Families and Children Study (FACS)

Summary

Type of data

Data Source
Survey

Type of Study
Survey same

Data gathering method
Face-to-face
Self administered questionnaire

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
Survey 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 Families and Children Study (FACS), formerly known as the Survey of Low Income Families (SOLIF), originally provided a new baseline survey of Britain's lone-parent families and low-income couples with dependent children. The survey was named SOLIF for Waves 1 and 2, and FACS from Wave 3 onwards. The FACS study has become a 'true panel', whereby 1999 respondents have been re-interviewed in subsequent annual waves in from 2000 to 2004, and new families added in each of these years, to allow representative cross-section as well as longitudinal comparisons. Starting with Wave 3 (2001) the survey was extended to include higher-income families, thereby yielding a complete sample of all British families (and the subsequent name change). From Wave 4 (2002) onwards, longitudinal comparisons can now be made. The original deposit of FACS data, released in December 2001, contained data and documentation from the first wave. Further waves have been added at subsequent editions in 2003, 2004 (twice), 2005, 2006 and 2007. For the eighth edition (October 2010), three major changes were made to the study: data and documentation for Waves 8-10 were deposited for the first time; updated and improved data and documentation for Waves 3-7 were deposited to replace previous materials; and updated documentation covering all waves was deposited. Details of improvements to the re-deposited Wave 3-7 data are included in the all waves user guide. For the ninth edition (January 2011), the Wave 10 technical report was added to the study. Sample sizes: • Wave 1: 4,659 cases • Wave 2: 4,720 cases • Wave 3: 8,057 cases • Wave 4: 7,878 cases • Wave 5: 7,740 cases • Wave 6: 7,469 cases • Wave 7: 7,656 cases • Wave 8: 7,461 cases • Wave 9: 5,818 cases • Wave 10: 5,888 cases

First year of collection
1999

Stratification if applicable
The data includes a variety of demographic variables, including age and sex. The sample is stratified.

Base used for sampling

Geographical coverage and breakdowns
Countries (England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland) Government Office Regions (NUTS1)

Age range
All ages

Statistical representativeness
Other, please specify

Coverage of main and cross-cutting topics
The main objectives of the survey are to: • evaluate the effectiveness of the Government's work incentive measures in terms of helping people into work, improving living standards and improving child outcomes • compare the living standards and outcomes for children and for families across the income distribution • compare changes in the above across the waves since 1999 FACS also aims to provide commentary on longer-term objectives such as the Government's Public Service Agreement to eradicate child poverty within a generation. Further information, including links to reports and other publications, may be found on the DWP FACS web pages. (Users should note that, in addition to the survey name change noted above, some of the documentation for the early waves refers to the survey as the Study of Families with Children.) Key topics have included: • household characteristics, • health and well being, • employment activity, • receipt of benefits and tax credits, • use of childcare, • housing and material deprivation, • and, more recently, attitudes to work and childcare. The FACS interviews comprise: • one hour interview for the main respondent (typically the mother figure in the household) • a 20 minute partner interview Topics covered in the main interview include household characteristics, health and wellbeing, children's schooling, behaviour and childcare provision, use of local services, education and training, employment, family income, in-work support through the use of Working Families' Tax Credits (and its replacement tax credit system), receipt of benefits, child maintenance, money management and savings, housing, and material deprivation. The Wave 7 (2005) questionnaire included a new section on social capital for main respondents and partners. Partners in the household were also interviewed up to Wave 8. For Waves 9 and 10, a short proxy interview was completed with the main respondent. Waves 1-3 (1999-2001) also included a self-completion questionnaire for the main respondent and their partner, covering morale and various attitudinal questions. This was dropped for Wave 4. Waves 5, 6, 8, 9 and 10 (but not Wave 7) included a short self-completion questionnaire for all children aged 11 to 15 in the family. The children's questionnaire covered leisure time activities, computer access, social participation, sport and organised activities, use of local amenities and attitudes to neighbourhood, alcohol use, smoking, illegal drug use, self-esteem, health and happiness, attitudes to school and schoolwork, relationship with parents, and income. For Waves 5-7, SPSS syntax files detailing specifications for derived variables are also available with the dataset.

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

Possibility of linkage among databases
Data are anonymised

Data quality

Entry errors if applicable
In addition to unit non-response, the data include item non-response and may be subject to other errors that are typical of surveys and censuses. 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 it remains unclear when (and whether) the next wave of data collection will occur. Further information is not readily available.

Consistency of terminology or coding used during collection
In general, the consistency of this data source is very good. For more information on data quality, see the survey documentation on the UK Data Service website.

Governance

Contact information
Department for Work and Pensions
Families and Children Study
Caxton House, 6 - 12 Tothill Street
SW1H 9NA London United Kingdom Phone: +44 (0)207 449 5770
Email: Robert.Lilly(at)dwp.gsi.gov.uk
Url: http://ukdataservice.ac.uk/

Timeliness, transparency
Data are available about 15-18 months after the end of fieldwork