Biography

Daniela joined CASE in 2025 as an ESRC-funded PhD student in the Department of Social Policy. Her research examines how socioeconomic inequality shapes children’s trajectories, with a broader interest in early human capital formation and the conditions that place children at risk in the early years. She is particularly interested in how early experiences lay the foundations for later life-course outcomes and how policy can mitigate the accumulation of disadvantage. Her PhD examines how mechanisms at the family, neighbourhood, and institutional levels jointly shape children’s early skill formation and contribute to the emergence of developmental inequalities in Chile. Before beginning her doctorate, she worked as a consultant to UNICEF Chile, the Child Protection Service, and the Ministry of Social Development on issues related to early childhood and social policy.

Daniela Montanari's current research interests are:

• Child poverty
• Early childhood education and care
• Early childhood inequalities
• Child and family policies