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Longitudinal and lifecourse research for children

Cohort and longitudinal studies have unique potential to improve understanding of the dynamic processes that shape child development, including trends and trajectories. Because these surveys track individuals over time they can illuminate many aspects and stages of children’s lives, including unexpected events. They provide more of a film strip than a single image. Longitudinal studies bring a life-course perspective to analysis, and can contribute to understanding the drivers and determinants of child outcomes.

Through a series of activities, including establishment and coordination of the Global Longitudinal Research Initiative (GLORI), a network of 30 longitudinal studies, this project shares latest findings emerging from different longitudinal studies to explore what the next generation of knowledge from longitudinal studies will look like. It will identify how cohort studies can contribute to policy and research, identify gaps in knowledge and share lessons on the practice of longitudinal studies.

Download the GLORI Database in Excel

Publications

2018 Results Report
Publication

2018 Results Report

In 2018, significant gains were made in generating evidence to improve the lives of the most disadvantaged children, build organizational capacity to conduct and use quality, ethical research on children, and set a foundation as an important convening centre for expert consultation on next-generation ideas on children. 2018 marks the first year the UNICEF Office of Research - Innocenti is reporting on the progress of research under the new UNICEF Strategic Plan (2018-2021). This plan is the first to clearly delineate the role of research and evidence as one of the eight priority change strategies for children. This report therefore is an account of the first year of work to generate critical evidence to inform programmes, policies and advocacy for children and young people around the world
Tracking the Children of the Millennium: Insights from a longitudinal cohort study
Publication

Tracking the Children of the Millennium: Insights from a longitudinal cohort study

Longitudinal research can help countries meet the challenges of sustainable development. The examples presented in this Brief serve to demonstrate the unique advantages of having access to longitudinal studies to complement cross-sectional surveys and administrative series.The Brief reviews data from the Young Lives cohorts, reflecting on evidence from the 2000-2015 Millennium Development period.
Corporal Punishment in Schools - Longitudinal Evidence from Ethiopia, India, Peru and Viet Nam
Publication

Corporal Punishment in Schools - Longitudinal Evidence from Ethiopia, India, Peru and Viet Nam

Globally the use of corporal punishment in schools is increasingly prohibited in law, yet in many contexts its use continues, even where outlawed. Proponents argue that it is an effective and non-harmful means of instilling discipline, respect and obedience into children, while others point to a series of detrimental effects, including poor academic performance, low class participation, school dropout and declining psychosocial well-being. Establishing whether corporal punishment has lasting effects on children’s cognitive development and psychosocial well-being has been hampered by a lack of longitudinal data, especially from Low- and Middle-Income Countries.
How Inequalities Develop through Childhood: Life course evidence from the Young Lives cohort study
Publication

How Inequalities Develop through Childhood: Life course evidence from the Young Lives cohort study

Tackling poverty and inequalities is now embedded within the mandates of governments and organizations worldwide. UNICEF has been a leader on this, and concern about inequalities has also been picked up in the debates surrounding post 2015 development goals.
Tackling Structural and Social Issues to Reduce Inequities in Children’s Outcomes in Low- to Middle-income Countries
Publication

Tackling Structural and Social Issues to Reduce Inequities in Children’s Outcomes in Low- to Middle-income Countries

Tackling inequities in children’s outcomes matters both from a moral perspective, and because of persuasive social and economic arguments. Reducing inequity in children’s outcomes requires tackling structural and social issues.
The Structural Determinants of Child Well-being: An expert consultation hosted by the UNICEF Office of Research 22-23 June 2012
Publication

The Structural Determinants of Child Well-being: An expert consultation hosted by the UNICEF Office of Research 22-23 June 2012

This paper describes the outcomes of an expert consultation on the Structural Determinants of Child Wellbeing. The participants discussed the underlying causes of child well-being and aimed to develop an initial framework for considering the impact of structural factors on children’s lives.