As the Young Marriage and Parenthood Study (YMAPS) draws to a close we're delighted to release our animation, Second Chances: Young Marriage, Parenthood and Cohabitation. This illustrates findings from the YMAPS Comparative Report, authored by Young Lives and Child Frontiers, which summarises the study outcomes in Ethiopia, India, Peru and Zambia.

Adolescence can be an age of possibility, and the opening up of new pathways in education, work and relationships.  But for teenagers living in poverty, choices are limited, and if they marry or become parents, future options can narrow even further.

Whilst the drivers of marriage and pregnancy among adolescents and young people in low and middle income countries are increasingly well understood, we rarely hear from the young people themselves. Through YMAPS' research we sought to amplify the voices of young people who are cohabitating, married, divorced or parents and to understand what they need to live well.

Watch the animation below, and learn what we can do to ensure we open up doors for these young people's futures.

Find the animation on Youtube, and share your thoughts with us on Twitter  - @yloxford. 

Learn more about the Young Marriage and Parenthood Study here, while YMAPS is drawing to a close, Young Lives will continue to explore this theme in its ongoing work.