Paul Dornan & Jo Boyden 
Tracing the Consequences of Child Poverty [PDF ebook] 
Evidence from the Young Lives Study in Ethiopia, India, Peru and Vietnam

Available Open Access under CC-BY-NC licence. What matters most in how poverty shapes children’s wellbeing and development? How can data inform social policy and practice approaches to improving the outcomes for poorer children?
Using life course analysis from the Young Lives study of 12, 000 children growing up in Ethiopia, India, Peru and Vietnam over the past 15 years, this book draws on evidence on two cohorts of children, from 1 to 15 and from 8 to 22. It examines how poverty affects children’s development in low and middle income countries, and how policy has been used to improve their lives, then goes on to show when key developmental differences occur. It uses new evidence to develop a framework of what matters most and when and outlines effective policy approaches to inform the no-one left behind Sustainable Development Goal agenda.

Table of Content

Introduction: From surviving to thriving?;
The Young Lives design and conceptual framework;
Growing up in a time of extraordinary change;
Early childhood: The essential foundation;
Middle childhood: A key time for healthy development and learning;
Adolescence and youth: A time of responsibility and transformation;
Tracing the consequences of poverty for growth in receptive vocabulary and mathematics ability from early childhood to adolescence;
Conclusion: Learning from the Young Lives children’s experiences.

About the author

Professor Colin Tredoux is Professor of Psychology, University of Cape Town, and Chaire d’Attractivité, at the Université de Toulouse, Mirail, France. His interests in Social Psychology include contact theory, and the micro-ecology of contact and segregation. He has published widely in a range of journals, including American Psychologist, South African Journal of Psychology, and Psychological Science.