This report presents an initial analysis of some of the qualitative data collected in four of the 20 Young Lives sites in Peru between August and December 2007. Data collection was carried out with both cohorts of Young Lives children (the Younger Cohort are aged 5 to 6 and the Older Cohort are aged 11 to 13), as well as their caregivers, teachers, community representatives and other children. The sub-sample includes 51 children.

This paper presents the results of a Young Lives study into the impact and perceptions of the Programa Nacional Wawa Wasi, a Peruvian government programme for impoverished children aged six to 48 months. Up to eight children spend five days a week at a Wawa Wasi centre where they are assisted by a carer carefully selected from the local community. The results suggest that children who have spent at least six months at a centre have similar indicators in gross motor, language and fine motor development to children who have stayed at home.

This paper uses Young Lives data collected on young families in Peru in 2002 and 2007.  Young Lives have discovered that this demographic sample has a fairly high propensity to migrate, and therefore it is interesting to examine the impact of these movements.

This brief report provides a broad context for the Young Lives research being done in Peru by reviewing the academic literature, research findings, statistics and official documents available. It was carried out by the Young Lives qualitative researchers, and thus privileges the main areas to be explored by qualitative research in its first two rounds of data collection (2007 and 2008). The document identifies gaps which the Young Lives research could fill and areas of further investigation which the project could focus on.