Young Lives is delighted to announce that our colleagues have been awarded the University of Oxford’s 2025 Social Sciences Impact Award in the Developing Impact category for Young Lives Evidence Directly Informing Legislative Change to Prohibit Child Marriage in Peru.
Congratulations to Dr Alan Sánchez Jiménez, Dr Marta Favara, Kath Ford, and Julia Tilford from Young Lives Oxford, along with Vanessa Rojas Arangoitia, Santiago Cueto Caballero, and Gisela Chacaltana from Niños del Milenio (Young Lives Peru), and Gina Crivello (In Memoriam). The award recognises work done by Young Lives over many years to provide the evidence base for informed policy making to change lives.
Between 2013 and 2022, over 4,350 child marriages involving girls between the ages of 11 and 17 years were registered in Peru. Almost all (98%) of these resulted in young girls being married to adult men.
In September 2022, while presenting a Parliamentary Bill to the Peruvian Congress advocating for the end of child marriage, Congresswoman Flor Pablo directly cited Young Lives research. This, combined with extensive engagement with policymakers, media, and the production of compelling media—such as the Second Chances: Young Marriage, Parenthood and Cohabitation animation—by the Young Lives team, led to the introduction of new legislation in November 2023 to prohibit all marriages with minors under the age of 18 in Peru.
Watch a film about the team’s impact:
Impact Beyond Peru
Young Lives evidence on the consequences of early marriage is also starting to have a significant impact in India, where nearly 1 in 4 young women are married before the age of 18 (UNICEF, 2022). The Young Lives India team were invited to present evidence to the Indian Parliamentary Standing Committee as part of their examinations of a proposed new bill to increase the legal age of marriage for women from 18 to 21 years of age. This would be a seismic policy shift for a country where the majority of young women currently get married between the ages of 18 and 21.
Young Lives has also worked with Child Frontiers to conduct in-depth interviews on the lived experience of early and child marriage and parenthood in Ethiopia, India, Peru and Zambia.
Key Young Lives evidence referenced in engagement with Peruvian Congress
- Experiences of Cohabitation, Marriage and Parenting in Peruvian Adolescents and Youth (2020) – Directly cited in Peru’s Parliamentary Bill and Congressional Roundtable debate.
- Breaking the Silence: Why do Young Women in Peru Marry or Cohabit at a Young Age, and What are the Consequences? (2020) – Referenced in Peru’s Parliamentary Bill debate.
- Raising the Age of Marriage in India: Legislation Alone Will Not be Enough (2022) – Presented to India's Parliamentary Roundtable.
- Understanding Teenage Fertility, Cohabitation, and Marriage: The Case of Peru (2016) – Cited in a UNFPA and Plan International report, referenced in Peru’s Parliamentary Bill debate.
- Maternal Age and Offspring Human Capital in India (2019) – Related findings cited in India’s Parliamentary discussions.
Acknowledging Our Supporters
Young Lives extends gratitude to our past funders, including the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office, The Old Dart Foundation, and the International Development Research Centre (IDRC), for making this impactful work possible.
Young Lives is delighted to announce that our colleagues have been awarded the University of Oxford’s 2025 Social Sciences Impact Award in the Developing Impact category for Young Lives Evidence Directly Informing Legislative Change to Prohibit Child Marriage in Peru.
Congratulations to Dr Alan Sánchez Jiménez, Dr Marta Favara, Kath Ford, and Julia Tilford from Young Lives Oxford, along with Vanessa Rojas Arangoitia, Santiago Cueto Caballero, and Gisela Chacaltana from Niños del Milenio (Young Lives Peru), and Gina Crivello (In Memoriam). The award recognises work done by Young Lives over many years to provide the evidence base for informed policy making to change lives.
Between 2013 and 2022, over 4,350 child marriages involving girls between the ages of 11 and 17 years were registered in Peru. Almost all (98%) of these resulted in young girls being married to adult men.
In September 2022, while presenting a Parliamentary Bill to the Peruvian Congress advocating for the end of child marriage, Congresswoman Flor Pablo directly cited Young Lives research. This, combined with extensive engagement with policymakers, media, and the production of compelling media—such as the Second Chances: Young Marriage, Parenthood and Cohabitation animation—by the Young Lives team, led to the introduction of new legislation in November 2023 to prohibit all marriages with minors under the age of 18 in Peru.
Watch a film about the team’s impact:
Impact Beyond Peru
Young Lives evidence on the consequences of early marriage is also starting to have a significant impact in India, where nearly 1 in 4 young women are married before the age of 18 (UNICEF, 2022). The Young Lives India team were invited to present evidence to the Indian Parliamentary Standing Committee as part of their examinations of a proposed new bill to increase the legal age of marriage for women from 18 to 21 years of age. This would be a seismic policy shift for a country where the majority of young women currently get married between the ages of 18 and 21.
Young Lives has also worked with Child Frontiers to conduct in-depth interviews on the lived experience of early and child marriage and parenthood in Ethiopia, India, Peru and Zambia.
Key Young Lives evidence referenced in engagement with Peruvian Congress
- Experiences of Cohabitation, Marriage and Parenting in Peruvian Adolescents and Youth (2020) – Directly cited in Peru’s Parliamentary Bill and Congressional Roundtable debate.
- Breaking the Silence: Why do Young Women in Peru Marry or Cohabit at a Young Age, and What are the Consequences? (2020) – Referenced in Peru’s Parliamentary Bill debate.
- Raising the Age of Marriage in India: Legislation Alone Will Not be Enough (2022) – Presented to India's Parliamentary Roundtable.
- Understanding Teenage Fertility, Cohabitation, and Marriage: The Case of Peru (2016) – Cited in a UNFPA and Plan International report, referenced in Peru’s Parliamentary Bill debate.
- Maternal Age and Offspring Human Capital in India (2019) – Related findings cited in India’s Parliamentary discussions.
Acknowledging Our Supporters
Young Lives extends gratitude to our past funders, including the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office, The Old Dart Foundation, and the International Development Research Centre (IDRC), for making this impactful work possible.