Sarah Cattan, PhD

Hello and thanks for visiting my website. 

I am an applied microeconomist interested in the origins of inequalities within and across generations.  I received my PhD in Economics at the University of Chicago in 2012 under the supervision of James Heckman.  I am passionate about social change to improve the life chances of babies and children through policy, advocacy and social partnerships. 

I started my career as a researcher at the  Institute for Fiscal Studies for 11 years. My area of greatest expertise is early childhood development and early childhood policy but I have worked across a number of subjects related to social mobility. My research has been published in top scientific journals, including the American Economic Review and PNAS, and I invite you to take a look at my papers and ongoing projects. 

In September 2023, I took the post of Director of Nesta's A Fairer Start Mission whose goal is to ensure that all children develop to their full potential in their early years in the UK.  There, I lead a multi-disciplinary team of 25 brilliant designers, researchers, data scientists, and policy analysts to bring the power of innovation, research and policy to break the link between family background and children's life chances. Please visit Nesta's website to hear more about our work. 

I am committed to continue my research career as a part-time Research Fellow at the Institute for Fiscal Studies, and will continue to update this website with my research activities. 

I am proud to also be a Research Fellow at IZA Bonn, a Fellow of the CESifo Network, and a Fellow of the Human Capital and Economic Opportunity Global Working Group (HCEO).