'Household trajectories in rural Ethiopia – what can a mixed method approach tell us about the impact of poverty on children?'

UEA

'Household trajectories in rural Ethiopia – what can a mixed method approach tell us about the impact of poverty on children?' 

Dr Laura Camfield and Dr Keetie Roelen

This paper explores the dynamics of child and household poverty in rural Ethiopia using three rounds of household survey and qualitative data collected by Young Lives, a longitudinal study of child. It uses a mixed-method taxonomy of poverty to classify children and their households into four groups, analyse their movements in and out of poverty, and explore the underlying factors. The paper concludes that while the percentage of poor households reduced from 50 to 20 percent between rounds 1 and 3 (2002-2009), these changes were not always beneficial to children and did not reach the one in ten households classified as ultra-poor.