National Child Development Study (NCDS)

Summary

The National Child Development Study (NCDS) began because there was a great deal of concern about the number of babies who were born with abnormalities, or dying very early in life. Over time, the study continued to try to improve understanding of the factors affecting human development over the whole lifespan. So far there have been a further eight waves of data collected from the cohort at ages 7, 11, 16, 23, 33, 42, 46 and 50. During the school years, the focus of the study was on family background, cognitive and behavioural development, and educational achievement. Over time the study has researched vocational education and training, employment, family formation and parenting, health, attitudes, and social and political participation. The main topics of the different waves of the NCDS are as follows: • Wave 1 (One week) 1958: Social & family background, abnormalities during labour and pregnancy, infant profile, antenatal care, smoking during pregnancy. • Wave 2 (Seven year follow up) 1965: Family size, father education and employment, housing, health, behaviour, medical examinations. • Wave 3 (Eleven year follow up) 1969: Family size, father education and employment, housing, health, behaviour, schooling, income, medical examinations, schooling. • Wave 4 (Sixteen year follow up) 1974: Family size, father education and employment, housing, health, behaviour, care, schooling, income, medical examinations, comprehension tests. • Wave 5 (Twenty-three year follow up) 1981: Employment, training, attitudes, health, income, family, leisure and voluntary activities. • Wave 6 (Thirty-three year follow up) 1991: Employment, education, training, housing, income health, literacy and numeracy. • Wave 7 (Forty-two year follow up) 2000:Household characteristics, housing history, relationships, children and family, employment, lifelong learning, health, citizenship and values. • Wave 8 (Forty-six year follow up) 2004: Household characteristics, housing history, lone parenthood, children and family, employment, income, lifelong learning, health, computer use, crime, smoking, drinking and exercise. • Wave 9 (Fifty-year follow up) 2008: Same as 2004 but also included questions on care needs of parents, symptoms of menopause, cognitive ability. The above list provides a summary of the information available. Full details on the different waves and questionnaires used in the NCDS are available from the CLS website Linkage The 1981 survey differs from the three earlier NCDS follow-ups in that information was obtained from the subject (who was interviewed by a professional survey research interviewer) and the 1971 and 1981 Censuses (from which variables describing area of residence were taken). Full details on the data based on these Censuses are available from the CLS website. Consent was asked to link routine economic records (held by Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs (HMRC)) and routine health records. Further information about this is available by contacting CLS.

Type of data

Data Source
Survey

Type of Study
Cohort study

Data gathering method
Face-to-face
Self administered questionnaire
Other: A variety of different data have been collected over the duration of the study, including interview data, cognitive measurements and psychological measurements. For more information, see the Centre for Longitudinal Studies (CLS) website: http://www.cls.ioe.ac.uk/default.aspx

Access to data

Conditions of access
Data are available from the UK Data Service (previously the Economic and Social Data Service, ESDS): http://ukdataservice.ac.uk/ The website contains detailed information on conditions of access, and it is also possible to contact the UK Data Service by phone: +44 (0)1206 872143, or by email: help@ukdataservice.ac.uk

Type of available data (e.g. anonymised microdata, aggregated tables, etc.)
Anonymised microdata

Formats available
Data from the UK Data Service are usually available to download in SPSS, Stata and tab-delimited (suitable for use in MS Excel) formats.

Coverage

Coverage Years of collection, reference years, and sample sizes
The NCDS has its origins in the Perinatal Mortality Survey (PMS) (the original PMS study is held at the UK Data Archive). This study was sponsored by the National Birthday Trust Fund and designed to examine the social and obstetric factors associated with stillbirth and death in early infancy among the 17,000 children born in England, Scotland and Wales in that one week. Selected data from the PMS form NCDS sweep 0, held alongside NCDS sweeps 1-3. To date there have been seven attempts to trace all members of the birth cohort in order to monitor their physical, educational and social development. The first three sweeps were carried out by the National Children's Bureau, in 1965, when respondents were aged 7, in 1969, aged 11, in 1974, aged 16 (these sweeps form NCDS1-3, held together with NCDS0). The fourth sweep, NCDS4, was conducted in 1981, when respondents were aged 23. In 1985 the NCDS moved to the Social Statistics Research Unit (SSRU) - now known as the Centre for Longitudinal Studies (CLS) - and the fifth sweep was carried out in 1991, when respondents were aged 33, (NCDS5). For the sixth wave, conducted in 1999-2000, when respondents were aged 41-42 (NCDS6), fieldwork was combined with the 1999-2000 wave of the 1970 Birth Cohort Study (BCS70), which is also conducted by CLS (and held at the Archive). The NCDS follows the lives of all people born in England, Scotland and Wales in one particular week of March 1958. In the first three sweeps (at ages 7, 11 and 16), the target sample was augmented to include immigrants born in the same week. The NCDS has both longitudinal and cross-sectional samples. Since the birth survey in 1958, there have been eight further ‘sweeps’ of all cohort members at ages 7, 11, 16, 23, 33, 42, 46 and 50. In 2003 (at age 45), 9,000 cohort members also participated in a special bio-medical survey so we could learn more about how development, environments and lifestyles affect people’s health. The next survey is planned for 2013, when the cohort members turn 55. Longitudinal samples • The longitudinal target sample consists of all those born (including stillbirths) in Great Britain in the particular week, until they die or permanently emigrate from Britain. The longitudinal achieved sample is all those members of the longitudinal target sample who participate in a particular sweep (meaning at least one survey instrument partially completed). Cross-sectional samples • The cross-sectional target sample for each sweep consists of all those born anywhere in the world in the same week as the longitudinal sample, who are living in Britain at the time of the sweep, and who joined the NCDS sample during the school years. The cross-sectional achieved sample is all those members of the cross-sectional target sample who participate in a particular sweep (at least one survey instrument partially completed). • The cross-sectional sample only includes immigrants who moved to Britain before the age of 16, as there were no attempts to include further members beyond the age 16 survey in 1974. Response and Deaths Dataset: A separate dataset covering responses and to NCDS and deaths of cohort members over all eight waves is available (National Child Development Study Response and Deaths Dataset, 1958-2009). Users are advised to order this study alongside the other waves of NCDS. Additional studies: In addition to the main NCDS sweeps, some further studies have also been conducted. In 1978, a postal survey was conducted of the schools attended by members of the birth cohort at the time of the third follow-up of 1974, in order to obtain details of public examination entry and performance. Similar details were also sought from sixth-form and further education colleges etc., where these were identified by schools. Also, a 37-year sample survey of the NCDS cohort, focusing on basic skills, is held by the UK Data Archive, alongside a number of NCDS-related files (for example, of data collected in the course of a special study of handicapped school-leavers, at age 18, and the data from a 5 per cent feasibility study, conducted at age 20, which preceded NCDS4. There is also a parent migration dataset, based on NCDS5, a study detailing partnership histories, compiled from NCDS sweeps 5 to 8, and an employment histories dataset, compiled from NCDS sweeps 4 to 8.

First year of collection
1958

Stratification if applicable
The data includes a variety of demographic variables, including age and sex. The sample is not stratified.

Base used for sampling

Geographical coverage and breakdowns
Great Britain

Age range
The age of birth cohort study members varies over time. At the last wave of data collection, cohort members were 50 years old.

Statistical representativeness
Other, please specify

Coverage of main and cross-cutting topics
The National Child Development Study (NCDS) is a continuing longitudinal cohort study. The aim of the study is to improve understanding of the factors affecting human development over the whole lifespan. The study follows the lives of 17,000 people born in England, Scotland and Wales in a single week of 1958. Also known as the 1958 Birth Cohort Study, it collects information on physical and educational development, economic circumstances, employment, family life, health behaviour, wellbeing, social participation and attitudes. The NCDS is managed by CLS and funded by the Economic and Social Research Council. For more information on each of these surveys, visit the CLS and UK Data Service websites.

Linkage

Standardisation
There is an ongoing cross-governmental programme of work in the UK which aims to develop and improve standardised inputs and outputs for use in official statistics. This is known as harmonisation, and is led by the Office for National Statistics (ONS). While this work primarily affects government-run surveys, the results have an impact on most national UK data sources. Furthermore, harmonisation has important benefits for all researchers using these surveys, and not just government statisticians. For more information, see: http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/guide-method/harmonisation/harmonisation-index-page/index.html Additionally, this survey uses a number of harmonised measures. Examples from NCDS8 include: • Kanungo’s Job Involvement Scale • AUDIT (Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test) • Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-Being Scale (WEMWBS) • SF-36 • Medical Outcomes Study Sleep Scale • CASP-12/14 (Control Autonomy Pleasure Self-Realization) is a quality-of-life measure comprising four domains (“control”, “autonomy”, “pleasure” and “self-realization”)

Possibility of linkage among databases
Data are anonymised

Data quality

Entry errors if applicable
In addition to unit non-response and attrition, the data include item non-response and may be subject to other errors that are typical of cohort studies. There are incomplete data for some individuals in some waves. For more information on data quality, see the survey documentation on the UK Data Service website.

Breaks
There are no major breaks for this data source, although different data has been gathered at different time-points over the life of the birth cohort.

Consistency of terminology or coding used during collection
In general, the consistency of this data source is good; however information is not readily available. For more information on data quality, see the survey documentation on the UK Data Service website.

Governance

Contact information
Centre for Longitudinal Studies, Institute of Education
University of London
20 Bedford Way
WC1H 0AL London United Kingdom Phone: +44 (0)207 612 6875
Email: cls(at)ioe.ac.uk
Url: http://ukdataservice.ac.uk/

Timeliness, transparency
Timetables vary according to the data collected in each wave