ABSTRACT
The assumptions that underlie our understanding of children in a specifi c area may not be correct for other regions of the world; in fact, they may not even be true for other areas on the same continent, or within the same country. Local cultures may show great variations and this may have a differential impact on the life of the children. Locations with different characteristics were therefore selected, so as to capture some of the variations that exist. In a country with a higher degree of urbanisation, such as Bolivia, more urban areas were selected. In a country with less urbanisation, such as India or Burkina Faso, more rural areas were included. Selections were made on the basis of differing socioeconomic characteristics. In each area, 150-odd households were supposed to be included in a socioeconomic survey. In the end, the sample was executed differently in different areas, and the number of families included in the study varied from 154 in Vietnam to 1224 families in India. In the selection of the families, the focus was on the poor households.
