Against the Odds: Why Some Children Fare Well in the Face of Adversity

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 come 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 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 in 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 the fragility of young people’s life trajectories in contexts of poverty.