This paper analyses a "critical moment" in the educational trajectories of young indigenous children in Peru: the transition to primary school. It addresses the inequalities in educational services that affect indigenous children, before looking at the micro-level processes that take place in school settings, through a focus on two selected case studies from the Young Lives study of childhood poverty.

Usage and Attitudes towards Spanish and Indigenous Languages in Rural Schools in Peru

Impacts of the Conditional Cash Transfer Programme JUNTOS on Children's Well-being in Peru

This policy brief uses data from the Young Lives survey in Peru to assess the impact of the conditional cash transfer programme JUNTOS on a group of children who were covered by the programme. These beneficiary children were compared with children who were not covered by JUNTOS, using indicators of their well-being: health, nutrition, educational achievement, time use, among others.

Child well-being is one of the most important topics of public debate in recent times, and the abuse of children's rights has moved up the social policy agenda. Public education campaigns have been promoted to combat violence against children, alongside programmes and institutions responsible for protecting children's rights. However, many children do not have access to information about child protection programmes. And data about the victims of child abuse or the factors that hinder or facilitate their access to the services that could support them are even more scarce.

Even though it is widely recognised that children are the age group most affected by poverty, children's own experiences of living in social and economic hardship are still not well incorporated into most poverty reduction strategies and programmes. The purpose of this study is to find out how children and families in three rural communities in the southern Peruvian Andes experience well-being and poverty, in order to understand what may help them to lead the kinds of lives they value instead of following others' pre-established ideas of what is best for them.