Listening to Young Lives at Work: Impact of the Global Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic on young people in Ethiopia, India, Peru and Vietnam

Ethiopia India Peru Vietnam Education Health & Nutrition Social Protection

Listening to Young Lives at Work: Impact of the Global Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic on young people in Ethiopia, India, Peru and Vietnam

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Researchers

Marta Favara, Catherine Porter, Revathi Ellanki, Alan Sanchez, Le Thuc Duc, Tassew Woldehanna, Andy McKay

Abstract

Young Lives longitudinal survey began in 2001, with two cohorts, one born in 2000 (8,000 children) and one born in 1994 (4,000 children). Young Lives had planned to undertake a sixth round of quantitative fieldwork in 2020, now replaced with a Computer-Assisted-Telephone-Survey (CATI) comprising three phone calls. 

  • Call 1 (June-July 2020): Explain the phone survey this year and in-person gain consent for the main survey. Basic information collected: living arrangements; health of household members; labour and education effects of current emergency/lockdown; Covid-19 knowledge and behaviours.
  • Call 2 (September-October 2020): Main survey based on a much-shortened version of the planned Round 6 survey, with a focus on labor market participation and skills, but new modules added on the impact of the pandemic on the household’s health and economic situation.
  • Call 3 (November-December 2020): Will include a short list of questions from call 1&2 to collect some time sensitive questions to better understand whether the respondent’s situation has changed in the meanwhile. The round 6 survey will take place in-person one year later than planned, in 2021 and assess medium-term impacts.

Project Outcomes of Interest

What proportion has been affected by COVID-19: through health, income (and savings) and job; food insecurity; disruption to education, or migration? What behavior changes since the crisis began? What short-term effects on health (including mental health); subjective well-being; educational attainment; employment and earnings; sale of assets; time use and care responsibilities? Differential impacts by gender, economic sector, area of residence, living in poverty? Have private strategies and public policies had a positive impact in mitigating the pandemic impact, or promoting positive behaviors?

Partners

Academic partners in the four study countries 

Key Findings

The survey found impacts on many aspects of young peoples lives, with a stark contrast between Peru (heavily hit by COVID-19) and Vietnam (relatively unaffected), though in all countries economic crisis has affected life. There was some bounce-back in employment and mental health between Aug/Sept and Nov/Dec calls, except in Ethiopia, where conflict may also be a factor. See individual country briefings in the "Results" section.

Link to Results

Policy Briefings:

Academic Publications: 

Impact Goals

  • Build resilience and protect the financial health of families and individuals
  • Build resilient and adaptable businesses and employment opportunities
  • Improve social-safety net responses
  • Improve women’s health, safety, and economic empowerment

Project Data Collection Mode

  • CATI (Computer-assisted telephone interviewing)

Link to Data Collection Instruments

https://www.younglives.org.uk/sites/www.younglives.org.uk/files/First%20call%4011_editforprint%20GS-2_0.pdf

Link to Public Data

https://beta.ukdataservice.ac.uk/datacatalogue/studies/study?id=8678

Implementing Organization

University of Oxford, Lancaster University, Centre for Economic and Social Studies, Grupo de Analysis de Desarrollo, Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences, University of Addis Ababa

Results Status

Results