Our studies
Our briefings and impact library includes summaries of our research findings as well as reports highlighting the impact of our cohort studies.
A 2013 research paper by two academics at the Centre for Longitudinal Studies on the beneficial effects of reading for pleasure in childhood has attracted a remarkable amount of interest from schools, libraries and literacy organisations around the world. This case study shows how the findings have been used to help protect library services, to persuade children of all ages to spend more time reading, and to encourage parents to support schools’ home reading initiatives.
It uses data from the age 10 and 16 sweeps of the 1970 British Cohort Study.
Research by Professor John Bynner and Dr Sam Parsons of the Institute of Education, University of London, has highlighted the hardships experienced by many adults with the lowest levels of literacy and numeracy. This case study on the impact of their work demonstrates how their analyses of CLS birth cohort study datasets have helped to shape the thinking of UK policy-makers, educationists and health officials. It also documents their influence on overseas governments, international organisations, business and skills bodies, local authorities and charities.
This document is the appendix to the Impact case study: The impact of adult literacy and numeracy research based on the 1970 British Cohort Study.
Research by Professor John Bynner and Dr Sam Parsons of the Institute of Education, University of London, has highlighted the hardships experienced by many adults with the lowest levels of literacy and numeracy. This case study on the impact of their work demonstrates how their analyses of CLS birth cohort study datasets have helped to shape the thinking of UK policy-makers, educationists and health officials. It also documents their influence on overseas governments, international organisations, business and skills bodies, local authorities and charities.
This case study looks at the impact of the Millennium Cohort Study (MCS) on policy and practice. The MCS is the first birth cohort study to include all four UK countries. Its field of enquiry covers such diverse topics as parenting; childcare; school choice; child behaviour and cognitive development; child and parental health; parents’ employment and education; income and poverty; housing, neighbourhood and residential mobility; social capital and ethnicity, and the growing fluidity of family structures. The study is providing an invaluable service to the research community in the UK and internationally, and has helped to influence social, education and health policy at local and national levels.
This case study focuses on research (using data from the 1958 National Child Development Study) that played a pivotal role in the establishment of the last Labour government’s Child Trust Fund, the world’s first universal children’s savings scheme. The fund is a long-term tax-free savings initiative for UK children born between September 1, 2002 and January 2, 2011. Its designers aimed to ensure that every young person had some savings at the age of 18. They also hoped to encourage children to become savers and gain an understanding of personal finance.
This case study looks at the impact that the 1958, 1970 and Millennium cohort studies have had on different areas of policy. Britain’s internationally-renowned birth cohort studies have been described as the “crown jewels of social research”. As they track the same groups of people from birth, these studies show how histories of health, wealth, education, family and employment are interwoven for individuals and affect outcomes and achievements in later life. By comparing different generations in three cohorts, it is possible to chart social change and start to untangle the reasons behind it.
Find the latest developments and insights from across all our longitudinal studies.
Our bibliography is a searchable database of published work based on our cohort studies. Search by keyword, author, date range and journal.
Data from our studies are mainly available through the UK Data Service. We run training to support researchers who are interested in using our studies in their work.
Centre for Longitudinal Studies
UCL Social Research Institute
20 Bedford Way
London WC1H 0AL
Email: clsdata@ucl.ac.uk
