Sarah Cattan is currently a Research Fellow at the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS). She is an economist whose research focuses on inequalities in children’s development and educational outcomes, and on the role of families, education and public policy in shaping children’s life chances.

Sarah’s research spans childhood and adolescence, combining large-scale administrative and survey data with experimental and quasi-experimental methods. Her work has examined early childhood education and care, parenting and the home learning environment, and how family and educational investments shape children’s development. She has also studied young people’s educational choices and risky behaviours, including youth offending and violence, and how experiences earlier in childhood shape outcomes during adolescence.

Alongside her academic research, Sarah has extensive experience working at the interface between research, policy and innovation. She led the Education and Skills sector at IFS and was Director of Nesta’s A Fairer Start mission, focused on reducing inequalities in early childhood. She has also worked as a senior adviser at the Department for Education and regularly advises government on early years and childcare policy.

Her ADR UK Fellowship builds on this research to study how investments at different stages of childhood interact in shaping children’s outcomes.

Professional profiles

• https://ifs.org.uk/people/sarah-cattan 
• https://sites.google.com/site/sjcattan/home