Human capital over the life cycle : a European perspective Human Capital Over the Life Cycle synthesises comparative research on the processes of human capital formation in the areas of education and training in Europe in relation to the labour market. The book proposes that one of the most important challenges faced by Europe today is to understand the link between education and training on the one hand and economic and social inequality on the other. The authors focus the analysis on three main aspects of the links between education and social inequality: educational inequality differences in access to labour markets and differences in lifelong earnings and training pt. 1. Schooling systems pt. 2. Transitions from school to work pt. 3. Human capital and the work career