In 2023 and 2024, Young Lives conducted its seventh (quantitative) survey round. Round 7 marked the return to face-to-face interviews after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.  On this occasion, data were not collected in Vietnam. 

Drawing on two decades of Young Lives longitudinal data and research from the four study countries, Ethiopia, India, Peru and Vietnam, this policy brief explores how climate shocks impact women’s economic empowerment, particularly in the poorest households and rural communities. It reveals that climate shocks have long-term and inter-generational effects on young people’s nutritional health, skills development and education outcomes.  Together with persistent gender inequalities these affect women and girls’ unpaid care work, job choices and opportunities.

This latest policy brief from Young Lives summarises research on unpaid care work from over two decades of the study, including new findings from Round 7 of the quantitative survey, collected in 2023–24, and sets out ways that policy can lighten the load. 

Longitudinal research involves observing the same individuals repeatedly over time to analyse trends and changes, identify causes and assess long-term effects. Birth cohort studies, are a specific type of longitudinal study that follow a group of people who were born at a similar date or period of time. Unlike cross-sectional studies, which collect data at a specific point in time, longitudinal research can span months, years or even decades, offering deeper insights into changes over time across various fields.