Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.Understanding Society (UK Household Longitudinal Study), which began in 2009, is conducted by the Institute for Social and Economic Research (ISER) at the University of Essex, and the survey research organisations Kantar Public and NatCen. It builds on and incorporates, the British Household Panel Survey (BHPS), which began in 1991.

For full details of the main Understanding Society study, see SN 6614.Secure Access Dataset:The Understanding Society: Waves 1-12, 2009-2021 and Harmonised BHPS: Waves 1-18, 1991-2009: Secure Access dataset contains British National Grid postcode grid references (at 1m resolution) for the unit postcode of each household surveyed, derived from the ONS National Statistics Postcode Directory (NSPD). Grid references are presented in terms of Eastings and Northings, which are distances in metres (east and north, respectively) from the origin (0,0), which lies to the west of the Scilly Isles. Each grid reference is given a positional quality indicator to denote the accuracy of the grid reference. In the majority of cases, the assigned grid reference relates to the building of the matched address closest to the postcode mean. The grid references provided for Northern Ireland postcodes use the Irish National Grid system that covers all of Ireland and is independent of the British National Grid. No grid references are provided for postcodes in the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man.The Secure Access version includes all files in the Special Licence version (see SN 6931), plus a file for each wave that contain 4 variables relating to the National Grid Reference for each household: easting, northing, positional quality indicator (w_osgrdind), and a variable identifying whether it relates to the British or Irish grid system. The Secure Access version also includes data files with full dates of birth for Understanding Society and BHPS respondents.Related UK Data Archive studies:The Secure Access version of the dataset has more restrictive access conditions than standard End User Licence or Special Licence access datasets (see 'Access' section below). Further details and links to the less restrictive versions can be found on the Understanding Society series Key data page.International Data Access Network (IDAN)These data are now available to researchers based outside the UK. Selected UKDS SecureLab/controlled datasets from the Institute for Social and Economic Research (ISER) and the Centre for Longitudinal Studies (CLS) have been made available under the International Data Access Network (IDAN) scheme, via a Safe Room access point at one of the UKDS IDAN partners. Prospective users should read the UKDS SecureLab application guide for non-ONS data for researchers outside of the UK via Safe Room Remote Desktop Access. Further details about the IDAN scheme can be found on the UKDS International Data Access Network webpage and on the IDAN website.Latest edition informationFor the 15th edition (November 2022) Wave 12 data have been added. Other minor changes and corrections have also been made to Waves 1-11, including that all wave grid reference files contain a new variable (w_osgridtype) that identifies whether the grid references relate to the British or Irish grid system.  Please refer to the revision document for full details.Data update - May 2023Two variables have been corrected in this data update, both of which are in the file w_indresp. Firstly, w_penmtp, Final pension calculated, in waves 10 and 12, the occurrences assigned to values 1 and 2 had been transposed. Secondly, l_oprlg1, Religion: E/S/W, had a problem whereby a significant number of occurrences were wrongly assigned to the wrong value. These have now been assigned correctly.Suitable data analysis softwareThese data are provided by the depositor in Stata format. Users are strongly advised to analyse them in Stata. Transfer to other formats may result in unforeseen issues. Stata SE or MP software is needed to analyse the larger files, which contain over 2,047 variables.

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The survey instrument is constructed with modules. For a fuller listing of modules and questionnaire content see the User Manual or the online documentation system. The household grid or enumeration grid has a listing of all household members with information about gender, date of birth, marital and employment status, and relationship to the household respondent. The household questionnaire has questions about housing, mortgage or rent payments, material deprivation, and consumer durables and cars. The individual adult interview is asked of every person in the household aged 16 or over. It has questions about demographics, baseline information, family background, ethnicity and language use; migration, partnership and fertility histories; health, disability and caring; current employment and earnings; employment status; parenting and childcare arrangements; family networks; benefit payments; political party identification; household finances; environmental behaviours; consents to administrative data linkage. In 2020, we added modules to all relevant waves in the field, to capture people’s experience of the COVID-19 pandemic, in terms of their health, social and economic situation. A proxy module is a much shortened version of the individual questionnaire that collects demographic, health and employment information, as well as a summary income measure. It is completed by one person on behalf of another. Those who completed an individual adult interview also complete a self-completion questionnaire. It includes subjective questions, particularly those which are potentially sensitive or require more privacy. For example, feelings of depression (GHQ-12) and well-being, sleep behaviour, environmental attitudes and beliefs, neighbourhood participation and belonging, life satisfaction, activities with partner and relationship quality. A youth self-completed questionnaire is completed by 10-15 year olds. It includes questions on computer and technology use, family support, sibling relationships, feelings about areas of life, Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire, health behaviours, smoking and drinking, and aspirations.

Multi-stage stratified random sample

Two-stage stratified systematic sample - see documentation for details

Face-to-face interview

Telephone interview

Self-administered questionnaire

Web-based interview