The Young Lives multi-disciplinary team is based in the Department of International Development at Oxford. The study is tracking 12,000 participants in Ethiopia, India (in the States of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana), Peru, and in Vietnam. The study commenced in 2002 when the younger cohort was aged 12 months and the older cohort 8 years of age. Young Lives draws on the life course perspective to understand how the social and economic landscape shapes the development of children. A cohort sequential design is very rarely used. It permits the study of similarities and differences between the two cohorts at the same age but at different points in historical time as economic, political and policy changes occur. Young Lives uses both in-depth qualitative and survey methodologies. Nested school surveys with a sub-sample make it possible to track school access and effectiveness over time and connect these factors to children’s educational trajectories and outcomes in the context of economic and policy shifts.

Most recently Andrew Dawes been supporting the work of the Ethiopian team, using study findings to advise the government on policies and programmes designed to improve early childhood outcomes. His involvement includes the design of measures used to assess early childhood programme quality as well as research translation for policy makers. He also works with the team at Oxford on articles and policy briefs.