The first new UK-wide long-term scientific study of babies and child development, in a quarter of a century, will be led by researchers at the UCL Centre for Longitudinal Studies.
Funded by the UKRI Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), the ground-breaking Generation New Era study, will follow the lives of more than 30,000 babies born in 2026, during their early years, and potentially beyond.
Generation New Era will be jointly led by Co-Directors Professor Alissa Goodman and Professor Lisa Calderwood of the UCL Centre for Longitudinal Studies and Professor Pasco Fearon of the University of Cambridge.
The £42.8 million investment will provide vital new evidence to answer important scientific and policy questions, informing decisions about early years and childcare services to help improve the lives of parents with young children across the UK.
With many families facing multiple social and economic challenges, from rising costs to an uncertain job market, the new study will paint a comprehensive picture of family life and early childhood development in all four nations of the UK today.
One of the study's central aims is to capture the voices of 'seldom-heard' groups by boosting the numbers of participants from ethnic minority families, low-income households, and those from across the smaller nations. It is estimated that a third of all babies in Wales, and almost half of those in Northern Ireland will be invited to take part.
Innovative data collection methods will enhance the analytical scope of the study and reduce the burden on study participants. Generation New Era will build linkages to administrative health, education and social care records into the study from the outset, and between surveys, families will be invited to complete questionnaires on a smartphone app.
Professor Alissa Goodman (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.
"The study can help shape vital government policies and services for babies and parents across the UK. We really hope parents of babies born in 2026 will come and join the study, and with their help, we can support the health and development of this generation, and future generations too."
Data collection
Generation New Era is set to collect data at two key developmental stages - between 9-11 months and again at 3-4 years - providing crucial insights before children enter formal education. The study will include a sample of babies born over a 12-month window from 1st January to 31st December 2026. Invitations are to be sent to families from summer 2026, in readiness for the first survey sweep beginning in the winter.
In the first phase of the study, interviewers will undertake face-to-face interviews with parents to ask questions about their lives and their child's development. In the second wave of data collection, children will undertake a series of assessments to measure their language and learning and physical assessments of height, weight and body fat. Saliva samples for genetic research will also be collected from parents and children.
To expand the analytical scope of the study, the Generation New Era team will seek data linkage consents for health, education and social care records for parents and baby, including Hospital Episode Statistics, Maternity Services Data Set, Community Services Data Set and National Pupil Database records. Linkages to geographical data will enrich survey information with insights about the local environment and service provision.
Between the two waves, families will be invited to complete short questionnaires and record their children's language development and parent-child interaction on the study's special smartphone app.
Research opportunities
The survey team will collect data on numerous scientific and policy-relevant questions, from physical, mental and social development during the early years to how technological, environmental and social changes affect early childhood experiences.
Crucially, Generation New Era will answer critical questions about how inequalities in children's development emerge over time and shape their life chances.
Key themes of interest to researchers include:
- Inequality, disadvantage, diversity and context: to study the impact of poverty on children and families, and which factors impact maternal labour market participation and formal and informal childcare use.
- Cognitive, Social-Emotional Development and Mental Health: to establish timing of developmental inequalities, how family adversity shapes early outcomes, the effects of screen use, and predictors of children's early mental health problems and school readiness.
- Social determinants and consequences of children's physical health: to explore factors driving health and developmental inequalities, and the circumstances and services that support better outcomes.
