Economics 22:3 (2009): 665–692.

  • Unequal Pay for Women and Men: Evidence from the British Birth Cohort Studies. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1998 (with P. Paci).

article(s)

  • Why do we need longitudinal survey data?

    Knowing people’s history helps in understanding their present state and where they are heading

    Heather Joshi, November 2016
    Information from longitudinal surveys transforms snapshots of a given moment into something with a time dimension. It illuminates patterns of events within an individual’s life and records mobility and immobility between older and younger generations. It can track the different pathways of men and women and people of diverse socio-economic background through the life course. It can join up data on aspects of a person’s life, health, education, family, and employment and show how these domains affect one another. It is ideal for bridging the different silos of policies that affect people’s lives.
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