Findings from a new study of nearly 19,000 babies born in the first two years of the 21st Century show that Britain's oldest new father is at least 69.
Information about parents' ages is just one of thousands of pieces of information about Britain's children of the new century captured by the Millennium Cohort Study (MCS). Researchers are following the lives of 18,819 babies born between September 2000 and January 2002. The first data set from the MCS, funded by the Economic and Social Science Research Council (ESRC), will be released next week.
How much do you think we know about the UK's 21st Century babies? To mark the launch of the MCS data set, people will be able to test their knowledge in a website quiz competition. The quiz is organised by the research team responsible for the MCS, based at the Centre for Longitudinal Studies at the Institute of Education (University of London).
The quiz is based on findings from the MCS on a wide range of birth, baby and parenthood topics. For example:
- Answer: Wales has the highest rate of caesarian deliveries (23.2 per cent) compared to a UK national average of 21.6 per cent.
- Answer: 67.2 per cent. But babies born in Northern Ireland are the most precocious wavers: 75 per cent of Northern Ireland babies can wave bye bye at 9-10 months compared to 66 per cent babies born in England.
Details of the website quiz and how to enter can be found at www.cls.ioe.ac.uk/quiz
The winner of the website quiz, who receives £100 voucher from a baby goods retailer, will be announced on the Centre for Longitudinal Studies website on 25 June 2003. This is the day of a launch event to mark the deposit in the ESRC Data Archive of the Millennium Cohort Study data set. The launch takes place during Social Science Week and will be held at the Institute of Education, London.
Further details of the Millennium Cohort Study can be found on www.cls.ioe.ac.uk
For further information, contact:
Prof. Shirley Dex, on 207-612-6231, e-mail: sd@cls.ioe.ac.uk / mobile 07879 625006.
Or Lesley Lilley or Anna Hinds at ESRC, on 44-179-341-3119/413122
NOTES FOR EDITORS
1 The ESRC Millennium Cohort Study (MCS) is the fourth national birth cohort study in Britain, the first for 30 years. Its initial survey recruited nearly 19,000 children from all parts of the UK. They were born over a period of at least 12 months, starting in September 2000. The sample over-represents families in the smaller countries of the UK, families living in areas of high child poverty and areas with concentrations of ethnic minorities. Interviews with both parents took place between June 2001 and January 2003, documenting the diversity of circumstances in which these children are setting out on life in the 21st century. The event marks the deposit in the Data Archive of the resulting multi-purpose data set, and will unveil the ongoing operation to follow-up at age three.
2 The MCS is jointly funded by Economic & Social Research Council, ONS consortium of Government Departments: ONS, DfES, DWP, DoH, Scottish Executive, Welsh Assembly, NI Executive, Sure Start – National Evaluation in England.
3 Social Science Week 2003, from the 23rd to the 27th June, is about revitalising policy by bringing social scientists and their research together with policy-makers. Events in various locations will showcase a broad array of ESRC research. Topics will cover a wide spectrum, from the state of UK business to climate change and arms control. For a programme visit www.esrc.ac.uk/socialscienceweek or call David Ridley, External Relations, on 44-179-341-3118.
4 The ESRC is the UK's largest funding agency for research and postgraduate training relating to social and economic issues. It provides independent, high-quality, relevant research to business, the public sector and Government. The ESRC invests more than £76 million every year in social science and at any time is supporting some 2,000 researchers in academic institutions and research policy institutes. It also funds postgraduate training within the social sciences to nurture the researchers of tomorrow. More at http://www.esrc.ac.uk
5 The Institute of Education is a college of the University of London, specialising in teaching, research and consultancy in education and related areas of social science and professional practice.