OECD Report Highlights Inequality of Opportunity, Urges Place-Based Interventions

SDG 10: Reduced Inequalities | SDG 4: Quality Education
Institution: NITI Aayog | Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment

The OECD’s new report To Have and Have Not: How to Bridge the Gap in Opportunities introduces a measure of inequality of opportunity, estimating how much of income and outcome disparities stem from factors beyond individual control, such as family background or place of birth. On average, more than 25% of inequality in market income across OECD countries is attributable to these inherited or structural circumstances. The report stresses that such gaps are persistent and harder to reverse than income inequality alone.

It highlights the role of place-based disparities, noting that access to infrastructure, quality education, healthcare, transport, and digital services varies significantly within countries. These gaps shape life chances long before individual effort can make a difference. Policy levers suggested include stronger early childhood investments, improved public service equity, better digital and physical connectivity, and tax-benefit systems designed to reduce opportunity inequality.

While the data are OECD-focused, the framework resonates with India’s reality, where regional, rural-urban, caste, and gender disparities define access to education, healthcare, and digital resources. For India, adopting an “opportunity lens” could sharpen welfare targeting under schemes like PM POSHAN, Samagra Shiksha, and Ayushman Bharat. Applying this approach using national datasets (NSS, NFHS, PLFS) would allow policymakers to quantify structural inequality and guide investments in lagging states, tribal districts, and underserved urban areas. This would shift policy from outcome equalisation to opportunity equalisation, a more durable basis for inclusive growth.

Follow the full report here:
OECD – To Have and Have Not: How to Bridge the Gap in Opportunities

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