Birth to 30

 Apologies for the late arrival of this blog, due to a WordPress problem which locked out and prevented any new material from being posted.

Birth to Thirty is a very interesting and accessible overview of a long-standing longitudinal research project which repeatedly follows up the life experiences of a large cohort of people from their birthdate onwards. They have now reached the age of thirty. It has produced a large number of research publications, while this book (and two previous to it) is designed for a more popular readership.

The research participants all come from the Johannesburg – Soweto area. One of the key researchers in the project, Linda Richter, provides the narrative. This details the evolution of the research methodology and coverage, the responsibilities of its workers of different kinds, and also how and with what limitations many of the birth cohort members were retained over this thirty year period, as well as substantive findings regarding well-being and welfare and health matters more narrowly defined. It is both an excellent piece of work, and also doesn’t quite convey the enormous disparities that exist between the richest and poorest in contemporary South Africa. However, it comes closer than much other work, because of its grounded detail. It is an important read.

Linda Richter (2022) Birth to Thirty Reach Publishers, University of Witwatersrand.

Last updated: 17 October 2022