Janet Gornick on the Importance of Measuring Socio-Economic Inequality

On this episode of The Inequality Podcast, host Steven Durlauf is joined by Janet Gornick, director of the Stone Center of Socio-Economic Inequality at The City University of New York and one of the world’s foremost experts on the measurement of socio-economic inequality. They discuss her many contributions to improving the quantity and quality of inequality data available to researchers, including her time as director of LIS, the organization formerly known as the Luxembourg Income Study. The importance of data-gathering efforts like LIS remains front and center as the conversation progresses into a discussion of gender inequality and differences in family structures across countries. Last, the two reflect on the importance of an interdisciplinary approach to social science research and consider what questions new scholars should pursue in the future.

Read a selection of Janet’s work here, and follow her on Twitter/X.

Explore the LIS Database here.

Read more about The Stone Center at CUNY, which houses the U.S. office of LIS, at their website.