Continuity and change in poor children's lives: evidence from Young Lives

TL;DRAbstract

Abstract This chapter provides an overview of Young Lives, a longitudinal study of childhood poverty following the lives of 12,000 children in 4 developing countries (Ethiopia, India, Peru and Vietnam) over 15 years. The authors outline the study's conceptual and analytical framework and report on some early findings concerning trends in child welfare and the dynamics of child poverty, in particular looking at how poverty is transmitted across generations. Based on data collected when the children were aged 5 and 12, they conclude that economic growth itself will not solve the problems associated with poverty in childhood, and in some instances can accentuate inequalities. They also conclude that the experience of deprivations in childhood cast a very long shadow for children as they grow and develop, and that properly designed social policies can have a protective effect against economic shocks (such as the global financial crisis).

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