WHAT IS YOUNG LIVES? Young Lives is an international research project that is recording changes in child poverty over 15 years and the factors affecting these changes, from 2001 to 2015 in four countries: Ethiopia, India, Peru and Vietnam. The project arose from the concern to monitor progress towards meeting the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and the International Development Targets in relation to the situation of children, understanding how key development policies affect child wellbeing.

WHAT IS YOUNG LIVES? The project aims to reveal the links between international and national policies and children's day-to-day lives. For example: –“Trade and exchange policies may have larger impact on children’s development than the relative size of the budgets allocated to health and education” (UNICEF, 2001). –One of the topics on which Young Lives is currently carrying out research is the impact of trade liberalisation on livelihoods and the translations of these effects onto children - through child labour, family income, etc.

AIMS Contributing to the reduction of childhood poverty in the four programme countries, based on research findings and policy interventions. Monitoring trends in factors that affect communities, households, and more specifically children’s poverty status, comparing and contrasting those that are region or culture specific and those that are generalised across countries.

ACTIVITIES Conduct panel surveys of children living in poverty in phases during a 15-year period, every three to four years. Strengthen the capacity of communities and families to improve the condition of children through talks, provision of information materials, involvement with community leaders, among others.

ACTIVITIES Disseminate research results, especially to policy makers and policy actors. Some of the dissemination activities are: –Children’s forum in Vietnam. –Radio programme in Peru. –Workshops for training parliamentarians on mainstreaming childhood poverty into policies. –Short videos recording lives of selected children to show to diverse stakeholders.

MULTIPLE DIMENSIONS OF CHILDHOOD POVERTY Lack of fulfilment of children’s rights Economic status of household Health and nutrition of children Educational access, quality and attainment Conditions of child work Inequalities - including gender, age, regional disparities in service provision. Social exclusion / discrimination

YOUNG LIVES’ APPROACHES TO UNDERSTAND CHILD POVERTY Livelihoods Social services Social capital Children’s rights

METHODOLOGY Consultation with stakeholders and experts Main quantitative surveys for children and for communities: –common cross-country element –country-specific element Development of policy documents Qualitative research Participatory element

MAIN SURVEY 3,000 children in each country: –1,000 children aged in 2000 –2,000 children aged in 2000 Sampled from 20 clusters selected from poverty mapping First round carried out in early 2002, second round to be carried out in mid Tracking mechanisms in place

CRITERIA FOR COUNTRY CHOICE Differences that enable comparative analysis in terms of political systems, organisational structure, culture, etc. Stage of economic liberalisation Condition of inequality Commitment to poverty reduction strategies. Government interest Research capacity Potential civil society engagement

Preliminary reports for the four countries were published in 2003, based on the first round of data collection. A series of working papers studying different aspects of child poverty based on Young Lives data is available. Several issues have also been published in specialised journals. A series of policy briefs analysing the impact of specific sector policies in each of the four countries will be out this year. Research Outputs

FINDINGS FROM DATA ANALYIS Some of the findings that will contribute to the project’s policy engagement and further research are: –There is a greater positive impact of women’s level of education on the nutritional status of children than other factors, like increases in household incomes.

FINDINGS FROM DATA ANALYIS –Most indicators for child well being show important disparities between rural and urban localities, with rural children being the least favoured. –In general, national development policies for improving household livelihoods ignore their impact on caregivers and hence often generate negative consequences on children (there are exceptions, like the Wawa Wasi programme in Peru)

FINDINGS FROM DATA ANALYIS –Adult females, not only mothers, are key figures in family and community development. –Contrary to original hypothesis, analysis of women’s social capital has not been conclusive in finding a relationship between women’s belonging to social groups and children’s wellbeing.

–Evidence from the different YL sites has shown that national level “one-size-fits-all” policies have limited benefits given the great cross-regional differences. For example, mechanisms to promote school enrolment and reduce drop out rates in Ethiopia need to account for differences between children from nomadic and settled communities. FINDINGS FROM DATA ANALYIS

MORE INFORMATION You can general information on the programme, the four preliminary country reports and the whole series of working papers published to date on the Young Lives website: