Government Social Research
On 11 October 2007, the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills (DIUS) and ESRC announced the first social science project funded by the Large Facilities Capital Fund - £15.5 million funding for the world's largest longitudinal study of households. The study of 40,000 UK households will provide valuable new evidence on the people of the UK: their lives, experiences, behaviours, expectations and beliefs and how these change over time. The findings from the study will help to inform and evaluate long term policy decisions in areas as diverse as housing, health, and education.
The new UK Household Longitudinal Study (UKHLS) will examine the impact of demographic changes on UK society. It will encompass nearly 100,000 individuals and will enable a much better understanding of people's lives and diversity of experiences over time and across generations.
The UKHLS will replace the ESRC's existing longitudinal household study, the British Household Panel Survey (BHPS) which was established in 1991. The 5,500 households from BHPS will be incorporated into the new study. The Institute of Social and Economic Research at the University of Essex which manages BHPS will also manage UKHLS.
The key benefits of UKHLS are:
In 2005, as part of its National Data Strategy, the ESRC conducted a major Strategic Review of Longitudinal Studies. The review noted that attrition had reduced the effective sample size of the current British Household Panel Study established in 1991. It was now inadequate to support analyses in some key areas and recommended an enlarged study of 40,000 households.