Millennium Cohort Study (MCS)
Measures describe a question asked to a participant during a survey or an item of information requested from a manager when they fill out a data return. For example, ‘Who do you live with?’ is a measure and the possible responses might be, mother, father, brother, sister etc.
| Need/provision/receipt | Description of measure | Start Year | Age range | Age from | Age to | Informant | Multiple rater | Reporting term | Sweep title | Standard instrument | Question/Data item | Response scale | Notes | Physical health measures | Dataset | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Receipt; | Child in care | 2023 | 18-120 | 18 | 120 | Participant | No | Current | MCS8 Cohort Member questionnaire June 2023 | No | Please can you tell us why they do not live with you? |
1.They live with your partner or another family member. |
MCS | |||
| Need; | Conditions which could lead to social care need | 2023 | 18-120 | 18 | 120 | Partner | No | Current | MCS8 Partner questionnaire June 2023 | No | Part 1: Part 2: |
Part 1: Part 2: |
MCS | |||
| Provision; | How much time spent caring | 2023 | 18-120 | 18 | 120 | Participant | No | Past week | MCS8 Cohort Member questionnaire June 2023 | No | Taking account of all the unpaid help you give, including travelling time, about how long did you spend looking after people last week? |
1 0-2 hours |
MCS | |||
| Provision; | Who participant cares for | 2023 | 18-120 | 18 | 120 | Participant | No | Current | MCS8 Cohort Member questionnaire June 2023 | No | Please tell us who you care for. Select all that apply |
1 Mother |
MCS | |||
| Provision; | Whether provides care | 2023 | 18-120 | 18 | 120 | Participant | No | Current | MCS8 Cohort Member questionnaire June 2023 | No | Some people have extra responsibilities because they look after someone who has long-term physical or mental health difficulties or disability, or problems related to old age. Do you regularly look after anyone who is ill, disabled or elderly and in need of care, without being paid? This includes both people who live with you and those who live elsewhere. Please do not include caring you do for others that you do in a professional capacity (i.e. as a job). |
1 Yes |
MCS | |||
| Receipt/Provision; | Still living at home as provide or require care | 2023 | 18-120 | 18 | 120 | Participant | No | Current | MCS8 Cohort Member questionnaire June 2023 | No | What is the main reason you are still living your parent(s)? |
1. I would like to move into my own home, but I cannot afford to |
MCS | |||
| Receipt; | In care at time left school | 2023 | 18-120 | 18 | 120 | Participant | No | Current | MCS8 Cohort Member questionnaire June 2023 | No | Were you in care at the time you left school? |
1 Yes |
MCS | |||
| Receipt; | Time spent in care | 2023 | 18-120 | 18 | 120 | Participant | No | Current | MCS8 Cohort Member questionnaire June 2023 | No | Which best describes the total amount of time you have ever spent in care? |
1. Under three months |
MCS | |||
| Receipt; | Lived in care home/with foster parents | 2023 | 18-120 | 18 | 120 | Participant | No | Current | MCS8 Cohort Member questionnaire June 2023 | No | Since you were {HFAGLS00 } have you lived in any of the places on this card away from your parents? |
1 Statutory children’s home |
MCS | |||
| Receipt; | Receipt of care including foster care | 2023 | 18-120 | 18 | 120 | Participant | No | Current | MCS8 Cohort Member questionnaire June 2023 | No | Since you were {HFAGLS00)”} have you lived in any of the places on this card away from your parents? |
1 Local authority children’s or living support home |
MCS | |||
| Receipt; | Receipt of care-related benefits | 2023 | 18-120 | 18 | 120 | Participant | No | Current | MCS8 Cohort Member questionnaire June 2023 | No | Which, if any, of the following types of payments are you {IF ^DVHHGLPT =1: “or ^RESPARTNERNAME”} currently receiving? {IF UNCR=1: Do not include any benefits that you {IF ^DVHHGLPT =1: “or ^RESPARTNERNAME”} are receiving as part of your Universal Credit} |
Multiple response |
MCS | |||
| Provision; | Stopping education to care for someone | 2023 | 18-120 | 18 | 120 | Participant | No | Current | MCS8 Cohort Member questionnaire June 2023 | No | Why did you stop this course? |
1. Transferred to a course which you preferred |
MCS | |||
| Receipt; | Whether participant lives with paid carer | 2023 | 18-120 | 18 | 120 | Participant | No | Current | MCS8 Cohort Member questionnaire June 2023 | No | Who does CM_FirstName live with at home or in the place where they live most of the time? |
1 Parent(s) – including step-parent, adoptive parent or foster parent |
MCS | |||
| Receipt; | Whether carer is giving proxy interview | 2023 | 18-120 | 18 | 120 | Participant | No | Current | MCS8 Cohort Member questionnaire June 2023 | No | Who is giving the proxy interview? |
1. Cohort member’s parent |
MCS | |||
| Need; | Conditions which could lead to social care need | 2023 | 18-120 | 18 | 120 | Participant | No | Current | MCS8 Cohort Member questionnaire June 2023 | No | Part 1: Part 2: |
Part 1: Part 2: |
MCS | |||
| Receipt; | Whether child lives with carer | 2023 | 18-120 | 18 | 120 | Participant | No | Current | MCS8 Cohort Member questionnaire June 2023 | No | Who does CM_FirstName live with at home or in the place where they live most of the time? |
1 Parent(s) – including step-parent, adoptive parent or foster parent |
MCS | |||
| Receipt; | Whether current address nursing home | 2023 | 18-120 | 18 | 120 | Participant | No | Current | MCS8 Cohort Member questionnaire June 2023 | No | Part 1: Part 2: |
Part 1: Part 2: |
MCS | |||
| Provision; | Caring responsibilities | 2018 | 17-17 | 17 | 17 | Participant | No | Currently | MCS7 (Age 17 Survey) | No | Taking account of all the unpaid help you give, including travelling time, about how long did you spend looking after people last week? |
1 0-2 hours |
None |
MCS | ||
| Provision; | Caring responsibilities | 2018 | 17-17 | 17 | 17 | Participant | No | Currently | MCS7 (Age 17 Survey) | No | Please tell us who you care for. |
1 Your mother |
None |
MCS | ||
| Provision; | Caring responsibilities | 2018 | 17-17 | 17 | 17 | Participant | No | Currently | MCS7 (Age 17 Survey) | No | Some people have extra responsibilities because they look after someone who has long- term physical or mental health difficulties or disability, or problems related to old age. ADD INFO BUTTON: “For example: cooking, cleaning, shopping, providing nursing and personal care, and giving emotional support.” |
1 Yes |
None |
MCS |
Overview
Aims
The Millennium Cohort Study (MCS) is a national longitudinal birth cohort study following the lives of around 19,000 young people born in the United Kingdom in 2000-01. This multidisciplinary survey aims to capture the influence of early family context on child development and outcomes. Children from minority ethnic backgrounds and children in Scotland, Wales & Northern Ireland are oversampled to help capture the diversity of backgrounds into which children are born in the beginning of the 21st century.
Institution
Centre for Longitudinal Studies (CLS) - Institute of Education (IoE), UCL
Geographic coverage - Nations
England; Northern Ireland; Scotland; United Kingdom; Wales;
Start date
2000
Minimum age at recruitment
0
Sample Size
18,818
Sample
Study design
Birth cohort
Sample details
Children born between September 2000 and January 2002. The sample was selected from a random sample of electoral wards, disproportionately stratified to ensure adequate representation of all four UK countries, deprived areas and areas with high concentrations of Black and Asian families.
An additional 692 families who were eligible for MCS1 but weren't picked up by the child benefit system were recruited at the age 3 survey.
Sex
All
Sample Characteristics
Birth cohort
Sample size at most recent sweep
11,726 children (MCS6)
Data
Data Access
UK Data Service
https://cls.ucl.ac.uk/data-access-training/access-ukds/
Complementary Data
Genetic/genomic data
Linked administrative data
Mapping/spatial data
Genetic Data Collected
Yes
Linked Data
Education data
HDR UK Innovation Gateway
https://web.www.healthdatagateway.org/dataset/2b09ea87-5b22-4049-b7dd-de0889699115
Additional information
Website
cls.ucl.ac.uk/cls-studies/millennium-cohort-study/
Notes
Also known as Child of the New Century
Related Measures
Benefits, Cognitive measures, Covid-19 data collection, Diet and nutrition, Education, Ethnicity and race, Faith/religion, Housing, Income/household income, Language and literacy, Loneliness and social isolation, Mental health measures, Migration and immigration, Neighbourhood and community, Parenting and family, Physical health assessment, Political and social attitudes, Sexuality and gender identity, Sleep problems, Social support, Socioeconomic status and deprivation, Technology - Assistive/Digital, Work and employment,
Study Code
MCS
Reference paper(s)
Connelly R & Platt, L. (2014) Cohort Profile: UK Millennium Cohort Study (MCS). International Journal of Epidemiology, 43, 1719-1725.
Joshi H & Fitzsimmons E. (2016) The Millennium Cohort Study: the making of a multi-purpose resource for social science and policy. Longitudinal and Life Course Studies, 7, 409-430.