My husband Peter Wedge, who has died aged 89, was passionate about high-quality social research and its ability to represent objectively the experiences and needs of those whose voices are otherwise seldom heard.
His 1973 book Born to Fail?, written with Hilary Prosser (and based on data from the National Child Development Study of 17,500 children born in one week in 1958), documented the evidence of strong links between children’s poverty and social disadvantage, and their physical health and educational achievement. The book made a tremendous impact, selling many copies, influencing policymakers, and becoming a prominent text in the teaching of social science over the next several decades. That and Peter’s later work on the impact of imprisonment on families have left a lasting impact on social policy.
