Early last January I reflected on 12 things we had learned in 2012. Time for an update on the experiences of the Young Lives cohorts. To keep this brief (and risk the disapproval of many colleagues), this compresses a vast amount of work and analysis into a couple of sentences. Of course you will read all of the underlying  research papers, journal articles, policy papers, policy briefs, conference presentations we have been busy presenting - but here's a summary...

#1. Growing up with a promise, children's hopes for the future of development:

The MDG process, and particularly moves towards the post-2015 agenda, comes with sometimes eye-watering complexity. Though delivery is complex and difficulty, the core question is pretty simple: progress, and for whom?

#2. The nature and extent of inequalities facing Young Lives children.

This paper, initially drafted to contribute to the UNICEF's post-2015 consultation, synthesises evidence from across Young Lives. The title gives a clue to its content: 'What inequality means for the children'.

#3. Hopes for the future. No 'poverty of aspirations' here.

One really striking element within Young Lives is the central importance of schooling in what is seen as a 'good life'. All the more striking since the parents of the Millennium generation often had little schooling themselves. Schooling is widely perceived as both core to a good life and the way to social mobility. But without new jobs or opportunities to take advantage of skills, schooling won't meet this expectation.

#4. So, children in private schools in India often score better in tests, why?

The private school system has grown rapidly in Andhra Pradesh, matching trends in other states of India and some other countries. Children in private schools often do better in tests than children in government schools, but since private school pupils may have other advantages than children in government schools (they pay), not all of the difference is likely to be down to the school. Careful analysis decomposes what lies behind the 'private school premium'.

#5. And what is it about a school that promotes learning?

In spite of global narratives that schooling is an 'equaliser' for children, all too frequently inequalities within school entrench those outside school. Vietnam (by contrast) offers interesting (and) positive evidence of how well-designed schemes can help marginalised groups catch up in their learning. (Incidentally, Vietnam did rather better than many richer countries in the OECD's recent PISA assessment) There is lots to digest in this report, but the bit I find particularly interesting is the relative assessment of which schools 'add value' to children's learning, providing a template for how to gather an evidence base to help drive school improvement programmes.

#6. School is just one feature of children's lives.

Work - paid and unpaid - is also important. Child work is much in the news, and some work is clearly exploitative and damaging to children. But that isn't true of all work, and the work that children do (for example caring for siblings) is also a feature of how households manage the needs and demands upon them. A paper considers not only which children did which work in Ethiopia (girls and boys; and by age) but traces how those demands on children are shaped by family composition.

#7. When and why do young people leave school early?

The Older Cohort of Young Lives children were aged around 15 years old when we last interviewed them. Why and what do they then do?

#8. How a family's ability to access cash when adverse events strike can help keep children in school.

Analysis examined the extent to which access to borrowing mediates the impact of loss of crops or where the household weren't able to raise money quickly, the impacts on children of shocks were most profound, with children more likely to exit school or reduce time spent their. The sharpest choices are the ones facing the poorest households.

#9. Well-designed social protection instruments maximise impacts for children. 

Rising interest in social protection (demonstrated by ILO Recommendation 202), focuses attention on the importance of design. But what does that mean in practice? One pointer comes from the Indian National Rural Employment Scheme (which provides paid work in rural areas and has is designed to facilitate women's participation). In the words of the authors 'an increase in mother's share in NREGS workdays [within the household] has a significant positive impact on her children's educational attainment'. The authors interpret the greater involvement of mothers within NREGS as having effects within the household which benefit children.

#10. Children's physical development and signs of resilience.

There is plenty of evidence on the importance of early circumstances and this has concentrated attention on the first 1000 days of a child'€™s life. Cohort data adds to this picture but highlights the importance of not being too deterministic. Measured between 1 and 8 years, some children gain in relative height, others fall behind with some of this change occurring between 5 and 8 -  well after their first 1000 days.

#11. Gains in physical development are associated with gains in cognition.

A key message emerging from our cohort analysis is about the close links between development in one domain of a child's life and other areas of their development. Improvements in nutritional status demonstrate the point: children's recovery in height is associated with gains in cognitive tests also. Prevention is better than cure, of course, but there is important challenge as to how to capitalise on this resilience?

#12. Managing urbanisation.

Many communities in which children live are changing very rapidly. An urbanising world means changes in land use within cities. Many Young Lives children in Ethiopia are faced with relocation with communities cleared and new 'condominium' housing built elsewhere. What does that means for the quality of their accommodation, but also social ties and livelihood prospects? Analysis examines children and families' views about redevelopment and the potential move to low-cost 'condominium' housing - food for thought about how to manage urban changes in ways which maximise the benefits and minimise the risks for families being relocated.

#13. Finally responding to and shaping social change in the best interests of children.

'Harmful traditional practices' raise concerns not only because of risks they pose to children but also concerns over how disempowering these may be (often to girls and women). But eliminating them is not a simple undertaking - simply outlawing practices risks driving them underground, particularly where policy doesn't engage with the underlying social or cultural reasons. Analysis of child marriage and circumcision in Ethiopia examines this relationship between social norms, and policy efforts towards harmful traditional practices.

Taking these papers together these highlight an evidence context for effective social policy for children: the profound importance of early circumstances with increasing evidence of potential of later recovery; the role and effectiveness of the school and need to understand what supports better learning; the contexts in which children are growing up and the nature and impact of fast changing communities.

Each of these points speaks to a story both of how children's capacities and capabilities develop. 

As I'm writing this, the fourth round of household and child surveys are being conducted. The younger children are now aged around 12 years old; the older group around 18 years. Key issues we'll be keen to examine further, therefore, are role of the school, and of the potential for later resilience, but also of how circumstances in childhood begin to shape outcomes in early adulthood - of family, parenting and jobs.