If you choose not to take part, the survey agency (or UK government department or agency) will provide UCL with access to your data from birth and/or health records and we will access it for a limited amount of time to understand who does and doesn’t take part.
We do this to help us understand how representative the study is of the wider population, to see if certain groups are more or less likely to participate in the study and to adjust the results of statistical analyses to better reflect the wider population. This is something that is routinely done by similar studies. Understanding the characteristics of those who don’t take part is important to ensure that the circumstances, experiences, and voices of particular groups, such as those from a particular region or ethnic group, are represented in the study, including in policy relevant research. In England, Wales and Scotland, this information is received from birth records and health records and is supplied to the survey agency along with your contact details. It may also be used during fieldwork to make sure the study represents the UK population and includes groups who are less often included in longitudinal studies. The survey agency provides this information to UCL, including for families who do not take part in the study, and we will retain it for a limited amount of time to understand who does and doesn’t take part. For families who do not take part, the information provided to UCL does not include your names or addresses.
In Scotland and Northern Ireland, the data will be accessed securely through approved safe settings — the National Safe Haven in Scotland and the Honest Broker Service in Northern Ireland, hosted by the HSC Business Services Organisation, where the data do not include name or contact information.[KD1]
If you prefer us not to retain or use your data for this purpose, you can contact us and ask us to delete your data – see ‘Contact details of the data controller’ above. The study’s survey agency will only retain your data from birth and/or health records for a limited amount of time and will delete it at the end of their contract with us.
The Centre for Longitudinal Studies (CLS) at University College London (UCL) is in charge of the study and is responsible for the study information.
UCL is legal data controller for the study.
So that you can see how your participation is making a difference, we will regularly share important research findings from the study with you, and the changes made possible by your participation. The findings from Generation New Era will be published in reports and scientific papers, and may be reported in newspapers, on TV, and radio. None of these findings will identify individual people.
Government departments and agencies (such as the NHS) routinely collect administrative records about all of us to help plan and provide services. We’d like to add information from health, education and social care records about you and your child to your study information. We’ll ask about this in your interview.
It’s your choice whether to let us do this – you can still take part in the study if you decide not to. You may want to discuss this with your child’s other parent, as only the parent doing the longer interview will be asked.
BabySteps is a free smartphone app for families taking part in Generation New Era. With the app you can: take part in short monthly research activities, earn points towards e‑vouchers, track your baby’s milestones, save special memories, read short, trusted articles about child development and stay in touch with the study team.
It’s your choice whether to download the app. You can still take part in the study if you decide not to.
We would like one parent of each child to complete a 60-minute interview in person with the interviewer. We would like the other parent (where they are living at the same address) to complete a separate 30-minute interview, which can be done either in person with the interviewer or online. The interviewer will be flexible – you can take breaks so you can feed the baby or settle them down, or we can split the interview over a few visits if needed too. Interviews can also sometimes be done by MS Teams or telephone.
The interviewer will always carry an ID. We will show you the letter and leaflet that we’ve sent beforehand – there are contact details for our office so you can contact those to check this is a real study, and you can have a look at the study website, Instagram etc. so you know it’s a legitimate study.
Fathers tell us they’re rarely asked about having a child or ‘being a dad’ but when given the chance are glad to share. Taking part in this study gives them a unique opportunity to do just that. We know that every father’s journey is different. Their circumstances, relationships with their child, their level of involvement—it all matters. Only by hearing from fathers can we fully understand children’s development, what families need, and how best to support dads and their children.
If you prefer us not to contact your child’s other parent, or if you have any concerns, you can let your interviewer know or contact us on Freephone 0800 151 0610.
Before the main study begins, we are testing our questions and processes with a small number of families to see how they could be improved. This is called a “pilot study”. Families who take part in the pilot study will not become part of the main study.