Briefings and impact

Our briefings and impact library includes summaries of our research findings as well as reports highlighting the impact of our cohort studies.

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Document type

Life Stage

Topics

National Child Development Study

Next Steps

1970 British Cohort Study

Millennium Cohort Study

Briefing papers

Economic inactivity before reaching State Pension Age: Life course evidence from the 1958 National Child Development Study

In this briefing, we examine the economic activity changes within the 1958 cohort before State Pension Age, using life course data to investigate factors associated with economic inactivity and labour market exits.


Date published: 4 December 2024
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Briefing papers

Fertility intentions and postponed parenthood: initial findings from Next Steps at age 32

This briefing investigates fertility intentions among 32-year-olds taking part in Next Steps. It focuses on the reasons why people who do want to have children (or more children) might postpone doing so, within a challenging social and economic context.


Date published: 4 October 2024
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Briefing papers

The importance of maths: Evidence from the CLS cohort studies

The UK’s two main political parties agree that improving maths skills should be high up on the education agenda, however they disagree on the best way to do this. The Conservatives want to make maths compulsory to the age of 18, while Labour place emphasis on supporting the early development of maths skills. This policy briefing outlines evidence from the CLS cohorts on the development of maths skills. 

Author: Charlotte Booth, Claire Crawford, and Vanessa Moulton
Date published: 3 July 2024
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Briefing papers

Student loans: Who will be negatively impacted by the latest reforms?

The government recently introduced changes to the student loans system, which included lowering and freezing the income repayment threshold, and increasing the repayment period from 30 to 40 years. This briefing note adds to previous work from the Institute for Fiscal Studies, documenting the financial impact of the reforms.


Date published: 22 February 2024
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Briefing papers

Care leavers and their children: Evidence on how care experience affects the next generation – policy briefing

This policy briefing examines findings from the first UK study to look at care leavers as mothers, following their development and that of their children from early childhood to adolescence and into adulthood, using two British cohort studies. It shows how the long-term effects of care experience can be eased.


Date published: 7 February 2024
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Briefing papers

Mental health of at-risk teenagers – Evidence from children of care leavers and those from socially disadvantaged families in the Millennium Cohort Study

This briefing paper draws on findings from a two-year research project funded by the Nuffield Foundation, focusing on the experiences of mothers with care experience and the mental wellbeing of their teenage children.

Date published: 26 June 2023
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Briefing papers

Resources available to mothers who experienced out-of-home care in childhood: Evidence from the UK Millennium Cohort Study

What are the socioeconomic and psychosocial resources available to female care-leavers who became mothers? It is well documented that the experience of out-of-home care can lead to more problematic post-16 transitions and poorer adult outcomes. This new research examines the experiences of care-leavers who become mothers.

Author: Sam Parsons and Ingrid Schoon
Date published: 16 March 2022
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Reports

‘First in family’: higher education choices and labour market outcomes

This report summarises research from a study funded by the Nuffield Foundation entitled ‘First in Family’: higher education choices and labour market outcomes’. The project examines how ‘first in family’ students, those whose parents do not have a degree but who go on to achieve one themselves, navigate the higher education system and the labour market compared to their peers.

Author: Anna Adamecz-Volgyi, Morag Henderson and Nikki Shure
Date published: 15 December 2021
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Briefing papers

Long term associations of behavioural problems in early childhood

This briefing paper compares results across two generations of British children born 30 years apart – participants in the 1970 British Cohort Study (BCS70) and in the Millennium Cohort Study (MCS) – to examine how health and behavioural problems in early childhood can cast a long shadow on a wide range of outcomes over the lifecourse.

Author: Sam Parsons, Vanessa Moulton, Alice Sullivan, Emla Fitzsimons and George Ploubidis
Date published: 7 October 2021
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Briefing papers

Carrying or using a weapon at age 17 – Evidence from the UK Millennium Cohort Study

This report shows the overall prevalence of weapon carrying and use at age 17 and its co-occurrence with other types of offences. Various prior factors are examined in terms of their association with carrying or using a weapon, including individual characteristics, socioeconomic background, family environment, mental health, school and peer factors, and prior behaviours and experiences.

Author: Aase Villadsen and Emla Fitzsimons
Date published: 30 June 2021
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Briefing papers

Substance use and antisocial behaviour in adolescence – Evidence from the Millennium Cohort Study at age 17

This report shows overall prevalences of engagement in risky behaviours, alongside breakdowns by sex, by parental educational level, and by UK country. In terms of sample characteristics, 50% were females, 36% had parents with a university degree or above, 13% were of ethnic minority origin, and the UK nations were represented by England (84%), Wales (5%), Scotland (8%) and Northern Ireland (3%). Analyses are adjusted for survey design and attrition, so figures are nationally representative estimates of risky behaviours among young people born in the UK around the turn of the millennium.

Author: Emla Fitzsimons and Aase Villadsen
Date published: 10 February 2021
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Briefing papers

Obesity prevalence and its inequality from childhood to adolescence – Appendix

This is the appendix to Obesity prevalence and its inequality from childhood to adolescence – Initial findings from the Millennium Cohort Study Age 17 Survey (above).

Author: Emla Fitzsimons and David Bann
Date published: 17 December 2020
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