A launch of the Young Lives Round 3 survey data was hosted by the Department for International Development in London on Tuesday 27 September 2011. The roundtable event, attended by DFID staff, other poverty researchers and representatives from child-focused NGOs, gave an overview of findings from Young Lives as it launches the data from its third round of household and child surveys.
These preliminary results show that Young Lives data across a range of indicators can be combined to offer an overview of the mechanisms by which poverty persists - the perpetuation of gender gaps, the risk of entrenched inequalities in chronically poor communities - and the skill-formation process, linking nutrition, education and children's psychosocial skills and well-being.
Professor Jo Boyden, Director of Young Lives, introduced the launch with an overview of policy interventions to support children in developing countries. This was followed by a summary of the Round 3 findings from Young Lives in Ethiopia and a case study of how education data is being used in policymaking in Vietnam. Professor Stefan Dercon concluded with a presentation demonstrating how rapid economic growth is affecting children. The seminar was chaired by Dr Chris Whitty, Director, Research and Evidence at DFID.
Lively presentations
Professor Jo Boyden, Director of Young Lives, introduced the seminar, giving an overview of the latest policy interventions to support children in developing countries. The first wave of measures, aimed at improving health, nutrition and access to water and sanitation have been extraordinarily successful at improving children's chances of survival over the past 30 years. The second wave, which focused on education, has increased pre-school and primary enrolment (particularly since the implementation of the Millennium Development Goals), dramatically changing children's aspirations. But the third wave of interventions, focused on child protection issues such as exploitation, homelessness and violence, is faltering - and specific challenges remain to the first and second wave.
At the same time, many developing country economies have become far more buoyant with the new Millennium. In common with many developing countries, all four Young Lives study countries have experienced rapid growth since 2000 - wealth and consumption levels are increasing, access to services has improved, there has been considerable progress in primary enrolment, and it could even be said that the nature of childhood is changing. But Young Lives is also finding that some households and children are repeatedly disadvantaged - ethnic minority children, rural households, and children whose parents themselves have low levels of education - are all doing less well across a series of indicators in education, health, and subjective well-being.
Her presentation was followed by a summary of the Round 3 survey findings from Ethiopia and a case study of how education research is being used for policymaking in Vietnam.
Tassew Woldehanna, Principal Investigator, Young Lives Ethiopia, gave an overview of initial data the Round 3 survey in Ethiopia, demonstrating how, despite considerable economic growth, there are still many challenges around poverty reduction in Ethiopia. We find that there have been increases in family wealth, consumption levels and access to services, but that poor households are very vulnerable to shocks and adverse events such as price increases, drought or crop failure, and ill-health. Our qualitative case study work with children indicates how important a role they play in supporting family livelihoods, learning useful skills along the way. But we also see how, despite remarkable improvements in school coverage in Ethiopia, and rapid increases in enrolment, challenges remain for education policy, with only 18% of the 15-year-olds in our sample having completed primary school.
Thang Nguyen, Country Director, Young Lives Vietnam, presented a case study of engaging with current policy debates in Vietnam. Vietnam has achieved remarkable poverty reduction since 1990 and reached lower middle-income status in 2009. Government attention is now concentrated on how to ensure that the country can continue this economic development and become a modern industrialised economy by 2020. For this a highly trained workforce is needed, and education policy is focusing in this area. However, as Young Lives data demonstrate, a small but significant group of children - children in rural areas, from ethnic minorities, or whose parents are themselves poorly educated - are persistently falling behind, and to break the trap of chronic poverty, government must focus on these children.
These 2 case studies were followed by Professor Stefan Dercon, from the Department of International Development, University of Oxford, who gave a wide-ranging presentation demonstrating how rapid economic growth in the four study countries is affecting the lives of the Young Lives sample children and their households. Data from Young Lives shows how high levels of inequality and disadvantage persist - illustrated by worryingly high levels of stunting among the Young Lives children. The links between under-nutrition and cognitive development are widely documented and well understood and contribute to persistent disadvantage across generations. However, some catch-up growth has been documented in some Young Lives children by age 6, and we are seeing early evidence that this might also have potential benefits in improved cognitive outcomes.
Professor Dercon also explored the evidence around gender-based differences. While there are less clear patterns of gender bias than we might have expected across a range of measurements (nutrition, subjective well-being, and self-esteem), gaps are evident at all ages in education outcomes, especially at age 15, in Ethiopia, India and Vietnam and rural Peru. These gaps can be seen in aspirations: we observe differences in parental aspirations for boys and girls at age 8, translating into children-s own aspirations at age 12, and into gaps in learning test results at age 15.
Wide-ranging questions
The questions and discussions that followed the presentations covered a range of issues.
Participants discussed the benefits of a longitudinal research methods to highlight the causal mechanisms of childhood poverty over time (which is what makes Young Lives different from other surveys such as the UNICEF Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys or the World Bank's Demographic and Health Surveys). Young Lives explores the inter-linkages and connections between the different domains that affect children's development (nutrition, education, and psychosocial well-being and how these all interact with, and are influenced by, socioeconomic and structural factors) - and the complexity of poverty and its impact on children. There are child-specific issues which are difficult to highlight in a household survey (for example violence in school) which require more detailed qualitative research with children to fully understand their impact and the policy measures that could be taken to address them.
The findings on education outcomes for girls were explored in more depth. Although we are seeing that enrolment for both boys and girls has improved rapidly in recent years, generally, girls are performing less well across the study countries (with the exception of Vietnam). The Young Lives data allows us to look at child and household-level factors that contribute to this, and the forthcoming school data will give more information about school-level factors. However, we are also seeing differences in the ways boys and girls are treated differently, both at school and within the home environment. There was considerable interest in the differences observed between parental and child aspirations.
Third, we discussed how Young Lives evidence can best be used to view government policy and programmes. While sub-studies have been carried out on various schemes (e.g. the National Rural Employment Guarantee scheme in India, or Productive Safety Net Programme in Ethiopia), the data can best be used to review the impact of programmes on children within our sample who are covered compared with those who are not, and changes that have taken place over time, rather than any attempt at an experimental approach including or excluding some of the study children.
Participants also stressed how it would be useful for research to be able to be used to help inform policy priorities on the sequencing of investment, for example in considering whether growth was needed to finance education, or education to sustain growth.
Presentations
Delivering Economic Growth for Children Professor Jo Boyden (Director, Young Lives, University of Oxford)
Round 3 Survey Report Overview: Ethiopia Tassew Woldehanna (Principal Investigator, Young Lives Ethiopia)
Education in the Context of Delivering Growth Thang Nguyen (Country Director, Young Lives in Vietnam)
Inclusive Growth: Learning from the Evidence of the Young Lives Study Professor Stefan Dercon (Department of International Development, University of Oxford)
A launch of the Young Lives Round 3 survey data was hosted by the Department for International Development in London on Tuesday 27 September 2011. The roundtable event, attended by DFID staff, other poverty researchers and representatives from child-focused NGOs, gave an overview of findings from Young Lives as it launches the data from its third round of household and child surveys.
These preliminary results show that Young Lives data across a range of indicators can be combined to offer an overview of the mechanisms by which poverty persists - the perpetuation of gender gaps, the risk of entrenched inequalities in chronically poor communities - and the skill-formation process, linking nutrition, education and children's psychosocial skills and well-being.
Professor Jo Boyden, Director of Young Lives, introduced the launch with an overview of policy interventions to support children in developing countries. This was followed by a summary of the Round 3 findings from Young Lives in Ethiopia and a case study of how education data is being used in policymaking in Vietnam. Professor Stefan Dercon concluded with a presentation demonstrating how rapid economic growth is affecting children. The seminar was chaired by Dr Chris Whitty, Director, Research and Evidence at DFID.
Lively presentations
Professor Jo Boyden, Director of Young Lives, introduced the seminar, giving an overview of the latest policy interventions to support children in developing countries. The first wave of measures, aimed at improving health, nutrition and access to water and sanitation have been extraordinarily successful at improving children's chances of survival over the past 30 years. The second wave, which focused on education, has increased pre-school and primary enrolment (particularly since the implementation of the Millennium Development Goals), dramatically changing children's aspirations. But the third wave of interventions, focused on child protection issues such as exploitation, homelessness and violence, is faltering - and specific challenges remain to the first and second wave.
At the same time, many developing country economies have become far more buoyant with the new Millennium. In common with many developing countries, all four Young Lives study countries have experienced rapid growth since 2000 - wealth and consumption levels are increasing, access to services has improved, there has been considerable progress in primary enrolment, and it could even be said that the nature of childhood is changing. But Young Lives is also finding that some households and children are repeatedly disadvantaged - ethnic minority children, rural households, and children whose parents themselves have low levels of education - are all doing less well across a series of indicators in education, health, and subjective well-being.
Her presentation was followed by a summary of the Round 3 survey findings from Ethiopia and a case study of how education research is being used for policymaking in Vietnam.
Tassew Woldehanna, Principal Investigator, Young Lives Ethiopia, gave an overview of initial data the Round 3 survey in Ethiopia, demonstrating how, despite considerable economic growth, there are still many challenges around poverty reduction in Ethiopia. We find that there have been increases in family wealth, consumption levels and access to services, but that poor households are very vulnerable to shocks and adverse events such as price increases, drought or crop failure, and ill-health. Our qualitative case study work with children indicates how important a role they play in supporting family livelihoods, learning useful skills along the way. But we also see how, despite remarkable improvements in school coverage in Ethiopia, and rapid increases in enrolment, challenges remain for education policy, with only 18% of the 15-year-olds in our sample having completed primary school.
Thang Nguyen, Country Director, Young Lives Vietnam, presented a case study of engaging with current policy debates in Vietnam. Vietnam has achieved remarkable poverty reduction since 1990 and reached lower middle-income status in 2009. Government attention is now concentrated on how to ensure that the country can continue this economic development and become a modern industrialised economy by 2020. For this a highly trained workforce is needed, and education policy is focusing in this area. However, as Young Lives data demonstrate, a small but significant group of children - children in rural areas, from ethnic minorities, or whose parents are themselves poorly educated - are persistently falling behind, and to break the trap of chronic poverty, government must focus on these children.
These 2 case studies were followed by Professor Stefan Dercon, from the Department of International Development, University of Oxford, who gave a wide-ranging presentation demonstrating how rapid economic growth in the four study countries is affecting the lives of the Young Lives sample children and their households. Data from Young Lives shows how high levels of inequality and disadvantage persist - illustrated by worryingly high levels of stunting among the Young Lives children. The links between under-nutrition and cognitive development are widely documented and well understood and contribute to persistent disadvantage across generations. However, some catch-up growth has been documented in some Young Lives children by age 6, and we are seeing early evidence that this might also have potential benefits in improved cognitive outcomes.
Professor Dercon also explored the evidence around gender-based differences. While there are less clear patterns of gender bias than we might have expected across a range of measurements (nutrition, subjective well-being, and self-esteem), gaps are evident at all ages in education outcomes, especially at age 15, in Ethiopia, India and Vietnam and rural Peru. These gaps can be seen in aspirations: we observe differences in parental aspirations for boys and girls at age 8, translating into children-s own aspirations at age 12, and into gaps in learning test results at age 15.
Wide-ranging questions
The questions and discussions that followed the presentations covered a range of issues.
Participants discussed the benefits of a longitudinal research methods to highlight the causal mechanisms of childhood poverty over time (which is what makes Young Lives different from other surveys such as the UNICEF Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys or the World Bank's Demographic and Health Surveys). Young Lives explores the inter-linkages and connections between the different domains that affect children's development (nutrition, education, and psychosocial well-being and how these all interact with, and are influenced by, socioeconomic and structural factors) - and the complexity of poverty and its impact on children. There are child-specific issues which are difficult to highlight in a household survey (for example violence in school) which require more detailed qualitative research with children to fully understand their impact and the policy measures that could be taken to address them.
The findings on education outcomes for girls were explored in more depth. Although we are seeing that enrolment for both boys and girls has improved rapidly in recent years, generally, girls are performing less well across the study countries (with the exception of Vietnam). The Young Lives data allows us to look at child and household-level factors that contribute to this, and the forthcoming school data will give more information about school-level factors. However, we are also seeing differences in the ways boys and girls are treated differently, both at school and within the home environment. There was considerable interest in the differences observed between parental and child aspirations.
Third, we discussed how Young Lives evidence can best be used to view government policy and programmes. While sub-studies have been carried out on various schemes (e.g. the National Rural Employment Guarantee scheme in India, or Productive Safety Net Programme in Ethiopia), the data can best be used to review the impact of programmes on children within our sample who are covered compared with those who are not, and changes that have taken place over time, rather than any attempt at an experimental approach including or excluding some of the study children.
Participants also stressed how it would be useful for research to be able to be used to help inform policy priorities on the sequencing of investment, for example in considering whether growth was needed to finance education, or education to sustain growth.
Presentations
Delivering Economic Growth for Children Professor Jo Boyden (Director, Young Lives, University of Oxford)
Round 3 Survey Report Overview: Ethiopia Tassew Woldehanna (Principal Investigator, Young Lives Ethiopia)
Education in the Context of Delivering Growth Thang Nguyen (Country Director, Young Lives in Vietnam)
Inclusive Growth: Learning from the Evidence of the Young Lives Study Professor Stefan Dercon (Department of International Development, University of Oxford)