The story of your lives – Celebrating the first 60 years of the National Child Development Study

In a single week in March 1958, thousands of babies were welcomed into the world, in hospitals and homes up and down Great Britain. While cradled in their mothers’ arms, they took part in a survey, all about the circumstances of their birth and first days of life.

The survey was only intended to be a one-off. But more than 60 years on, the National Child Development Study, as it became, is still following the lives of this special group of babies.

This commemorative book tells the story of one of the longest running and most important studies of its kind in the world. It’s also the story of an incredible group of people who share the same birthday week but have lived such diverse lives. This is a small token of our gratitude for everything they have given to the study over so many years.

The book features personal recollections and reflections from cohort members and highlights some of the most important NCDS research from the past six decades.

Copies were sent to cohort members for their 61^st birthdays.

You can also download PDF versions of this book in colour and black and white.

Find out more

On the back pages, as well as here on our website, you’ll find the references for the research covered in the book. While we only had space in the book to share a snapshot of some of the most important NCDS research, you can also explore our searchable online bibliography. It features nearly 3,000 publications which use the study’s data.

Have you seen our documentary?

In this short documentary leading figures reflect on the impact of NCDS on science and policy, and look ahead to how much we still have to learn from the study participants’ diverse lives.