Drawing on the findings of a qualitative research in rural Zambia involving 24 children (9- to 16-year old), this article advances our understandings of the ways in which familial and inter-generational relationships influence the experiences, impacts, conceptualizations and interpretations of poverty. It is argued that boys and girls interpret poverty largely in social and relational terms – ways that mirror social interdependence. Key dimensions of poverty and well-being are discussed from children’s points of view: subjective (depending on individual perceptions and experiences), contextual (impacted by local rural livelihood circumstances), relational (linked with family and community) and processual (tied to the future). This research contributes to literature on childhood poverty and well-being, specifically on how children influence and are influenced by the socio-economic transformations of their community and how they attach meanings to their social and material contexts.

In Zambia, the ways in which social change intersects with rural livelihoods to increase children's workload and commodify their labour are poorly understood. In this article, changing patterns of rural children's work are seen as necessitated by their evolving household roles and contributions in an increasingly rural cash-based economy. Drawing on child-focused qualitative research in rural Lundazi district in Zambia, it is explored how children use a traditional labour practice called 'ganyu' (piecework) to ameliorate poverty. The infiltration of the cash-based economy, amplified by the Economic Structural Adjustment Programmes, a predominantly adult-centred traditional informal socio-economic levelling mechanism of ganyu, and its evolution into more cash-oriented transactions increasingly involving children are discussed. Although ganyu has largely been seen as characterized by exploitative labour relations, the empirical findings from this research indicate the complex ways in which the practice is empowering children and their families. The resources accrued through ganyu are vital for both personal and household well-being. The findings of this study have important implications to rethink not only contentious issues of child labour but also dominant narratives of childhood that fail to take into account children's lived experiences as situated in local, social, economic, and cultural contexts.

This paper illustrates the impact of political economy on young people's life courses and intergenerational processes in rural Africa. Rapid transformations and social changes in rural Africa often as a result of political economy contributes to the increasing malleability of rural contexts and tensions across the life courses of children and youth. The temporality and spatiality of globalisation are illustrated using the neo-liberal policies in the Economic Structural Adjustments Programmes (ESAPs) and the global educational policies in the Millenium Development Goals (MDGs). The paper discusses the epistemological and methodological implications of political economy in rural African societies including approaches that capture complex interpenetrating factors contributing towards "constructions of young lives", "contexts and identities" and "agency and social responsibilities".

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