Assessing Group-based Inequalities Across the Life Course for a More Inclusive World

With its central pledge to leave no one behind and to reach the furthest behind first, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development echoes the commitment to promoting social inclusion contained in the 1995 Copenhagen Declaration on Social Development. In SDG Target 10.2, countries explicitly committed to promoting the social, economic, and political inclusion of all, regardless of age, sex, disability, race, ethnicity, origin, religion, or economic or other status. Yet in many contexts, these ascribed characteristics remain a significant source of disadvantage. A sizeable share of total inequality in income is explained by inherited characteristics that should have no bearing on life chances, for example, 77 per cent in South Africa, 66 per cent in Brazil, 50 per cent in India and 49 per cent in Bulgaria. These inequalities are unfair and persistent, often passed from one generation to the next through interlinked disadvantages in health, education, nutrition, and access to decent work. Given persistent and high inequalities, improving the terms of participation for people who are disadvantaged on the basis of their group characteristics through enhanced access to opportunities, resources, voice and respect for rights is crucial to achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. This brief illustrates how inequality in opportunity between different population groups can be quantified using existing household survey data, drawing on analysis conducted for the 2025 edition of the World Social Report.