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AbstractIn recent decades, the Swedish economy has been characterized by rather fast economic growth. At the same time, income inequality has increased substantially. In the present study, I investigated who has gained and who has been left behind during this period—how disposable personal income has changed for men and women, as well as for those in different positions in the income distribution. Register data for the total population (aged 20 to 80 years old) from 1983 to 2010 were used and three different positions in the income distribution were investigated: percentile 10, the median, and percentile 99. Five years were selected: 1983, 1991, 2000, 2006, and 2010. Each selected year represents a snapshot and describes the general trend. Results show that women in the 10th percentile have increased their income quite well, a result of increased female labor force participation during the period. This has led to a decrease of the income gap between genders within this group. But results also show a masculinization of low income and poverty, as the male incomes in this group have not increased to the same extent as for males in the other income groups. At the median, both men and women experienced a steady increase of incomes, but the gender gap for ages younger than 50 widened between 2000 and 2010. At the very top, percentile 99, the increase in disposable personal income was enormous; however, the gender gap in income did not decrease.

This article compares income mobility at the household level using tax data for Gothenburg, Sweden, from 1925 to 1994. Income mobility is defined as changes in household disposable equivalent income over time. Results indicate extensive income mobility over time. Income mobility is often linked to the life cycle, and three classic poverty risks – childhood, starting a family, and old age – have been reduced. Results also show the emergence of two new poverty risks – young adulthood and family‐building for immigrants – challenges that need to be addressed by future policy prescriptions.

This study reports the findings from a scoping review of the use of the capability approach in social work research. We identified 17 peer-reviewed journal articles which actively used the capability approach and addressed social work practice. The purpose was to examine how the use of the capability approach was linked to policies, practices and social justice approaches in social work research. The merits and challenges of the capability approach in social work research are discussed. Four main applications of the capability approach were found: as a tool for social workers in practice, to explore the subjective sense of well-being, to address social inequalities on a structural level, and as a way of evaluating social practices. The capability approach was framed as congruent with the aims of social work, and as a call for action for social workers to promote social justice, human dignity and well-being. Another finding was that empowerment, mostly viewed as a tool for social workers to promote strength in individuals, was closely connected to using a capability approach. The contradictory use of empowerment in social work may carry some lessons for future development of a capability approach in social work. The review indicates that the capability approach is used in a range of different ways and acknowledged as a valuable tool for research in social work.

This article investigates a group of 149 students studying social work and social administration at Makerere University, Uganda, and explores differences according to gender, sponsorship, geographical and socio-economic background, and parents' educational level. Data used derive from a questionnaire collected in spring 2014. Results show that male students have access to public sponsorship to a greater degree than female students, regardless of their background. Female students are more dependent upon private sponsorship and their parents' educational level for entry to higher education.