About Young Lives Ethiopia
Young Lives is an international study of childhood poverty following the changing lives of 12,000 children in Ethiopia, India, Peru and Vietnam over 15 years.
The study is unique in that it directly links the evidence-base of research to policymakers and planners, both in the study countries and internationally.
Young Lives is a collaborative research project coordinated by a team based at the University of Oxford. Our research partners in each study country represent a range of government, independent and academic institutions.
The strength of Young Lives lies in the knowledge, expertise, skills and diversity of the international team. It draws together experts in the field of childhood poverty across a wide range of disciplines – ranging from anthropology, economics, education, health and nutrition, psychology, social policy, sociology, and policy.
The study countries – Ethiopia, India, Peru and Vietnam – were selected to reflect a wide range of cultural, political, geographical and social contexts.
In Ethiopia we've built a comprehensive picture of the lives of 3,000 children living in 20 sites across Addis Ababa and the other four major regions in Ethiopia – Amhara, Oromia, the Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples Region (SNNPR), and Tigray.
The children being tracked by Young Lives are from two age groups (or cohorts): 2,000 children born in 2001-02 and 1,000 children born in 1994-95. These two groups provide insight into every phase of childhood and, in the case of the older children, into adulthood when many will become parents themselves.
Our innovative approach to poverty research is enabling us to collect a wealth of information not only about children's material and social circumstances, but also their perspectives on their lives and aspirations for their futures, set against the social and environmental realities of their communities.
Through our pro-poor sample we are building up a comprehensive picture of what poverty means for children in Ethiopia today. We are interested in children's subjective experience and views about their lives as well as more standard poverty measures.
Ethiopian children play an active role in our work, and we work with policymakers to provide the evidence they need to design effective child poverty reduction policies.
Linked with our commitment to communications and policy engagement, we are using our research results to influence the development of thinking, policy and practice on child poverty and to improve poor children's lives.