The Young Lives design and conceptual framework

This chapter outlines the Young Lives study design and conceptual framework. Child development is fundamentally shaped by the national, community, and family contexts in which children live, and by the relationships within which skills, beliefs, and wellbeing are fostered. As such, fully understanding children’s development through the life course requires a broad framework that includes attention to the many structures and processes affecting caregivers, families, and households, as these in turn affect children. The bioecological model provides the core conceptual basis for the Young Lives study, identifying the many layers and influences on children’s development, and encouraging an analysis of how those wider structural determinants shape poverty and inequalities facing children. Since the cascade approach helps explain how advantages and disadvantages accumulate, it provides a policy tool to assess the factors that make the greatest difference for which children and at which point in their lives.