New knowledge on children and young people: a synthesis of evidence - summary paper (Marcus, R.; Page, E.; Stephenson, J.; Walker, D.; Eldis, 2017)

Improving children and young people’s (CYP) wellbeing, and recognising the role they can play in creating a more sustainable world will be critical to meeting the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This timely report provides insights into how ESRC-DFID funded research has provided new knowledge that can inform and strengthen policy making in relation to CYP issues and help meet global development ambitions.

Key research findings:

• recognising young people’s agency and the role they can play in research and policy making around the issues that matter to them most is critical
• enhanced participation and community engagement programmes amongst the most marginalised can contribute to reduction in inequalities of new born survival rates
• religion can have a significant impact on child wellbeing outcomes in India
• CYP’s psychological wellbeing is positively associated with staying in school and negatively associated with entering the labour market in China. However for CYP in Tanzania there is often a clash between their perceptions of the long term gain of education and the more immediate benefits of employment
• marriage is often viewed by both CYP and their families as a key livelihood strategy
• young people are using mobile technologies to access services and build up social capital. They also have concerns around mobile phones and the potential negative impact on their personal safety and wellbeing

Please find the report here.