Child of the New Century Survey

The Millennium Cohort Study (known as ´Child of the New Century´) is the first new birth cohort study in the UK since 1970. Cohort studies are those that follow a group of people with a shared characteristic over a period of time and although there are many examples of this type of study, relatively few of them track people from birth.

In conjunction with Great Britain, the Central Survey Unit (CSU) of the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA) launched the first sweep of this survey in Northern Ireland in September 2001. The survey proposes to track people from birth and so improve our understanding of how experiences and conditions in early childhood might affect their chances in later life.

Children born in the 21st century are setting out from many different starting points - some are born into well-off families, others have parents who are struggling to make ends meet.  Some will grow up in ´traditional´ families, others will be brought up with just one parent, or experience changes in their family life such as the arrival of a step-parent and possibly stepbrothers and stepsisters. What will this mean for their future?  Who will succeed in school and who will encounter difficulties? Who will over come difficult beginnings or challenging circumstances in early life?

The answers to these questions are important to parents, policy makers and professionals alike. This knowledge is vital if we are to develop the kind of services in health, education, childcare and family support which will be of most benefit to young children and their parents.

The fieldwork for the first sweep of this survey was completed early in 2003 and results were released on Wednesday 25 June 2003.

Some of the key findings are listed below:

• Mothers in Northern Ireland are the most likely in the UK to give birth to a baby girl: 49.7% of babies born in N Ireland are girls compared to a national average of 48.7%.
• Babies born in N Ireland display an impressive degree of physical prowess with more than three quarters being able to wave ´bye bye´ by the time they are nine months old.  At the same age, only 66.2% of English babies display the same dexterity.
• Babies in N Ireland are the most likely in the UK to have a grandparent living with them: 6.9% of N Ireland households have grandparents resident.
• The most common girl´s name in N Ireland is Lauren.
• The most common boy´s name in N Ireland is Jack.

If you would like to read more of the findings, the Economic & Social Research Council (ESRC) Press Release can be accessed at the following internet address: http://www.esrc.ac.uk/esrccontent/news/june03-11.asp