Our Funders
Young Lives is a collaborative partnership between the University of Oxford and a range of research institutes, universities and NGOs in the four study countries.
UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO)
Young Lives' principal work has been core-funded since inception in 2001 by UK aid from the Department for International Development (DFID), now the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO). FCDO is currently funding Young Lives’ flagship research programme, Young Lives at Work.
Additional current funders
Additional funding is obtained from time to time from other donors, in response to specific issues or research interests, either geographically or thematically based.
Echidna Giving
Gendered Young Lives: Opportunities, learning and positive development: researching the impact of gender and early childhood care on later life outcomes, particularly in education
UNICEF Ethiopia and FCDO
Gendered Transitions to Adulthood in Ethiopia: research into the factors shaping outcomes in the transition to adulthood in Ethiopia, including education, marriage/re-marriage, migration and parenting
Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC)
Methodological lessons and learning in longitudinal research: research methodology in low- and middle - income countries
Youth Skills and Education in Peru
National Health Institute (NHI)
Foundational cognitive skills development in Ethiopia and Peru: researching the potential impact of undernutrition and climatic variations on the development of foundational cognitive skills
The Old Dart Foundation
Funding research to amplify the activities and impact of Young Lives in Peru
Medical Research Council (MRC)
Funding a study of obesity in young adults in Peru
Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF)
Enhancing the impact of the grant from the ESRC on Methodological Learning and Lessons from Young Lives
Previous funders
Since 2001, we have also received funding from the following donors:
The International Development Research Centre (IDRC)
Young Marriage and Parenthood Study (YMAPS, 2017 - 2020) a comparative study of Young Marriage and Parenthood in Ethiopia, India, Peru and Zambia, and parallel work on early child and forced marriage.
Children's Investment Fund Foundation
Research and policy programme on child marriage in India and early education in Ethiopia (2015-18).
Irish Aid
School surveys in Ethiopia and Vietnam (2015-18)
Oak Foundation
- Research on violence affecting children in Ethiopia (2015-18),
- A study on child work/labour in Ethiopia (2012-14),
- A study on risk and resilience (orphanhood and parental absence in Ethiopia and child work and migration in India) (2009-12)
- Support to the Child Research and Practice Forum in Ethiopia (2010-18)
UNICEF Office of Research–Innocenti
A multi country study on the drivers of violence affecting children (2015-16).
William and Flora Hewlett Foundation
A study on Gender, Poverty and Transitions to Adulthood, funded under its Global Development and Population Programme (2014-16)
Bernard van Leer Foundation
A research stream on early childhood transitions (2007-12)
Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Provided co-funding from 2010 to 2014 which enabled us to expand our education research
Royal Norwegian Embassy in Hanoi
Supported the Vietnam school survey (2015-16).