Millennium Cohort Study Age 23 data now available

11 February 2026

Data from the Millennium Cohort Study (MCS) Age 23 Sweep are now available to download from the UK Data Service.

The dataset includes information collected from more than 9,700 study participants between 2023 and 2025. It will provide valuable up-to-date insights into the diverse experiences of generation Z as they make the transition to adulthood.

MCS is the only nationally representative cohort study of gen Z. The study is following the lives of around 19,000 people born in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland in 2000-02.

These new data, from this first major follow-up since participants were in their late teens, will offer new opportunities for research on this group at an important time in their lives, when many may be forming relationships and starting careers, and some may be moving out from the family home and becoming parents.

About the MCS Age 23 Sweep

Fieldwork for the Age 23 Sweep took place between October 2023 and February 2025. A total of 9,735 people took part in the survey. Study participants were first invited to take part online, with face-to-face interviews later offered as an alternative. Fieldwork was conducted by Ipsos.

What information was collected?

Study participants were asked questions covering various aspects of their lives. These included:

education and training
employment and finances
family and relationships
housing
identity and attitudes
mental health and wellbeing
physical health and health behaviours
political and social participation
risky behaviours.

Study participants were also asked to undertake cognitive assessments to measure their working memory and selective attention.

What’s new at age 23?

Over the years, MCS has continued to build a picture of participants’ lives by collecting the same important information about them at each survey. New questions have also been asked appropriate to their stage of life.

In this latest survey, some of the new questions concerned:

personality and resilience
financial literacy
parenthood and fertility plans
expectations for the future (by age 30).

Data linkage

If they had not already given consent in earlier sweeps, participants were also asked for consent to link data about their health, education, employment and earnings, and contact with the police and criminal justice system, held by various government departments and agencies, to their survey information.

Linking administrative data to survey records can expand the scope of research on various key social issues and help to fill in any gaps in the data provided by the participants themselves.

Those who were parents were asked an additional set of questions about their children, their approach to parenting and for consent to link information from their child’s health and education records.

Research opportunities

Professor Emla Fitzsimons, Director of the Centre for Longitudinal Studies, said: “The Millennium Cohort Study participants have entered adulthood during an unstable period for the UK’s society and economy. With youth unemployment at its highest level since the Covid-19 pandemic and mental ill-health on the rise, young people today face a number of challenges at a time when many traditionally look to spread their wings and gain independence.

“Pathways to adulthood for this generation are varied and often not straightforward. Some move between education and employment several times and many continue living with their parents after finishing education.

“These new data will be of great value to researchers looking to gain a fuller picture of how gen Z are faring as they make the leap from adolescence to adulthood, especially in comparison with previous generations. These data can shed light on the most pressing issues facing young people today, including mental health and wellbeing, education and careers, housing and identity and attitudes.”

How to access the data

Data available under end user licence

Data available under secure access

A second data deposit is scheduled for April 2026, which will include data partner data, geographical indictors and more detailed education measures.

A short online survey was also conducted with the parents and carers of MCS participants in 2025, recognising the important role many play in their adult children’s lives. The data from this survey are currently being cleaned and prepared for deposit at the UKDS at a later date.