1958 National Child Development Study age 55 survey completed

More than 9,100 members of the 1958 National Child Development Study (NCDS) took part in the age 55 survey which ran between September 2013 and March 2014.

For the first time in any CLS study, the majority of cohort members were invited to take part in the survey online. Fifty eight per cent of those invited to participate via the web chose to do so, which was a higher rate than had been anticipated. The remaining participants were interviewed by telephone.

This is the ninth survey to be carried out since the cohort members were first visited at birth in 1958. It collected information on a number of new topics, including retirement expectations, housing wealth and looking after grandchildren.

Age 55 marks a stage of major transitions in many of the cohort members’ lives. It is an age when people often start planning for their retirement, caring responsibilities may change, and significant health inequalities begin to emerge.

The age 55 survey will provide valuable data for researchers in years to come and help place the NCDS as a leading resource for studies of healthy ageing.

The survey was conducted by TNS-BNRB and managed by CLS. Data will be available to download from the UK Data Service in early 2015.