Young Lives: Ethiopia Round 2 Survey Report

This report presents initial findings from the second round of data collection carried out in Ethiopia in late 2006 to early 2007. It does not aim to give a comprehensive overview of all the findings from Young Lives. Rather it gives a broad outline of some of the key indicators of childhood poverty and changes that have taken place in the children’s lives between the first round of data collection in 2002 and the second. Data are mainly presented for the entire age group cohort, in most cases separated into wealth groups or by rural/urban location. The full richness of the data is not reflected in this preliminary report, but we hope that it contains enough information to prompt other researchers, policymakers and stakeholders to start to engage with the data. From our survey data, there are signs that the economic growth and improved access to services have been broadly inclusive. We see that children’s well-being – in all dimensions – is strongly linked to, and determined by, their socio-economic status and parents’ backgrounds. Over the past 5 years, there have been obvious improvements in basic services, and school enrolment is up, although quality of education is now a key priority for the government. Nutrition remains a challenge, with high levels of undernutrition, although in other ways we have seen obvious recovery following the 2002 drought.