The UK Millennium Cohort Study study is following the lives of approximately 19,000 children born in the UK between 2000-2001. So far there have been four sweeps of data collection, the last in 2008.
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.
The first wave of data collection covered circumstances of pregnancy, birth and early months and the social and economic background of the family. The second survey concentrated on continuity and change to assess key aspects of the child's physical, cognitive, social and emotional development and to maximize longitudinal potential for predicting and explaining future development.
The Centre for Longitudinal Studies carried out the first two surveys with funding from the Economic and Social Research Council and a consortium of Government Departments.