The UK Household Longitudinal Study (UKHLS): Progress and Plans

1. The UK Household Longitudinal Study (UKHLS): Progress and Plans Alita Nandi Institute for Social and Economic Research University of Essex 18th March 2008 http://www.iser.essex.ac.uk/ukhls/ UPTAP Conference 18th March 2008

2. Outline • Overview • Questionnaire content • Timeline UPTAP Conference 18th March 2008

3. Overview UPTAP Conference 18th March 2008

4. What is the UKHLS? • UKHLS is a longitudinal study based on a household panel design • Basic design similar to that of British Household Panel Survey which it will replace • Representative of the whole UK population (now and in the future) • Sampled households will be interviewed annually starting from 2009 UPTAP Conference 18th March 2008

5. Key features • Large sample size – 40,0 00 households and 100,000 individuals • Full age range – gather information for all members of the sampled household • Broad inter-disciplinary topic coverage – multi-purpose survey supporting a very wide range of research agenda in economics, social policy and sociology and interdisciplinary research with other fields such as geography, psychology and genetics UPTAP Conference 18th March 2008

6. Key features (contd.) • Ethnicity strand & ethnic minority boost sample – designed to accommodate longitudinal analysis of minority ethnic groups and exploration of questions of specific interest for research into ethnicity • Biomedical strand – opportunity to assess exposure and antecedent factors of health status, understanding disease mechanisms, household and socioeconomic effects and analysis of outcomes • Methodological Innovations – Innovation Panel (about 3000 individuals) • Innovative data collection methods – data linkage, bio markers,.. UPTAP Conference 18th March 2008

7. Sample Design – New main sample • New main sample will be clustered in a sample of postcode sectors • Equal probability sample of addresses in UK • All persons resident at those addresses are sample members (possibly household associates) • Subsequent to wave 1 interview: • all wave 1 sample members are followed • all children born to female wave 1 sample members become sample member • All household members of wave 1 sample members UPTAP Conference 18th March 2008

8. Sample Design – BHPS & Ethnic minority boost • BHPS – After 18 waves BHPS (including Scottish & Welsh boosts and NIHPS) will become part of the UKHLS from wave 2 onwards • Ethnic minority boost sample – Requirement for 1000 individuals in each of the five ethnic groups (African, Bangladeshi, Caribbean, Indian, Pakistani), plus those from other ethnic groups screened in (expected to include around 500 of those of mixed ethnicities and around 300 Chinese, plus around 1000 from other ethnic groups). Note this is additional to the coverage proportional to population representation of all ethnic groups across the UK in the main sample. • White comparison sample – all persons in all households in a sub-sample of wave 1 main sample addresses (approx. 600 responding households) UPTAP Conference 18th March 2008

9. Sample components and sizes UPTAP Conference 18th March 2008

10. Screening for EMB Does anyone living at this address come from, or have parents or grandparents from, any of the following ethnic groups or origins? A) Indian B) Pakistani C) Bangladeshi D) Sri Lankan E) Chinese F) Far Eastern G) Turkish H) Middle Eastern and Iranian I) Caribbean J) African (including North African) K) Other minority group L) No – none of these Among those who answer A or I, additional questions will be asked to ascertain whether any person has origins in another ethnic group as well as Indian/Caribbean. Among those who answer to J, a further question will ascertain if North African, African Asian, Black African or White African UPTAP Conference 18th March 2008

11. Screening for EMB cont. Selection probabilities are: • 100% for Bangladeshi, North African, Black African, Turkish, Chinese, Sri Lankan, Far Eastern, Middle Eastern and mixed Indian and Caribbean • 0% for White African, other minority group and none of these • 46% for Indian and African Asian (non-mixed) • 75% for Caribbean (non-mixed) • 58% for Pakistani A household takes the highest of any possible selection probabilities for any member. This is intended to give the 1000 required adults from the five groups plus small numbers for some discrete combinations and to exclude those from very small groups (where separate analysis will be impossible) and those from white majority or minority groups (who will be poorly represented across the boost areas, but will be represented across the main sample). UPTAP Conference 18th March 2008

12. Estimated structure of Boost Sample UPTAP Conference 18th March 2008

13. 2008 2009 2010 2011 O J A J O J A J O J A J W1 W2 Fieldwork Schedule UPTAP Conference 18th March 2008

14. Data Collection Modes • Wave 1 • face to face interviewing for all 16+ • Self-completion for all 16+ • Self-completion for 10-15 year olds • Telephone as last resort for refusal conversion • Wave 2 • mixed modes: telephone where possible and face to face elsewhere • Mixed mode approaches being tested on Innovation Panel • Web under consideration for future UPTAP Conference 18th March 2008

15. Innovation Panel wave 1 experiments • Testing questions – different types of consumption, unearned income/benefits and marital history questions • Investigating scope for mixed mode approaches • Access to telephone and internet, response rates • Difference in data quality in questions with and without showcards • Testing effect of incentives on response • Testing consent questions UPTAP Conference 18th March 2008

16. Questionnaire content UPTAP Conference 18th March 2008

17. Key questionnaire constraints • 12 month intervals between interviews • Continuous fieldwork over 24 month field period, with second wave overlapping with first • Face-to-face interview at wave 1; mixed mode at wave 2, 20% face to face only • Individual interview not more than 30 minutes face to face interview administered, plus self completion and consents to link data • Household roster, plus 10 minutes household questionnaire • ‘Extra 5 minutes’ for Ethnic Minority Boost and White Comparison Sample • Some data collection by self completion from children aged 10-15 from wave 1 UPTAP Conference 18th March 2008

18. Potential areas of coverage • Standard of living measures (income, consumption, material deprivation, expenditure, financial well-being) • Family, social networks and interactions, local contexts, social support, technology and social contacts • Attitudes and behaviours related to environmental issues (energy, transport, air quality, global warming etc.) • Illicit and risky behaviour (crime, drug use, anti-social behaviour etc). • Lifestyle, social, political, religious and other participation, identity and related practices, dimensions of life satisfaction/happiness • Psychological attributes, cognitive abilities and behaviour • Preferences, beliefs, attitudes and expectations • Health outcomes and health related behaviour • Education, human capital and work • Initial conditions, life history UPTAP Conference 18th March 2008

19. Ethnicity Strand: questionnaire content Key areas identified in consultations to be asked in wave 1 across the whole sample • Own, parents’ and grandparents’ country of birth, and date of migration if applicable • Own ethnic identity; mother’s and father’s ethnic identity and strength of identification with parental ethnicity • Religious affiliation; religious participation; and importance of belief to self. • Whether first language English or not; functioning and literacy in English UPTAP Conference 18th March 2008

20. Ethnicity Strand: questionnaire content contd. • Parental aspirations for child’s education/employment • Child’s aspirations • Some questions on experience of discrimination and harassment. • Some questions on self-employment • Citizenship status UPTAP Conference 18th March 2008

21. Ethnicity Strand: questionnaire content, ‘Extra five minutes’ ‘Extra five minutes’ could allow additional topics or greater frequency for especially salient ones or a bit of both (asked only of EMB and WCS) • Intermediate countries of migration • Remittances, whether money remitted, how much and what for • Internal migration following settlement/childhood • Additional questions on experience of discrimination and harassment. UPTAP Conference 18th March 2008

22. Some principles for selecting measures • Longitudinal survey: prioritise measures best used longitudinally, rather than just at a single point in time, or repeated cross-section. • Household survey: prioritise measures that benefit from understanding of the household context and measures from other family members. • Why UKHLS: Do not just duplicate other surveys. Prioritise new measures not covered elsewhere or where UKHLS design leads to benefits from replication. UPTAP Conference 18th March 2008

23. Principles contd. • Related topics: Priority for topics which most benefit from co-existence on the same survey as other included topics (esp. those that maximise the possibilities for cross-disciplinary research and balance between different topic areas). • Respondent burden: Successful establishment for the long term with low attrition is priority now. Minimise respondent burden and avoid measures which may damage response. • BHPS questions: Learn from BHPS but not a replication, so BHPS questions not carried unless they are the best alternative. UPTAP Conference 18th March 2008

24. Components of the wave 1 questionnaire • Annual repeating measures • Initial conditions and life history, once only • Rotating and intermittent measures first introduced at wave 1 Alternative methods: • Random sub-sample? • Data linkage? UPTAP Conference 18th March 2008

25. Estimated timings for questionnaire components UPTAP Conference 18th March 2008

26. Annual repeating questions- Rationale • The dynamics of change per se (e.g. duration in states, factors explaining transitions from one state to another) are themselves interesting and • the phenomena themselves are subject to substantive change from year to year at the individual level, at least for significant fractions of the population Annual data collection is less appropriate where the interest is in long term impacts of earlier conditions, or where the time to impact is not of the highest priority UPTAP Conference 18th March 2008

27. Basic demographic characteristics and changes, fertility, partnering, Health status (e.g. SF12), disability, Labour market activity and employment status, job search Current job characteristics, basic employment conditions, hours of paid work, second jobs Childcare, other caring within and outside household Income and earnings Life satisfaction Political affiliation – basic measures Transport and communication access Education aspirations and expectations Consumption expenditure Housing characteristics – basic Housing expenditure Household facilities, car ownership Annual repeating questions - content UPTAP Conference 18th March 2008

28. Initial conditions and life histories • UKHLS will provide longitudinal data from the point at which sample members are selected at wave 1 • Need data about people’s earlier life to fully exploit panel data in analysis • Initial Conditions • factual background measures e.g. place of birth, details of parental background, education and qualifications • Life History data • record all changes in a particular domain over the whole life-course to date e.g. cohabitation, marital and fertility history; an employment history; migration history; and many others UPTAP Conference 18th March 2008

29. Rotating and intermittent questions- Rationale • Time constraint: Use of rotating modules and intermittent measures for a substantial proportion of questionnaire time increases the range and number of questions that can be asked across the survey • Not too time varying: A more infrequent cycle may, anyway, be more suitable for some measures. • Some rotating modules will be included at wave 1, but far more in subsequent waves UPTAP Conference 18th March 2008

30. Biennial Fuel consumption Mental health and well-being Tobacco, alcohol, drug use Physical activity, fitness, nutrition Financial/ material well-being Pensions and savings behaviour Commuting behaviour Work aspirations, preferences and expectations Domestic work Voluntary work Family networks outside household Travel behaviour ICT usage Leisure participation Attitudes and behaviour related to the environment 5-10 yearly Psychological attributes / stable values or preferences Cognitive ability/identity 3-5 yearly Housing wealth Ethnicity and national identity Fertility intentions Chronic health conditions Sleep Obesity and body mass Wealth, credit and debt Employment conditions Within household organisation Social relationships within the family Religion Social and friendship networks Social support Political engagement Social engagement, social capital Local neighbourhood Quality of life measures Discrimination and racism Cultural consumption Rotating & intermittent questions- Suggested frequency UPTAP Conference 18th March 2008

31. Rotating & intermittent questions - some issues • Some modules are complementary and are best asked in the same wave – co-ordination as well as frequency then becomes an issue. • Some questions might be most salient for particular sub-populations – e.g. particular age groups; or may be suitable for higher frequency at particular ages • Some questions can be related to events that may occur in people’s lives and can be asked just at those points. • Some questions or topic areas still need development – timing of introduction is in part dependent on that. UPTAP Conference 18th March 2008

32. Random sub-samples - Rationale • For many, but not all, purposes 40,000 households is larger than needed • Could exploit this by creating random sub-samples which contain both questions asked of everyone and subsets of questions asked only in the sub-sample • This increases the effective length of the questionnaire, and potentially allows inclusion of more modules or permits modules to be included with greater frequency UPTAP Conference 18th March 2008

33. Random sub-samples - some issues • Ensuring that right combinations of questions are on same sub-sample – major design challenge • Combine ‘light’ measurement of topics for full sample, with greater depth or higher frequency for sub-sample? • Issues for ethnic minority boost sample, and separate analyses of e.g. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland: if we used this approach these samples would also be split • Context effects? • NB: we are not proposing to introduce sub-sampling at wave 1 UPTAP Conference 18th March 2008

34. Random sub-samples- Different approaches • Completely distinct question groups: requires groups of questions where can assume that there will little demand for analysis combining data from more than one group. Implies thematically coherent groups. • Overlapping question groups in different sub-samples. Ensures that every pair of questions is asked in combination for a random sub-set of respondents. The time gains are less, but it might cover a higher proportion of questions. • Randomise the allocation of questions at the individual respondent level. Statistical benefits but complex for analysis. UPTAP Conference 18th March 2008

35. Data Linkage • Purposes of data linkage • Supplement data collected in survey • Substitute data collected in survey • Validate data collected in survey • Issues in data linkage: • best timing of obtaining consents for individual-level linkage given burden and sensitivity issues • User access plan UPTAP Conference 18th March 2008

36. Timetable UPTAP Conference 18th March 2008

37. …Up until now • Spring 2007: PI team started work, consultation launched • June/July: initial meetings of topic groups and ethnicity strand consultation • September 2007: Topic groups reported & development of Innovation Panel questionnaire started (NB different from wave 1 questionnaire) • October 2007: 1st meeting of Scientific Advisory Committee, proposals for topic content circulated • December 2007: measures for Main wave 1 identified • January 2008: Innovation Panel wave 1 started UPTAP Conference 18th March 2008

38. From now on… • Ongoing: Consultation for Main wave 2 and Youth questionnaire wave 1 • March 2008: Completion of Innovation Panel wave 1 fieldwork • June 2008: Final survey pilot for Main wave 1 • July 2008: Design for Innovation Panel wave 2 • January 2009: Start of Main wave 1 fieldwork Active consultation process: so far more than 30 meetings (including 15 for ethnicity strand), more than 200 written comments (including 50 for ethnicity strand). UPTAP Conference 18th March 2008

39. Thank you! http://www.iser.essex.ac.uk/ukhls/ Email us at: ukhls-consult@isermail.essex.ac.uk Or email the ethnicity strand at ukhls-consult-ethnicity@isermail.essex.ac.uk UPTAP Conference 18th March 2008