Synopses & Reviews
The Young Lives is a long-term study of childhood poverty in developing countries. International experts follow two groups of children in poor communities in four countries as they grow into young adults with 5 survey rounds to interview all the children and their caregivers, interspersed with on-going participatory research with a smaller number of the children, planned to cover a period of 15 years.
This book represents the engagement of Young Lives with researchers and debates in the field, reflecting on the first two rounds of data coming from countries such as Vietnam, Ethiopia, Congo, India, Peru and South Africa. Topics include the ethics of research, the long-term causes and consequences of childhood poverty, and the resilience and optimism shown by children and their families. The authors also look at the dynamics of childhood poverty - how and why some families move in and out of poverty as well as learning, children's time-use and life transitions - focusing on children's daily lives, their families and communities.
Review
"This is the first book reporting on a unique and exciting programme investigating the changing situation of poor children over time in four developing countries. As well as reporting on important methodological innovations and comparative quantitative analysis of the evolving situation across the four countries, this uplifting book provides should be read for its unprecedented insights into children's own experience, perspectives, understanding and aspirations." - Frances Stewart, Emeritus Professor of Development Economics and Director of CRISE, University of Oxford, UK
"This volume is bound to challenge the orthodoxy, while at the same time offering avenues for orthopraxy. It offers a welcome antidote against a common flaw in economic research, namely statistics without context. The reader will gain a better understanding of childhood poverty from the book's combination of different methods of analyses with innovative sources of information." - Jan Vandemoortele, formerly with UNICEF and UNDP; now independent researcher, writer and lecturer
Synopsis
Part of a three-volume mini series, this study focuses on children and poverty. It shows how poverty affects their development and their lives as children and how children and their families respond to these pressures. It follows two cohorts of children in poor communities in Vietnam, South Africa, Ethiopia, India, and Peru.
About the Author
JO BOYDEN Director of the Young Lives Research Centre, Department of International Development at Oxford University, UK. She is an international expert on issues relating to children in developing countries, how they grow up, the contributions they make to their families, and how they cope with the challenges of daily life. Her published works include
Child Poverty: Perspectives from Belarus, Bolivia, Sierre Leone, India and Kenya (with C. Eyber, T. Feeny and C. Scott) as well as
What Works for Working Children? (with William Myers and Birgitta Ling).
MICHAEL BOURDILLON Emeritus Professor of Sociology at the University of Zimbabwe. An academic and activist who has dedicated his life to improving the lives of street and working children, he is recognised for his passionate defence of children's right to nurture and to learn the skills they need for a useful life wherever they are growing up. He has published The Rights and Wrongs of Children's Work (with Deborah Levison, Bill Myers and Ben White) as well as in Journal of Children and Poverty and Children's Geographies.
Table of Contents
Introduction;
J.Boyden&
M. BourdillonPART I: METHODOLOGY
Doing Longitudinal Research: Opportunities and Challenges in a Study of Childhood; K.Brock & C.Knowles
The Ethics of Social Research with Children and Families in Young Lives: Practical Experiences; V.Morrow
Uncovering the Consequences of Pre-school Malnutrition; J.Hoddinott
Understanding Child Poverty in Developing Countries: Measurement and Analysis; S.Dercon
PART II: DYNAMICS OF CHILDHOOD POVERTY
'Pro-Poor' Growth and Children in Developing Countries: The Case of Vietnam; P.Glewwe
Evidence on Early Childhood Development (ECD) Investment Returns; J.R.Behrman
Do Economic Shocks Have a Sustained Effect on the Height of 5-year-old Children? Evidence from Rural and Urban Ethiopia; T.Woldehanna
PART III: CHILDREN'S EXPERIENCES OF POVERTY
Poverty and Developmental Potential; P.Engle
Poverty, Child Risk, and Resilience in Developing Countries; T.D.Wachs
Political Economy, Perception, and Social Change as Mediators of Childhood Risk in Andhra Pradesh; J.Boyden& G.Crivello
On Being Despised: Growing up a Congolese Refugee in Dar es Salaam; G.Mann
'Pen, Book, Soap, Good Food, and Encouragement': Understandings of a Good Life for Children Among Parents and Children in Three Ethiopian Communities; L.Camfield
'Ridiculed For Not Having Anything': Children's Views on Poverty and Inequality in Rural India; G.Crivello, U.Vennam& A.Komanduri
Pathways through Early Childhood Education in Ethiopia, India, and Peru: Rights, Equity and Diversity; M.Woodhead
Explaining and Overcoming Marginalization in Education: Ethnic/Language Minorities in Peru; S.Cueto, G.Guerrero, J.León, E.Seguin& I.Muñoz
Child Agricultural Work in South Africa: A Contested Space; A.Dawes, J.Streak, S.Levine& D.Ewing
Are Work and Schooling Complementary or Competitive for Children in Rural Ethiopia? A Mixed-methods Study; K.Orkin