This article examines the relationships between social cohesion and social inequalities in Europe by considering three interrelated issues. The first regards the definition and measurement of the concept of social cohesion. The second issue concerns the identification of the aspects of social inequality that affect the overall level of social cohesion. More precisely, I investigate two main hypotheses: the first argues the existence of a direct negative association between economic inequality and social cohesion. The second states that this relation is influenced by other aspects of social inequality such as the individuals' position in the stratification system and the educational level. The third issue introduces the comparative analysis that has been based on the welfare regime approach. More specifically, I hypothesize that welfare state is relevant because it influences both the relationship between social position and economic inequality, and the relationship between social cohesion and economic inequality. Data from the first round of the 2002 European Social Survey have been analysed applying structural equation models in order to measure social cohesion and to estimate the effects, both direct and indirect, exerted by the different dimensions of inequalities on social cohesion. Moreover, through a multi-group analysis, I investigate the effects resulting from the different welfare regimes. It emerges that social position and welfare state are not able to fully mediate the effect played by economic condition.

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In this paper, we analyse social inequalities along the horizontal dimension of education in Italy. More precisely, we focus on the role of family background in completing specific fields of study at both secondary and tertiary levels of education. To mitigate the limitations of the traditional sequential model, we construct a typology of educational paths based on two axes: the prestige of one's choice of high school track (academic or vocational) and the labour market returns of the university field of study in terms of monthly net income (high or low). We identify four paths: academic-high, academic-low, vocational-high, and vocational-low. We investigate the influence of social inequalities on educational path using data from the Istat ''Survey on the transition to work of University graduates'' regarding cohorts of university graduates in 1995, 1998, 2001, 2004 and 2007. Results obtained from multinomial logistic regressions confirm predictions based on rational action theory. We find that family background, defined in terms of parental education, is positively and significantly associated with the completion of the most advantageous educational path. Moreover, we find that high-performing students from lower socio-economic backgrounds show a higher probability of completing the vocational-high path. This result suggests that a vocational upper secondary degree could be perceived as a sort of safety option for students from less wealthy families, which allows them to invest in the most lucrative and risky fields at university.

This article analyses the effect of the Berlinguer reform that was introduced in Italy in 1999 and increased compulsory schooling from eight to nine years. Hence, students had to attend school until the age of 15 instead of 14 that was required at the time and therefore to attend at least one year of upper secondary school (for pupils with a regular career). Using data from the Labour Force Surveys (1993–2010) and applying counterfactual time series and segmented regressions, we evaluate the effect of the reform on attendance and graduation rates. The results show that prolonging compulsory education encouraged a larger share of 16‐year‐olds to stay in school, especially those who were judged more at risk with less educated parents and with parents with a low occupational status. However, at age 17, part of the effect had already vanished and no effect was found on graduation rates. The compulsory schooling policy may have been more effective in adjusting the legislation to already existing student behaviour than in producing relevant changes in educational decisions.