Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.

The General Household Survey (GHS) was a continuous national survey of people living in private households conducted on an annual basis, by the Social Survey Division of the Office for National Statistics (ONS). The main aim of the survey was to collect data on a range of core topics, covering household, family and individual information. This information was used by government departments and other organisations for planning, policy and monitoring purposes, and to present a picture of households, family and people in Great Britain. From 2008, the General Household Survey became a module of the Integrated Household Survey (IHS). In recognition, the survey was renamed the General Lifestyle Survey (GLF). The GLF closed in 2011. Secure Access GLF The Secure Access version includes additional, detailed variables not included in either the standard 'End User Licence' (EUL) version (see under GN 33090). Not all variables are available for all years, but extra variables that can typically be found in the Secure Access version but not in the EUL version relate to:geography: postcodes (anonymised prior to 2009)employment details, including economic status, self-employment, number of employeesemployment and training schemesreason for reduction in incomelooking for workbenefitsborrowing money and bill arrearsnationalitymigration, including when arrived in UK and previous country of residenceethnicityreligious identityProspective users of the Secure Access version of the GLF will need to fulfil additional requirements, commencing with the completion of an extra application form to demonstrate to the data owners exactly why they need access to the extra, more detailed variables, in order to obtain permission to use that version. Secure Access users must also complete face-to-face training and agree to Secure Access' User Agreement and Breaches Penalties Policy (see 'Access' section below). Therefore, users are encouraged to download and inspect the EUL version of the data prior to ordering the Secure Access version. Further details and links for all GLF studies available from the UK Data Archive can be found via the General Lifestyle Survey series web page. Geographical references: postcodes The postcodes available in the Secure Access version of the data prior to 2009 are pseudo-anonymised postcodes. The real postcodes were not available due to the potential risk of identification of the observations. However, these replacement postcodes retain the inherent nested characteristics of real postcodes, and will allow researchers to aggregate observations to other geographic units, e.g. wards, super output areas, etc. In the dataset, the variable of the replacement postcode is 'new_PC'. History The GHS started in 1971 and has been carried out continuously since then, except for breaks in 1997-1998 when the survey was reviewed, and in 1999-2000 when the survey was redeveloped. Following the 1997 review, the survey was relaunched from April 2000 with a different design. The relevant development work and the changes made are fully described in the Living in Britain report for the 2000-2001 survey. Following its review, the GHS was changed to comprise two elements: the continuous survey and extra modules, or 'trailers'. The continuous survey remained unchanged from 2000 to 2004, apart from essential adjustments to take account of, for example, changes in benefits and pensions. The GHS retained its modular structure and this allowed a number of different trailers to be included for each of those years, to a plan agreed by sponsoring government departments. Further changes to the GHS methodology from 2005 From April 1994 to 2005, the GHS was conducted on a financial year basis, with fieldwork spread evenly from April of one year to March the following year. However, in 2005 the survey period reverted to a calendar year and the whole of the annual sample was surveyed in the nine months from April to December 2005. Future surveys will run from January to December each year, hence the title date change to single year from 2005 onwards. Since the 2005 GHS (EUL version held under SN 5640) does not cover the January-March quarter, this affects annual estimates for topics which are subject to seasonal variation. To rectify this, where the questions were the same in 2005 as in 2004-2005, the final quarter of the latter survey was added (weighted in the correct proportion) to the nine months of the 2005 survey. Furthermore, in 2005, the European Union (EU) made a legal obligation (EU-SILC) for member states to collect additional statistics on income and living conditions. In addition to this the EU-SILC data cover poverty and social exclusion. These statistics are used to help plan and monitor European social policy by comparing poverty indicators and changes over time across the EU. The EU-SILC requirement has been integrated into the GHS, leading to large-scale changes in the 2005 survey questionnaire. The trailers on 'Views of your Local Area' and 'Dental Health' were removed. Other changes were made to many of the standard questionnaire sections, details of which may be found in the GHS 2005 documentation. Further changes to the GLF methodology from 2008 As noted above, the General Household Survey (GHS) was renamed the General Lifestyle Survey (GLF) in 2008. The sample design is the same as the GHS before, and the questionnaire remains largely the same. The main change is that the GLF then included the IHS core questions, which are common to all of the separate modules that together comprise the IHS. Some of these core questions are simply questions that were previously asked in the same or a similar format on all of the IHS component surveys (including the GLF). The core questions cover employment, smoking prevalence, general health, ethnicity, citizenship and national identity. These questions are asked by proxy if an interview is not possible with the selected respondent (that is a member of the household can answer on behalf of other respondents in the household). This is a departure from the GHS which did not ask smoking prevalence and general health questions by proxy, whereas the GLF does from 2008. For details on other changes to the GLF questionnaire, please see the GLF 2008 documentation. Changes to the drinking section There have been a number of revisions to the methodology that is used to produce the alcohol consumption estimates. In 2006, the average number of units assigned to the different drink types and the assumption around the average size of a wine glass was updated, resulting in significantly increased consumption estimates. In addition to the revised method, a new question about wine glass size was included in the survey in 2008. Respondents were asked whether they have consumed small (125 ml), standard (175 ml) or large (250 ml) glasses of wine. The data from this question are used when calculating the number of units of alcohol consumed by the respondent. It is assumed that a small glass contains 1.5 units, a standard glass contains 2 units and a large glass contains 3 units. (In 2006 and 2007 it was assumed that all respondents drank from a standard 175 ml glass containing 2 units.) The datasets contain the original set of variables based on the original methodology, as well as those based on the revised and (for 2008 onwards) updated methodologies. Further details on these changes are provided in the GHS 2006 and GLF/GLS 2008 documentation. Further information may be found on the ONS GLF webpages. Correction of erroneous variables in individual 2008 data file The 'source of income' variables (SrcInc01-14 and SrcIncT1-T5) in the individual file for 2008 have been revised in October 2011 to correct erroneous values in the previous version. Change in household serial number variable The household serial number variable 'Hserial' has been replaced by the variable 'HholdId' in the 2008 individual and household files. The second edition (September 2013) includes data for 2009-2010. Data for 2011 were added in 2017, after the ONS withdrawal of the Special Licence version.

Main Topics:

The main GLF consists of a household questionnaire, completed by the Household Reference Person, and an individual questionnaire, completed by all adults aged 16 and over resident in the household. A number of different trailers each year covering extra topics were included in later (post-review) surveys in the series from 2000. The household questionnaire covers the following topics: household information, accommodation type, housing tenure/costs, and consumer durables including vehicle ownership. The individual questionnaire includes data from the household dataset, and additional sections on migration/citizenship/national identity/ethnicity, employment, pensions, education, health, child care, smoking, drinking, family information, financial situation, and income. The 2000-2001 survey included questions asking about periods of cohabitation not leading to marriage, which were first asked in 1998. The trailers for that year covered social capital and informal carers. The 2001-2002 survey included scetions on elderly people (aged 65 years and over), mobility aids, and usual alcohol consumption in the last 12 months. The 2002-2003 survey included a section on sport and leisure. In 2005, a section on social mobility was added to the individual questionnaire. In 2006, a section on social and cultural participation was added to the individual questionnaire. In 2007, a section on household inadequacies and basic services was added to the household questionnaire. The 2008 survey included a trailer module on household debt and indebtedness, as well as an additional section on length of residency.

See documentation for details.

Face-to-face interview

Telephone interview

Since 2000, telephone interviewers have converted GHS proxy interviews to full interviews.