Richard Layte is Professor of Sociology at Trinity College Dublin and a Research Professor at the Economic and Social Research Institute. Much of his work stems from a core interest in the structure of social and economic stratification in modern societies and its impact on individual life-chances, health and well-being. His research examines the fundamental processes which influence the distribution of health and well-being in societies and how these are shaped by political economy and the structure and functioning of health care systems. Recent work has examined the relationship between country income inequality and individual health and he has a particular interest in improving understanding of how family background influences child health and development and the impact this has on the child's educational outcomes, adult health and life expectancy. He has a keen interest in Irish health care and the role that health care can play in improving health and well-being. He has published widely on all these issues both in Ireland and internationally in both the academic and policy domains. He is the Director of the Centre for Longitudinal Studies in Ireland (www.clsi.ie), a member of the Management Committee on Growing Up in Ireland (GUI), and a member of the Steering Committee on the Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing (TILDA).