Letters are being sent out to randomly selected families with nine-month-old babies inviting them to take part in the ‘Children of the 2020s’ study, which will include research on child development and the use of informal and formal childcare and early education.
The research has been commissioned by the Department for Education and is led by researchers from University College London (UCL).
Ipsos and the universities of Cambridge and Oxford, and Birkbeck, University of London, are also involved in the study.
The research will follow children during the first five years of their lives, and potentially beyond, and will look at factors that influence their development in the early years.
UCL said that the evidence gathered aims to answer important scientific and policy questions, which will help inform decisions about early years and childcare services and improve the lives of families with young children in England.
The study’s interview team will visit the families to ask questions about their child’s development, family circumstances and their own lives.
Study director Professor Pasco Fearon (UCL Psychology & Language Sciences and the University of Cambridge) said, ‘We are extremely excited to start meeting with families next week for the first new birth cohort study of babies in England since the millennium.
‘More than 75 years ago, the first British birth cohort study, which is housed at UCL, was launched to track the lives of babies born just after the war. And now, Children of the 2020s will provide vital evidence about the early years as families navigate their way out of the Covid-19 pandemic and through the cost of living crisis.’
Funded initially for five years, parents will be asked about their child’s development, their neighbourhood and family context, family structure, health and mental health, the home learning environment, and formal and informal childcare provision and pre-school education.
Between the surveys, the research team will invite parents to use a smartphone app to log their baby’s language and development, and receive news and tips from experts.
With parents’ consent, data held by government departments, such as family health, educational and social care records, will be linked to their survey data, enabling researchers to gain a more detailed picture of the families' lives.
Professor Fearon added, ‘Our first five years are a crucial developmental period in our lives - every new experience can play a pivotal role in how we fare later on.
‘This new study will investigate how children develop and the circumstances and early years services that can make a difference. By understanding how these factors impact their development, we can learn how to support them, so they are able to make the best start at school and flourish as they are growing up.’
Children and families minister Will Quince said, ‘This is an important study that will provide an insight into the crucial early years of a child’s life and a wealth of evidence about their development and educational outcomes.
‘We know the pandemic has created unique challenges for families and I’d like to thank the thousands who will be participating in this study over the next five years.
‘We are committed to supporting families, including through a multi-million-pound package to transform services, which will create Family Hubs in half of all local authorities and provide important advice to parents and carers through the Start for Life offer.’
Children of the 2020s joins UCL’s previous cohort studies, which follow the lives of people born in 1946, 1958, 1970, 1989-90 and 2000-02.
