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BCS70 Age 51 Sweep

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Sweep details Special features at age 51 Documentation

Sweep details

Sweep status	Completed - final data were delivered from fieldwork agency in October 2024 and are currently being cleaned and documented
Dates	Summer 2021 until January 2024
Age	51-53
Respondents	Cohort members
Fieldwork agency	NatCen and Kantar Public
Data access	Data to be made available for research in early 2025
Survey mode	Face to face (some interviews were carried out via video link or web rather than in person)
Description	The Age 51 Sweep was scheduled to begin in 2020 but had to be postponed due to the pandemic. Fieldwork was completed in January 2024. We received the final data from our fieldwork partner in October 2024 and are currently working at pace to prepare the data and documentation for release in early 2025. The sweep provided 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. The sweep 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 covered 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.

Special features at age 51

Video interviewing

For the first time, some of the cohort took part via video interview, using Microsoft Teams.

This approach was introduced during the Covid-19 pandemic when in-person interviewing was not feasible but continued to be an option for cohort members who preferred to take part in this way, after in-person interviewing resumed.

Data linkage

Study members who had not previously consented (at Age 42) were asked for permission to link their survey data with health and economic records held by the NHS, the Department for Work and Pensions and HM Revenue & Customs.

Co-resident partners were also asked for consent to add their health and economic records to the data the study has collected.

Combining information from these records with the study data collected over the years will provide a much fuller picture of the health and economic circumstances of the cohort.

Intergenerational transfers

Study members were asked questions about intergenerational transfer of wealth including financial gifts, inheritances and trusts.

Imagining life at 60

On the final page of the paper self-completion questionnaire, respondents were asked to imagine the lives they would be living at 60.

They were asked yo write a few lines describing their interests, home life, health, wellbeing and work at this time.

This same question was asked of participants in the National Child Development Study (NCDS) in the age 50 survey (administered between 2008 and 2009), so it will be fascinating to see how thoughts have changed.

Contact the team

Carole Sanchez
BCS70 Survey Manager

Email: carole.sanchez@ucl.ac.uk

Documentation

User guides
Questionnaires
Technical reports
Data notes
Additional

User guides

Handling missing data in the CLS cohort studies – User Guide

This user guide aims to describe and illustrate a straightforward approach to missing data handling, while detailing some more general considerations around missing data along the way.

Date published: 03/06/2024
PDF: 1000,62 KB

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Questionnaires