The authors provide an update on the Cohort Profile of the Young Lives Study, in an article published in the International Journal of Epidemiology 

Key messages from the article are: 

• Young Lives is a longitudinal study tracking two cohorts of children in four low-and-middle-income countries [Ethiopia, India, Peru and Vietnam].

• The survey started in 2002 and three rounds were completed by 2009. Two further rounds took place in 2013 (round 4) and 2016 (round 5). Most recently the round planned for 2020 was conducted by telephone.

• More than 91% of the original sample (10,724 out of 11,784 respondents, aged 15 and 22) took part to (in) round 5 and 84% of the original sample participated in the COVID-19 phone survey (9,864 respondents, aged 19 and 26).

• The last two in-person rounds incorporate measures relevant to young people rather than children (expanding on of socio-emotional skills, labour market participation, marriage and fertility). The phone survey includes questions related to COVID-19, economic experiences, education, labour market, mental health, domestic violence, food insecurity.

• Data are publicly archived on the UK Data Service [http://doi.org/10.5255/UKDA-SN-8678-2]