There was a fascinating piece in British Cohort Studies – a unique set of studies that have tracked children born in 1946, 1958, 1970, in the early 1990s, and at the turn of the millennium. The article, based on a new book by journalist Helen Pearson shows the impressive range of evidence these studies have contributed to policymaking and shaped so many things that we now take for granted in the UK – starting with the integration of free maternity services into the nascent National He
Several things resonated for me:
- The power of the data grows with each survey round: Scientists have been able to go back to information collected early in life to see the later impacts. As with the Lothian Birth Cohorts of 1921 and 1936 which use data from school tests administered to 11-year-olds in Scotland, the British cohort studies now have over 70 years’ worth of information about the changing nature of he
- There have been some unexpected findings: conclusive evidence came in the 1970s, for example, about the link between smoking in pregnancy and still births, infant deaths and low birthweights, led to one of the most significant changes in public he
- There can be unintended consequences: The Busselton He was set up in a small community in Australia with the explicit aim of providing epidemiological data, but also empowered residents to take an active role in their own he
And that’s the beauty of longitudinal data: it allows researchers to identify links between people’s circumstances early in life and their later outcomes, and it also shows how persistent particular circumstances are.
The success the British cohort studies have had in using evidence to bring about policy change is inspiring. The learning for Young Lives is that we must use our evidence to show not only national patterns but the trends that are likely to affect other low-income countries in future as well.
Further reading:
What Can Longitudinal Research Tell Us About Children’s Life-chances?
What Can Comparative Country Research Tell Us About Child Poverty?
The Life Project: Helen Pearson’s history of the UK’s birth cohort studie
There was a fascinating piece in British Cohort Studies – a unique set of studies that have tracked children born in 1946, 1958, 1970, in the early 1990s, and at the turn of the millennium. The article, based on a new book by journalist Helen Pearson shows the impressive range of evidence these studies have contributed to policymaking and shaped so many things that we now take for granted in the UK – starting with the integration of free maternity services into the nascent National He
Several things resonated for me:
- The power of the data grows with each survey round: Scientists have been able to go back to information collected early in life to see the later impacts. As with the Lothian Birth Cohorts of 1921 and 1936 which use data from school tests administered to 11-year-olds in Scotland, the British cohort studies now have over 70 years’ worth of information about the changing nature of he
- There have been some unexpected findings: conclusive evidence came in the 1970s, for example, about the link between smoking in pregnancy and still births, infant deaths and low birthweights, led to one of the most significant changes in public he
- There can be unintended consequences: The Busselton He was set up in a small community in Australia with the explicit aim of providing epidemiological data, but also empowered residents to take an active role in their own he
And that’s the beauty of longitudinal data: it allows researchers to identify links between people’s circumstances early in life and their later outcomes, and it also shows how persistent particular circumstances are.
The success the British cohort studies have had in using evidence to bring about policy change is inspiring. The learning for Young Lives is that we must use our evidence to show not only national patterns but the trends that are likely to affect other low-income countries in future as well.
Further reading:
What Can Longitudinal Research Tell Us About Children’s Life-chances?
What Can Comparative Country Research Tell Us About Child Poverty?
The Life Project: Helen Pearson’s history of the UK’s birth cohort studie