The new funding comes as Young Lives prepares to launch its latest survey round, which will begin in its four study countries from 12 June. This will be the first survey round to be conducted in person since before the pandemic.

Young Lives is a longitudinal study of poverty and inequality that has been following the lives of 12,000 children in Ethiopia, India (Andhra Pradesh and Telangana), Peru and Vietnam since 2001. 

Since 2019, Young Lives at Work (YLAW) has been following the original study children into youth and young adulthood. It aims to investigate how education and skills shape young people's opportunities as they move into the labour market.

Round 6 of the survey, which was scheduled to take place in 2020, was rapidly transformed into a phone survey to find out how the pandemic was impacting the young people.

Round 7 will comprise a face-to-face survey as well as a self-administered questionnaire on more sensitive topics.

The unprecedented combination of COVID-19, conflict and climate change is having a significant impact on young people’s lives, particularly those living in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), with profound effects on their mental health.

The new funding will allow Young Lives to collect additional new data on mental health and subjective wellbeing for young people in addition to measuring the impact of the recent conflict in Ethiopia. This in turn will underpin a comprehensive Young Lives research-to-policy impact programme in these areas.

Round 7 will start in Peru on 12 June, and training of the enumerators who conduct the survey is underway. The survey round will begin in India later in June and in Ethiopia and Vietnam in October. Fieldwork is due to be completed by March 2024.

An exceptional feature of the Young Lives' study is its low attrition rate – between 4 and 16%.  For Round 7 it has been possible to reconnect with 84-96% of the Round 5 sample, the last in-person round.

To find out more about the work, visit their website here.