Against the Odds: Why some children fare well in the face of adversity

A journal article titled 'Against the Odds: Why Some Children Fare Well in the Face of Adversity', by Gina Crivello & Virginia Morrow has been published in The Journal of Development Studies, DOI: 10.1080/00220388.2019.1626837

Article abstract:

This article asks why some children growing up in poverty seem to fare well, despite the odds being stacked against them early in life.  The data comes from Young Lives, a 15-year mixed methods study of childhood poverty tracing the trajectories of a cohort of boys and girls (n = 4,000) born in 1994 in Ethiopia, India, Peru and Vietnam. We use survey data to identify the children in the poorest households who, by age 22, were faring well.  The article addresses three main questions: (a) What are the key determining moments of children's lives? (b) What makes a difference for children during these turning points? And (c) what made a difference in the lives of those children who have fared well despite facing adversity?  The findings demonstrate the crucial role of children's social relationships and support networks, migration, institutional barriers, the importance of 'hope and second chances'.  However, a longitudinal approach illuminates the ongoing nature of human vulnerability and fragility of young people's life trajectories in contexts of poverty.