The current sweep was scheduled to begin in 2020. Due to the pandemic, it had to be postponed. It is now complete.
The sweep provideed the opportunity to collect a range of information from cohort members to aid the understanding of midlife outcomes across multiple life domains and their lifetime determinants.
This data collection built on the extensive data collected from birth and across the lifetime of cohort members and will facilitate comparisons with other generations, particularly the 1958 cohort at 50, and the 1946 cohort at 53, allowing for the study of social change.
The data will be of interest to researchers working in a wide range of disciplines, including population health and epidemiology, economics, sociology, demography, psychology and others. It has the potential to inform a wide range of policies, including relating to work, health, relationships, and civic participation.
It included:
- 75 minute face-to-face interview with cognitive assessments (some interviews were carried out via video link rather than in person)
- paper self-completion questionnaire
- online diet questionnaire.
The interview and paper self-completion questionnaire will cover the following three broad themes:
Family, relationships and identity: including topics such as social networks, relationships with partners, parents, children, friends, neighbourhood, social and cultural capital, social and political participation, attitudes and values, religion, and expectations.
Finances and employment: including topics such as work, income, wealth (savings and debts, pensions, and housing), inheritance (receiving and giving) and other transfers, and education.
Health, wellbeing and cognition: including topics such as physical health, mental health, medical care, medication, smoking, drinking, diet, exercise, and cognitive function.
The Age 51 Sweep is funded by the Economic and Social Research Council.
Data will be cleaned and documented and will be available for researchers to use from autumn 2024.