Millennium Cohort Study: Fifth Survey, 2012

<i>MCS5:</i><br />
The fifth sweep took place when the children were aged around 11 and in their last year of primary school. Fieldwork started in January 2012 and finished in February 2013. Interviews were conducted with the main carer (typically the child’s parent) and their co-resident partner (typically the child’s other parent). The cohort children had measurements taken of their height, weight and body fat; participated in three cognitive assessments and completed a self-completion questionnaire. A survey of class teachers was also conducted but only in England and Wales, and consent was collected from the parent and children to contact the teacher.<br />
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<I>Latest edition:</I><br />
For the fourth edition (June 2017), two updated data files were deposited. Firstly, the 'mcs5_parent_derived' data file has been updated with rows for proxy partner respondents added. Proxy partner respondent (and data file) applies for families that have a person eligible for the partner interview but s/he was not available, so the main respondent has provided information about him/her. This means that in the updated data file the key variables EELIG00, ERESP00 and EPNUM00 also provide information for proxy partners. Secondly, the 'mcs5_family_derived' data file has also been updated to resolve an issue with the OECD family income derived variables EOEDE000, EOEDP000, EOECDUK0 and EOECDSC0.<br />
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<I>File and variable name changes, 29 March 2017</I>:<br />
In late March 2017, CLS supplied syntax to harmonise the MCS5 filenames to the new MCS format; harmonise key identifiers into a new MCS naming convention for key IDs to make merging within a sweep easier; and to correct variable labels of SEOF in the MCS5 Parent Interview file. The files and variables amended are as follows:<ul>
<li>mcs5_cm_assessment: variable ECCNUM00 renamed to ECNUM00.</li>
<li>mcs5_cm_capi: file renamed to 'mcs5_parent_cm_interview'; variables EPPNUM00 renamed to EPNUM00; EPELIG00 renamed to EELIG00; EPRESP00 renamed to ERESP00; and ECCNUM00 renamed to ECNUM00.</li>
<li>mcs5_cm_dvs: file renamed to 'mcs5_cm_derived'; variable ECCNUM00 renamed to ECNUM00.</li>
<li>mcs5_cm_measurement: variable ECCNUM00 renamed to ECNUM00.</li>
<li>mcs5_cm_self_completion: file renamed to 'mcs5_cm_interview'; variable ECCNUM00 renamed to ECNUM00.</li>
<li>mcs5_family_dvs: file renamed to 'mcs5_family_derived'.</li>
<li>mcs5_cm_dvs: file renamed to 'mcs5_cm_derived'; variable ECCNUM00 renamed to ECNUM00.</li>
<li>mcs5_hhgrid: variables EPPNUM00 renamed to EPNUM00; EPELIG00 renamed to EELIG00; EPRESP00 renamed to ERESP00; and ECCNUM00 renamed to ECNUM00.</li>
<li>mcs5_parent_interview: variables EPPNUM00 renamed to EPNUM00; EPELIG00 renamed to EELIG00; EPRESP00 renamed to ERESP00; variable labels for EPSEOFA0 and EPSEOFB0 amended.</li>
<li>mcs5_parental_dvs: file renamed to 'mcs5_parent_derived'; variables EPPNUM00 renamed to EPNUM00; EPELIG00 renamed to EELIG00; EPRESP00 renamed to ERESP00.</li>
<li>mcs5_proxy_interview: file renamed to 'mcs5_proxy_partner_interview'; variables EPPNUM00 renamed to EPNUM00; EPELIG00 renamed to EELIG00; EPRESP00 renamed to ERESP00.</li>
<li>mcs5_teacher_survey: file renamed to 'mcs5_cm_teacher_survey'; variable ECCNUM00 renamed to ECNUM00.</li></ul>
May 2017: The longitudinal family file is now available separately under <a href="https://discover.ukdataservice.ac.uk/Catalogue/?sn=8172" title="Millennium Cohort Study: Longitudinal Family File, 2001-2015">SN 8172</a>.<br /><br />
<i>Background</i>:<br>
The original objectives of the first MCS survey, as laid down in the proposal to the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) in March 2000, were:<ul><li>to chart the initial conditions of social, economic and health advantages and disadvantages facing children born at the start of the 21st century, capturing information that the research community of the future will require</li><li>to provide a basis for comparing patterns of development with the preceding cohorts (the <i>National Child Development Study</i>, held at the UK Data Archive under GN 33004, and the <i>1970 Birth Cohort Study</i>, held under GN 33229)</li><li>to collect information on previously neglected topics, such as fathers' involvement in children's care and development</li><li>to focus on parents as the most immediate elements of the children's 'background', charting their experience as mothers and fathers of newborn babies in the year 2000, recording how they (and any other children in the family) adapted to the newcomer, and what their aspirations for her/his future may be</li><li>to emphasise intergenerational links including those back to the parents' own childhood</li><li>to investigate the wider social ecology of the family, including social networks, civic engagement and community facilities and services, splicing in geo-coded data when available</li></ul>Additional objectives subsequently included for MCS were:<ul><li>to provide control cases for the national evaluation of Sure Start (a government programme intended to alleviate child poverty and social exclusion)</li><li>to provide samples of adequate size to analyse and compare the smaller countries of the United Kingdom</li></ul>The first sweep (MCS1) interviewed both mothers and (where resident) fathers (or father-figures) of infants included in the sample when the babies were nine months old, and the second sweep (MCS2) was carried out with the same respondents when the children were three years of age. The third sweep (MCS3) was conducted in 2006, when the children were aged five years old, the fourth sweep (MCS4) in 2008, when they were seven years old, and the fifth sweep (MCS5) in 2012-2013, when they were eleven years old. The sixth sweep (MCS6) was conducted in 2015 and 2016, when the children were 14 years old.<br>
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<i>Sub-sample studies</i>:<br>
Some studies based on sub-samples of MCS have also been conducted, including a study of MCS respondent mothers who had received assisted fertility treatment, conducted in 2003 (see SN 5559). Also, birth registration and maternity hospital episodes for the MCS respondents are held as a separate dataset (see SN 5614).<br>
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<i>Weighting</i>:<br>
Users should note that the weighting section in the 'Guide to the Datasets' document recommends analysis in Stata, as SPSS is not currently able to weight the data using the survey design factors. The depositor is working on a solution for SPSS, but this is not yet available. A Stata version of the dataset is available for download by registered users, alongside the SPSS and tab-delimited versions.<br>
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<i>MCS web pages</i>:<br>
Further information about the MCS can be found on the <a href="http://www.cls.ioe.ac.uk" title="Centre for Longitudinal Studies" target="_blank">Centre for Longitudinal Studies</a> website.<br>
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<i>How to access genetic and/or bio-medical sample data from a range of longitudinal surveys:</i><br>
A useful overview of the governance routes for applying for genetic and bio-medical sample data, which are not available through the UK Data Service, can be found at <a href="http://www.metadac.ac.uk/data-access-through-metadac/" title="Governance of data and sample access">Governance of data and sample access</a> on the METADAC (Managing Ethico-social, Technical and Administrative issues in Data Access) website.<br>
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