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Young Lives Newsletter June 2024
Round 7 data collection complete!
We are delighted to announce our Round 7 data collection is now complete!
Director of Research Marta Favara said, 'We are extremely grateful to all the Young Lives respondents who have participated in this survey since 2002. A huge thank you to our dedicated country fieldwork teams who have worked tirelessly to locate and interview as many respondents as possible, and to the Oxford team for their unstinting effort in the past two years, overcoming multiple challenges. We now have the exciting, and labour-intensive task of analysing the mass of data for over 7, 000 participants in Ethiopia, India and Peru.’
Young Lives and Vietnam
Whilst Round 7 data collection has now been completed in three of Young Lives’ study countries; Ethiopia, India and Peru, recent policy changes on data protection in Vietnam, which affect the transfer of personal data outside the country for ODA- funded activities, has meant we have been unable to complete Round 7 data collection in Vietnam. We will conduct a tracking exercise for Young Lives this year. This will enable us to maintain critical contact with our cohorts, minimising the attrition risk for a future Round 8. We will provide updates as we progress this work over coming months.
Young lives in the News
Young Lives in the FT
'Malnutrition in infancy has a long-term impact on [children’s] physical growth but also on their cognitive development...'
The above quote from Director of Research Marta Favara, based on Young Lives longitudinal evidence, was recently featured, along with further comments from Marta, in the Financial Times article Conflict and climate shocks fuel food poverty crises. (Paywall applies after initial viewing)
University of Oxford features Young Lives research into Child Marriage
University of Oxford's website featured how Young Lives evidence played a vital role in influencing the Peruvian Government's new legislation to prohibit all marriages with minors under the age of 18. Click the button to read the article on the university news page.
Education and climate change: Young Lives research in Cambridge
On 20 May, Senior Policy Advisor Kath Ford took part in a roundtable event at the Research for Equitable Access and Learning (REAL) Centre on education and climate change. The event highlighted the need to build the evidence base on effective ways to build global citizenship for climate action and ensure all children get the support they need to access a quality education, and realise their potential in a changing
climate.
YL longitudinal research shows that early exposure to climate shocks have profound long-term consequences for children’s skills and learning, but that support from social protection can make a big difference. Read more in our Policy Brief Weathering the Storm: Climate Shocks Threaten Children’s Skills and Learning But Social Protection Can Mitigate Impact.
Latest Journal Articles
Late-childhood foundational cognitive skills predict educational outcomes through adolescence and into young adulthood: Evidence from Ethiopia and Peru
Authors: Jennifer Lopez, Jere Behrman, Santiago Cueto, Marta Favara, Alan Sánchez
In this paper, the authors use Young Lives data to estimate associations between foundational cognitive skills (inhibitory control, working memory, long-term memory, and implicit learning) measured at age 12 and educational outcomes measured at ages 15 and 19–20 in Ethiopia and Peru.
The article is FREE to download from ScienceDirect until 22 June 2024!
Does early nutrition predict cognitive skills during later childhood? Evidence from two developing countries
Authors: Alan Sánchez, Marta Favara, Margaret Sheridan, Jere Behrman
In this article, the authors use Young Lives data to investigate the relationship between early undernutrition and four foundational cognitive skills, to shed light on the mechanisms that explain the relationship between early nutrition and school achievement tests.
Long-Term Effects of Early Life Rainfall Shocks on Foundational Cognitive Skills: Evidence from Peru
Authors: Nicolás Pazos Navarro, Marta Favara, Alan Sánchez, Douglas Scott, Jere Behrman
Using Young Lives' data, this paper analyses the effects of early exposure to rainfall shocks on four foundational cognitive skills (FCSs) that have been found to be key predictors of educational success.
Young Lives News from around the world
"GRADE Conversa" Podcast #22: Fundamental Cognitive Skills
In this recently launched episode of the "GRADE Conversa" Podcast, Young Lives Peru (Niños del Milenio) Country Director Santiago Cueto, Alan Sanchez and Jennifer López discuss latest research on the relationship between fundamental cognitive skills, educational outcomes in adolescence and youth, early nutrition, and the effect of rain shocks.
In May, Dr Renu Singh, Country Director YL India, presented at the ARNEC 2024 Regional Conference on Early Childhood Development, in Penang, Malaysia. The presentation centred on an inter-cohort comparison to uncover Early Childhood Development (ECD) disparities over time. Dr. Singh presented evolving trends and potential inequities in ECD practices and outcomes.
In April, Young Lives Ethiopia organised the 4th Children, Youth and Women – Research and Practice Forum (CYW-RPF) of 2024, in collaboration with the Ministry of Women and Social Affairs, and UNICEF Ethiopia. A paper by the Policy Studies Institute (PSI) with the support of UNICEF, The Impact of Conflict on Child Education in Ethiopia by Dr Kaleab Kebede (Senior researcher at PSI), was presented at the monthly CYW-RPF seminar.
In case you missed it...
Our Skills for Young Lives Podcast is now available on YouTube!
The Skills for Young Lives Podcast takes a deep dive into the topic of children’s skills in the Global South. In a series of absorbing conversations with academic, policy and programme experts, Young Lives Director Cath Porter unpacks the latest research on how girls and boys develop skills throughout childhood and adolescence; how poverty, gender and global crises shape their experiences; and in what ways policies can empower equitable futures. Listen below.
Episode 1: Unpacking gender and social and emotional skills in the Global South
Episode 2: How to keep girls in high school in India
Episode 3: Supporting children’s skills development – what works
If you have any questions or comments about this newsletter please contact Young Lives Communications Manager - julia.tilford@qeh.ox.ac.uk.
