Millennium Cohort Study 2000 (MCS)
The Millennium Cohort Study 2000 (MCS) follows the lives of some 18,000 children born in the UK at the turn of the 21st Century.
Background
The MCS differs slightly from its predecessors (NCDS and BCS70) in that it took a sample of more than 18,000 live births in the UK over 12 months (rather than one week) from 1 September 2000 in England and Wales and 1 December 2000 in Scotland and Northern Ireland. The MCS covers the whole of the UK, collects data from fathers as well as mothers, and adequately represents areas with high childhood poverty and high concentrations of Black and Asian families. Four surveys of MCS Cohort members have been carried out so far and the next sweep is planned for 2012.
Purpose
Understanding the social conditions surrounding birth and early childhood is widely viewed as key to the study of the whole of the life course. The MCS presents an exceptional opportunity to investigate the all-important first year of life. Potentially resolving many of the issues about its long term impact including matters of major policy interest such as the foundations of social capital and cohesion.
Type of data collected
Child: socio-demographic data, parental health and attitudes, child physical behavioural and cognitive development.
MCS links to additional sources of data on participants include: hospital and birth registration records, indicators of deprivation and rural living, child health and school records, records on work and tax for both parents.
Contribution
The MCS offers invaluable insight into major questions about the prospects of children born in 2000-1 and ways in which their unfolding lives differ from those of their predecessors. The data has already contributed to policy debate on child health and obesity, inequality and the intergenerational transmission of disadvantage and advantage. Findings from future sweeps of the study will inform debate on, among other things, advantage and disadvantage in education, health, employment and the parenting of the next generation.
Further information
Heather Joshi, Director, MCS
Email: h.joshi@ioe.ac.uk
Telephone: 020 7612 6874
Mina Thompson, Administrator
Email: m.thompson@ioe.ac.uk
Telephone: 020 7612 6875
Website: Centre for Longitudinal Studies
