How can we use research to influence public policies? A case study from Young Lives

1. 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

2. 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.

3. Study design: ‘From photograph to film strip’

4. 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.

5. 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

6. 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.

7. 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

8. Theory of change V

9. 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.

10. 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

11. 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.

12. 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

13. 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.

14. 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.

15. 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.”

16. 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!)

17. 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)

18. Our social media
Facebook y Twitter:
/YoungLivesStudy
/NinosDelMilenio.org
@Yloxford
@NinosdelMilenio