The £42.8 million Generation New Era birth cohort study will create a comprehensive picture of early childhood in all four nations of the UK.
The study is funded by the UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) Infrastructure Fund and the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC). It is the first new UK-wide longitudinal birth cohort study in 25 years and comes as the government publishes its ‘Giving every child the best start in life’ policy paper.
UK Science Minister Lord Vallance said:
This first in a generation study will help us understand what childhood is like in 21st century Britain. The results will help us focus on the best interests of newborns across the UK as we deliver our Plan for Change, breaking down the barriers to opportunities by revamping our education systems, healthcare facilities, and more.
Extending the UK’s birth cohort tradition
Generation New Era is part of a long UK tradition of research council-funded longitudinal birth cohort studies. These studies have followed the lives of tens of thousands of people over the past eight decades and led to significant medical and policy impacts.
These include the ESRC-funded 1958 National Child Development Study, 1970 British Cohort Study and Millennium Cohort Study, as well as the Medical Research Council-funded Children of the 90s study.
These studies have shaped the thinking of successive governments, informing a raft of important policies to improve the provision of services for early years, health, education and employment.
Evidence improving lives
They have produced evidence that has improved lives across the UK and beyond, including:
- cutting maternal smoking rates by over two-thirds by establishing its harmful effects on unborn children
- preventing over 100,000 cot deaths worldwide using data gathered through research on infant sleeping positions
- providing data that led to a 13% rise in adult literacy rates through the Skills for Life initiative
- providing evidence that led to the extension of maternity leave to one year, and the introduction of paid paternity leave, adoption leave, the right to request flexible working and shared parental leave
Making the UK happier, healthier and fairer
ESRC Executive Chair Stian Westlake said:
The UK has a proud and rich tradition of genuinely world-leading longitudinal cohort research that has produced major policy improvements covering everything from saving the lives of the youngest and most vulnerable children to improving women’s pension rights and recognising the lifelong importance of literacy.
This is the latest in a series of UKRI research infrastructure investments supporting longitudinal population studies, and the first new UK wide child-based study in 20 years.
I am excited to see what Generation New Era will discover about the lives of children born next year and how they differ across the UK.
The evidence this study produces can underpin policy that makes the UK a happier, healthier and fairer place, improving lives and livelihoods. It is an investment in the future that we are proud to make.
The study will start inviting families to take part in the study from summer 2026.
Previous cohort findings
The UK has a long tradition of cohort studies, with UKRI’s portfolio including projects tracking generations born in:
- 1946
- 1958
- 1970
- 1989 to 1990
- 1990 to 1991
- 2000 to 2002
These studies provide vital data for global researchers, influencing science, policy and practice. For example, the Millennium Cohort Study revealed in 2016 that one in four girls reported symptoms of depression at age 14, prompting new government strategies.
Other findings include the educational disadvantage faced by summer-born children and the long-term effects of childhood obesity. The work UKRI funds continues to support world-leading research with significant societal impact.
A new generation
Generation New Era will be jointly led by Co-Directors Professor Alissa Goodman and Professor Lisa Calderwood of the University College London (UCL) Centre for Longitudinal Studies (CLS) and Professor Pasco Fearon of the University of Cambridge.
It will collect data at two key developmental stages, between nine to 11 months and again at three to four years, providing crucial insights before children enter formal education.
The research will examine physical, mental and social development, and explore how technological, environmental and social changes affect early childhood experiences.
The intention is that Generation New Era will track these children and their families throughout their lives.
Vital data on the lives of children and families
Generation New Era Co-Director, Professor Alissa Goodman from the UCL Centre for Longitudinal Studies, said:
We are extremely excited and immensely proud to announce the launch of the first new UK-wide birth cohort in a quarter of a century. Generation New Era is a landmark scientific endeavour which will improve the lives of children and benefit science and society for many years to come.
In such a rapidly changing world, it is vital to have rich data on the lives of children and families, especially those from disadvantaged and less often heard groups.
Standing on the shoulders of the UK’s famous birth cohort studies, which have tracked multiple generations of people over the past eight decades, Generation New Era will aim to shine a light on the biggest challenges facing our society today.
As the government works to give every child the best start in life, the study can help shape vital policies and services for babies and parents across the UK. Thanks to the commitment of our participants, we can support the health and development of this new generation of babies – and help future generations thrive.
Pan-UK data
This truly four-nations cohort study will benefit from the expertise of senior academics from Swansea University, Ulster University, and The University of Edinburgh. It aims to recruit 30,000 children and families from across the UK, inviting over 60,000 to participate.
The study will focus on engaging fathers and underrepresented groups to ensure diverse representation. It will collect data from all four nations of the UK, with sample boosts for Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, ethnic minorities, and low-income families.
This inclusive approach will enable statistically robust comparisons and generate insights into what works best to improve lives and livelihoods across the UK’s varied communities.
Benefits for policy and practice
The findings generated by the study will directly inform policy development across government departments, helping to ensure services and support for families are based on robust evidence.
Key benefits include:
- providing policymakers with current data on the needs of pre-school children growing up in today’s rapidly changing world
- identifying how to improve health, educational, social and economic outcomes for all children
- ensuring the voices and experiences of previously underrepresented groups are captured and heard
- supporting the evaluation of early years policies and programmes
- advancing sampling and data collection methodologies for future research
The UK research community, parent and participant groups and other stakeholders will have the opportunity to engage with the study team in the autumn. They will help inform the questionnaire design and plans to ensure the success of the study.
Further information
Generation New Era builds on the success of a smaller foundation study (Early Life Cohort Feasibility Study) announced in 2021 and launched in 2023. It will complement the UK’s existing series of cohort studies dating back to the 1940s. Volunteers from the foundation cohort will have an opportunity to help inform the longer-term study design.
The UCL CLS is a resource centre based at the UCL Social Research Institute, part of the Institute of Education, UCL’s Faculty of Education and Society. It is home to a series of national longitudinal cohort studies, which follow the lives of tens of thousands of people. The centre is funded by ESRC.
The study will collect data from children and their families through questionnaires, anthropometric measurements and saliva samples. Individuals will be invited to take part, based upon the child’s date of birth and to enable representative samples for all areas of the UK.
De-identified research data will be deposited with the UK Data Service and securely made available to the research community. The UK Data Service is the principal repository for economic, population, and social research data in the UK, and it has been funded by ESRC since 1967.
The last group of children to be included in a new UK-wide birth cohort study are the participants in the Millennium Cohort Study born in 2000 to 2002, funded by ESRC and a consortium of government departments. It is known as Children of the New Century by study participants.