The 1970 British Cohort Study (BCS70) is a continuing, multi-disciplinary longitudinal survey monitoring the development of babies born in the UK in one particular week in April 1970.

History

Since the start of the BCS70, seven full sets of data have been collected in 1970, 1975, 1980, 1986, 1996, 1999/2000 and 2004/2005.

The first wave in 1970, called the British Births Survey, was conducted by the National Birthday Trust Fund together with the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists

Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists

The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists is a professional association based in the UK. Its members, including people with and without medical degrees, work in the field of obstetrics and gynaecology, that is, pregnancy, childbirth, and female sexual and reproductive health...

 in order to collect information to compare with those of the National Child Development Study

National Child Development Study

The National Child Development Study is a continuing, multi-disciplinary longitudinal study which follows the lives of about 17,000 people born in Great Britain in a certain week in 1958.-History:...

(NCDS). The following two sweeps in 1975 and 1980, when the study was known as the Child Health and Education Study (CHES), were carried out by the Department of Child Health at Bristol University. The 1986 survey was conducted by the International Centre for Child Studies and called Youthscan which was then taken over for the following surveys by the Social Statistics Research Unit (SSRU), now known as the Centre for Longitudinal Studies (CLS).

The scope of the BCS70 has been broadened in the course of the different surveys. While the focus was on medical aspects at birth, factors such as physical, educational, social and economic development were subsequently taken into account.

Methodology and scope

The primary method of data collection are face-to-face interviews (with the parents), self-completion questionnaires as well as psychological and educational measurements. The sample size included about 17,000 babies in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland born in 1970.

Survey results

The findings from the BCS70 have been included in numerous publications, a list of which can be found here. One key publication which also includes data of other British Cohort Studies is Elsa Ferri, John Bynner and Michael Wadsworth (eds.)(2003) Changing Britain, Changing Lives: three generations at the turn of the century

Re-using the data

The data and additional study information are available on the website of the Economic and Social Data Service (ESDS). Users will have to register in order to access the download section.

External links

• CLS website
• ESDS Longitudinal website