How can we use research to influence public

policies? A case study from Young Lives

Conference on Social Mobility, CEEY, Mexico

November18th

Santiago Cueto

Country Coordinator for Peru

Young Lives / Niños del Milenio:

A longitudinal study of childhood poverty

• Our aim is to shed light on the drivers and impacts of child poverty, and generate evidence to help policymakers design programmes that make a real difference to poor children and their families.

• We have been following 12,000 children in Ethiopia, India (in the states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana), Peru and Vietnam since 2002.

• YL is an international collaborative study coordinated by the University of Oxford and core-funded by the Department for International Development (DFID), with the support of several other donors.

Study design: ‘From photograph to film strip’

Themes

• Low attrition between 2002 and 2013 (around 5%, excluding deaths).

• Young Lives has aligned research and policy themes to some key MDGs and EFAs goals, and now to the SDGs to reinforce our main idea: inclusive policies –‘leaving no child behind’– are key to creating healthier, more productive and just societies, and to break the intergenerational transmission of poverty.

• Our main themes are: Poverty & inequality; Health & nutrition; Education; Gender & youth; and Child protection.

Theory of change I

• Critically analyses whether what we are doing will achieve the aim

we want

By:

• Setting out underpinning assumptions and approaches

• Allows an organisation to set out the change that ought to happen

and its role within that (and the role of others)

• ToC is complemented/supported by other plans and reporting

• Building on what we have done

Theory of change II: Our tasks are

• To generate high-quality longitudinal evidence about the correlates and

impact of poverty on children’s lives in contexts of economic and social change;

• To disseminate this evidence in accessible ways to global and national stakeholders;

• Look to be used in the improvement of policies of governments and other organizations at all stages of children’s lives;

• We also do advocacy to generate political will and shape policy agendas, accountability and good governance within government and systems; adherence to human rights and observing children’s rights; positive resource allocation by ministries, donors and international organizations; and community change.

Theory of change III: document

published in 2015, includes • The core challenge of childhood poverty: reducing child poverty and inequality;

• The dimensions of our work: Features of country contexts in which we work; stakeholders with whom we work; the barriers to using evidence to tackle child poverty; and the entry points through which Young Lives can deliver change.

• Our strategy, organized into four broad and interconnecting ‘channels’ of activity: building CAPACITY; generating RESEARCH; promoting UPTAKE of findings; and INNOVATION in methodology and knowledge.

• We also identify expected inputs that should occur, as well as outputs and outcomes.

• The expected impact is “policies and programmes to support poor children and young people are based on rigorous evidence about children’s experiences, development and outcomes”.

• http://www.younglives.org.uk/content/young-lives-theory-change-1

Theory of change V

Have we made a difference?

• Easier to measure inputs and outputs than outcomes and impact. Difficult to make causal attributions!

• We keep records of publications, meetings, downloads of publications and data bases, visits to web sites, quotes from stakeholders, and participation in national and international boards, meetings and conferences.

• Need a better conceptual model and methodologies to measure impact of research on policies.

Case studies (1)

Example 1: Creation of Child Research and Policy Forum (CRPF) in Ethiopia, following research project which brought stakeholders together

• Benefits: Recognition of importance of face to fact contacts, improving research quality by peer interaction, and creation of space where researchers could engage with Ministry of Women, Children and Youth Affairs

• Challenges: keeping it going

Example 2: Relationship with UNICEF´s Office of Research to study the drivers of violence.

• Benefits: Engagement of national teams (Young Lives and UNICEF country offices) favoured involvement in national debates; working with partners increases dissemination potential

• Challenges: Managing expectations of partners, reacting quickly

Case studies (2)

Example 3: Juntos (conditional cash-transfer program) in Peru

• We developed a series of studies on this program, focusing on different aspects and using a variety of designs.

• Benefits: the accumulation of YL´s evidence, plus that generated by others, allowed us to be a powerful partner of this program.

• Challenges: continue to be engaged with program officers as they rotate with some frequency.

Example 4: publicly archived data set and promoting its use

• Total external users = 1,300. 1/3 non-OECD. Workshops on data use in Peru.

• Benefits: Stimulate external research potential; high VFM return for initial investment; YL´s data set becomes increasingly interesting with every round.

• Challenges: Capacity gaps in low-/middle-income countries (researcher and Government); no tradition of using research.

Case studies (3)

Example 5: Education

• Oxfam has used the Young Lives book Changing Lives in a Changing World to develop Everyone Counts, aimed at children ages 9 to 12.

• We encourage the usage of our studies in universities, to help develop the skills of the next generation of policy makers and developers

• Benefits: develop sensitivity and skills among different young audiences

• Challenges: develop skills in the teachers who use these materials

Meet Seble (From Everyone Counts)

“My name is Seble (Seb-lay). I think that I am 12 years old but I’m not quite sure. I live with my family in a village in a rural area of Oromiya state in Ethiopia… I started going to school when I was eight years old. I still go to school but I’m behind for my age… My own health hasn’t been good. I had tuberculosis when I was six and I’m still not completely better. I have also had malaria twice. If I am able to go to secondary school, I will have to go and live with my grandmother in the nearest town. My older sister has already done this.

Seble

I help my mother a lot in the house, cleaning and making coffee, bread and injera. I learnt to make coffee when I was four years old! I also fetch firewood and water. I like collecting firewood. My friends and I talk and tell jokes while we walk to and from the mountain to collect firewood.

Since I was 11 I have also been working part-time as a labourer, doing work such as planting or picking vegetables. I work with other girls in a group and how much we get paid depends on the number of lines of vegetables we pick. We work up to eight hours a day. After work we chat together.

Seble

I usually work two or three days a week after school, depending on when work is available. For this I earn 6 birr (about £0.18) a day. Sometimes I also sell bread to earn money for my family. I help on the family farm as well, grinding corn for bread, and weeding teff.

I would like to be a teacher when I am older. I don’t want to get married young but I believe that my parents may insist that I do. I would like to wait until I am 19.”

Looking forward: what does it all add up to?

• We have produced summary country reports descrbibing main trends after every round, one pending for round five.

• We are preparing synthesis reports for each country and thematic cross-country reports in education, educational trajectories, impact of preschool, school effectiveness, adolescence, and tracing the consequences of poverty and inequality for children.

• Seeking opportunities to continue studying both cohorts and YL´s children (the next generation!)

Find out more

www.younglives.org.uk • methods and research papers

• datasets (UK Data Archive)

• publications

• child profiles and photos

• e-newsletter

www.ninosdelmilenio.org

(for Peru, in Spanish)

Our social media

Facebook y Twitter:

/YoungLivesStudy

/NinosDelMilenio.org

@Yloxford

@NinosdelMilenio