Your questions answered

Generation New Era is a groundbreaking scientific study of over 30,000 babies born in 2026, and their families.  

The study will provide vital new insights into children's health and development and help improve the lives of children and families in the UK.  

Birth cohort studies follow children from birth throughout their lives. They show how children grow and develop, and how childhood experiences affect later lives. The UK is a world leader in this kind of research, with national studies of people born 1946, 1958, 1970 and 2000 still running today. 

These kinds of studies have been vital for providing evidence to change policy and services for children and families in the UK. Several government measures benefiting parents today have been informed by findings from similar studies. For example, extending maternity leave to one year, increasing the weekly rate of statutory maternity pay, and introducing two weeks of paid paternity leave.

You can read more examples on our Making a difference page, or hear about why others like taking part in our Participant stories.

The Centre for Longitudinal Studies (CLS), at University College London (UCL), is in charge of the study. CLS is the UK’s leading cohort studies research centre. They were chosen to run the study because they are experts in this kind of research. UCL is one of the world’s leading universities.

The team also includes study directors from Swansea University in Wales, the University of Edinburgh in Scotland and Ulster University in Northern Ireland.

The interviews with families will be carried out by three independent research organisations: Ipsos, Natcen and Verian. All interviewers have to follow the rules of the Market Research Society Code of Conduct. The three organisations were chosen to collect the information for the study as they have lots of experience in carrying out similar studies with children and families.

Generation New Era is funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), the UK’s leading academic funder of social research and part of UK Research and Innovation.  

This study has been reviewed and approved by an independent NHS Research Ethics Committee. This is an independent group of people committed to protecting your safety, rights, well-being, and dignity.

Approval by special committees in each country was also needed to allow government departments and agencies to provide Generation New Era with your contact details and additional information from records of births.

Those invited to be part of the pilot study will receive their notification letters in June 2026. The invitation letters will be sent, and interviewing will start, in August 2026. 

The main study will start later in 2026 and continue until early 2028. 

We’ll invite you to take part again to find out how your child is doing as they grow up – the next time is likely to be when they are 3 years old. When your child is older, they can decide for themselves if they want to keep taking part. It’s always your choice whether to be in the study and you can withdraw at any time, without giving a reason.  

Babies involved in the study are born throughout the whole of 2026, from 1^st January to 31^st December. 

Some families with a baby born in October 2025 have been invited to take part in the pilot for Generation New Era. 

We will be interviewing mothers and fathers when their baby is around 9-11 months old. All babies grow and develop differently and change a lot in their first year of life. Therefore, it is important that we visit you at this time to understand these changes, and so we can collect information about different babies at the same age.  

Families were chosen to reflect the diversity within each region and country, and across the UK as a whole. Families were chosen at random from records of births held by government departments and agencies. Approval by special committees in each country is needed before these organisations are allowed to share the names, addresses and additional information about parents and their babies with the study.

The study has received UK-wide approval from an NHS Research Ethics Committee. Approval by special committees in each country is also needed to allow government departments and agencies to provide Generation New Era with families’ contact details and additional information from records of births.

In England and Wales, this was approved by NHS England’s independent Advisory Group for Data. The use of confidential patient information without consent has received support from the Health Research Authority following advice from the Confidentiality Advisory Group. NHS England provided your information.

In Scotland, this was approved by the NHS Scotland Public Benefit and Privacy Panel. Public Health Scotland and National Records of Scotland provided your information.

In Northern Ireland, this was approved by Health and Social Care (HSC) Trusts, where the study was also commissioned by the Northern Ireland Department of Health. The HSC Business Services Organisation provided your information.  

You can find out more about this on the Looking after your information pages.

  

For the study findings to benefit all kinds of families, we need to hear from many different families, in all nations and regions of the UK. By including families from all backgrounds and cultures, and all kinds of children, we can build a full picture of the lives of this generation and give everyone a chance to be heard.

Unfortunately, families are not able to nominate themselves for the study. This is so we can make sure we have the right balance of different families taking part and that the study represents the population as a whole. Instead, we will write to each family individually to invite them to join the study. Each family chosen for the study is unique and cannot be replaced by anyone else.

Taking part is completely up to you, but we hope very much that you will be willing to help with this important research and that you will enjoy taking part. 

No. We hope both will take part, but it’s up to each of you to make your own decision.

To fully understand children’s lives, it is very important to have information from mothers or fathers who live apart from their child’s other parent. This applies whatever the relationship between the parents, and whatever involvement they have with their baby.   

Where we have both parents’ names and addresses from birth records, we will contact each parent separately to invite them to take part. The parent who lives with their baby will be contacted first, and the parent that lives in a different household to their baby will be invited a few months later if the first parent chooses to take part.   

Where we only have one parent’s name and address, we will ask them for the other parent’s contact details, which they may give if they wish. These details will only be used to contact the other parent to invite them to take part in this study.  

Each parent will be interviewed separately. Your participation and your survey responses will be kept completely confidential. This means we will not tell your baby’s other parent whether you have taken part, about any of the responses you provide, or about your circumstances, including your address.  

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. 

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.

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.

We would like to ask you about all your babies if you have twins, triplets or more! Some of the questions we ask will only need to be answered once (e.g. questions about yourself) but other questions will need to be repeated for each baby (e.g. about each baby’s habits and how they are developing). This may mean the interview is slightly longer for you.

Yes, every family invited to take part can do so, regardless of citizenship or nationality.

Yes! For the study findings to benefit all kinds of families, we want to hear from many different families from all backgrounds, and this includes families of children with health conditions and/or additional needs.

No. In England and Wales we are using the details of parents listed on the child’s birth registration to invite all birth parents to take part in Generation New Era. In Scotland and Northern Ireland, we are inviting mothers only in the first instance.

We’d like to include stepparents or partners of parents who live with the study child. Generation New Era will not know any details about stepparents or partners of parents, as they are not listed on birth or maternity records. When the interviewer comes to speak with you, they will ask you some questions to establish whether there are any partners or stepparents who would be eligible to take part.

Yes. In England and Wales we are sending invitations to all parents listed on the child’s birth registration records. Sometimes one or both same-sex parents may not appear on the birth certificate. If you are not listed on your child’s birth registration you will not receive an invite addressed to you, but you can still take part. The interviewer will speak with the person listed on the child’s birth registration to establish this and invite you to take part.  

In Scotland and Northern Ireland, we will only be inviting mothers to take part in the first instance. We will invite the child’s other parent to take part once the interviewer has visited the address. 

Adoptive and foster parents with legal parental responsibility will be invited to take part. We may not have these details from the birth registration/maternity record, so the interviewer will speak with the person whose details we have to establish who can take part.  

If the interviewer finds the baby is not living with either parent, we may be able to invite whoever the baby is living with to take part. We can only interview in households without a parent if someone has legal parental responsibility for the child. For example, a kinship carer with a special guardianship order.

A fully trained interviewer from Ipsos, NatCen or Verian will call at your home address to find out if you would like to take part. They will be happy to answer any questions you may have.  

The interviewer will always carry photo ID. If you’re out or it’s not convenient, the interviewer will come back at a better time. 

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.

We will invite one parent, usually whoever spends the most time with the baby, to complete an interview, usually done in person with an interviewer. 

We will ask the other parent to complete a separate shorter interview. This interview is shorter as we only need to ask some questions once per baby or household. These interviews will be done online, in person and sometimes by telephone.

We don’t only want to interview mums! It’s just as important that we hear from dads. This is so we get a full picture of the babies’ lives and can learn about fathers’ experiences of parenthood too. We’d like to interview all parents, whether or not they are living with their baby all the time.

There are some questions which need to be answered by both parents to get a more complete picture of your and your child’s life. This includes details about yourself and your relationship with your child. Other questions only need to be asked once per family. For example, details about your home or about your child’s health, diet and development.  

We always need one parent to complete the longer interview, and we suggest that this is done by the parent who spends most time with the baby. If you and your child’s other parent live separately, we will ask the parent who lives in the child’s main household to complete the longer interview.

We will ask you about your baby’s health and growth, behaviour and development, sleep, diet and the activities you do with your baby. There will also be questions about your experiences as a mother or father as well as other aspects of your life and about your family.  

The parent who does the longer interview will also have the chance to download a free smartphone app designed to help parents capture their child’s learning and development, keep memories of their child growing up, and help scientists study child development at the same time.  

The interviews will also cover adding information from health, education and social care records.  

You do not have to answer any question you do not want to. During the in-person interviews, some of the questions are answered privately on the interviewer’s computer. 

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.   

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.  

Interviews will happen in your home, and should ideally take place in private, that is without other family members present. If you would rather not be interviewed in your home, you can agree on a suitable alternative location with your interviewer or take part via MS Teams or phone. Interviews should not usually take place in public spaces.  

We understand parents lead very busy lives, so the interviewer will arrange a day and time that works best for you. If you are not at home when the interviewer makes contact, they will leave a card with their name and phone number so you can contact them directly. Interviews can take place at weekends and evenings.  

We only have your name and address and no other contact details, so we are not able to get in touch via email, text or by phone. If you would like your interviewer to do this, you will need to contact them using the details on the letter you received in the post before they visit your home.

No, your baby does not need to be present when your interview takes place. It is fine if they are there though and the interviewers will arrange a time to visit that suits the family (for example around school runs, naptimes, etc).

No, your child’s other parent does not need to be present when your interview takes place. 

Interviews can be done in languages other than English with an interpreter being present during the interview. This usually works best if you have a trusted family member or neighbour that can help to translate the questions. This should usually be someone aged 16 or over. If you do not have anyone to do this, we can sometimes arrange for an interpreter to join a telephone call with you and the interviewer.

This can sometimes be arranged. Please contact us Freephone 0800 151 0610 to request this.  

Each parent who takes part will receive a voucher as a thank you for their time. The voucher can be spent in a range of high street shops. The interviewer will either hand you a gift card at the end of the interview, or you will receive an e-voucher if you take part in the survey online or by telephone or MS Teams. 

The interview will give you an opportunity to reflect on your life as a parent and your baby’s development. People who’ve taken part in previous studies like this have told us they have really enjoyed taking part.

If your child’s other parent lives in your household, you’ll have the same interviewer. If your child’s other parent lives close to you, it is possible you will both be interviewed by the same interviewer, but this will happen a couple of months later. The interviewer will never share any of the responses or personal details you provided them with in your interview. If you have any concerns about this, please contact Ipsos at 0800 151 0610.

Yes, you can stop the interview and withdraw from the study at any time you want without providing a reason.

We will not provide any individual feedback to you about your family or your child. This is because research does not look at results for individuals, but at groups of people. However, we will share overall findings from 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.  

The information will be used for research purposes only. Your study information from the interview and BabySteps app research activities will be put together with the answers from all the other people who take part and made securely available for research via the UCL Data Safe Haven, UK Data Service and other secure research environments.  

This research data does not contain any names, addresses, or other personal details that could directly identify individuals in the study.  

Your study information is kept confidential and secure. It is used in line with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), a law which protects your personal data and privacy and gives you rights over your data. Generation New Era has strict security rules and secure systems to protect your information. 

You can find more information about this on the looking after your information pages. 

The data controller for the study is University College London (UCL), which means they are responsible for looking after your study information. A data controller is the organisation that determines for what reason and how personal data is processed. UCL’s legal basis for using your information is for ‘a task in the public interest’ under the General Data Protection Regulation.   

More information about privacy, confidentiality, legal rights and responsibilities, is available on the looking after your information section of this website, including the study’s privacy notice. 

If you are concerned about how your personal data is processed for the study you can contact the UCL Data Protection Office via email: data-protection@ucl.ac.uk or the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). Find more information on the ICO website.

The information you give will be kept entirely confidential from other members of your family and from organisations who provide services or administer benefits that you or your baby may use or receive.

In very exceptional circumstances your confidentiality may be broken, for example, if something you tell us indicates that someone is at significant risk of harm.

More information about privacy and confidentiality is available on the looking after your information page. 

You do not have to take part in Generation New Era if you do not want to, and you have the right to withdraw from the research at any stage, without having to give a reason. If you do withdraw or if we lose touch with you, we will retain and continue to use your study information for research.

If you choose not to take part, your and your baby’s name and address from birth records will not be kept or used for any other purpose. We will use other limited demographic information from birth records to help us understand who hasn’t taken part, and then securely delete it.  

In Northern Ireland, this demographic information will only be accessed using a safe setting hosted by the Health and Social Care Business Services Organisation (BSO). If you decide not to take part on receipt of the initial letter from your Health Trust and let BSO know at that time, you and your baby’s name and address will not be passed to the study team.  .. 

You can find out more about this on the looking after your information pages.