Cumulative disadvantage is a process of increasing intra-cohort differentiation over time, and is therefore closely related to social exclusion over the life course. The process has two instruments, the initial inequality and a time effect, whereby the inequality-creating processes are complex and involve stratification both through individuals’ stress-causing experiences of hardship relative to others and through institutional processes. For example, a low achievement in education may lead to a poor labor market status, which leads to low earnings, which lead to a low standard of living, which leads to health problems. The increasing inequality may also
depend on the fact that some individuals are not involved in a general positive economic trend in society, meaning that even though welfare problems are not accumulating, the inequality is increasing over time.
The introduction of the term Matthew effect in sociology when explaining how a minority of scholars was standing for the majority of publications and rewards. The term originates from the Bible’s Gospel according to Matthew 13:12 (NIV): “Whoever has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him” . This conclusion was that the reputation of renowned scholars made reviewers appreciate their work more than the work of other scholars with less of a reputation, including younger scholars, which leads to more publications for scholars who already have a good reputation, meaning that early achievements are determinants for later appreciation. In other words, individual development curves continue to grow further apart from each other as time goes by.
Cumulative advantage means therefore that early gain and success offers rewards and leads to greater achievements and success over time. The literature on economic status over the life course suggests, however, that there are certain life-course events that may interrupt the cumulative advantage process and the upward trajectory it involves. These interrupting life-course events can be, for instance, health problems, loss of a spouse or a divorce. One should also take into account that not all life courses involve differentiation since there are constant and convergent life-course trajectories as well.
Of course, the relationships between disadvantages can be so complex that it is not possible to determine the direction of causality between the problems, and, in some cases, there is reason to believe that the causality functions in both directions. This complexity is demonstrated in fact that the initial inequality among individuals increases over time, that a high initial deprivation is related to socio-economic class and that the deprivation reduces upward class mobility over time. Similar relationships are also found between deprivation index and family type.
