1 Household Studies Paul Lambert Stirling University Prepared for “Longitudinal Data Analysis for Social Science Researchers: Introductory Seminar”, Royal Statistical Society, 28 th April 2006

April 2006: LDA2 Quantitative Longitudinal Household Studies 1)Repeated cross-sectional household surveys 2)Longitudinal surveys with household information 3)Household panel surveys  The BHPS in international context  The BHPS in the UK

April 2006: LDA3 Longitudinal Households?.. device to talk about the BHPS Improving data quality Reliability: Household sharers’ records Context: Household sharers’ data Longitudinal questions Household life-courses Household transitions Intra-relations: similarity and dependence

April 2006: LDA4 1) Repeated cross-sectional household surveys for example.. UK Census Labour Force Survey General Household Survey Family Resources Survey  ??Annual population survey

April 2006: LDA5 2) Longitudinal Surveys with Household Information Cohort studies (see later) –Birth Cohort Studies –Youth Cohort Study Census Longitudinal Studies (see later) Individual panel studies ELSA Re-contact studies Individual level repeated cross-sections Social attitudes surveys ISSP / WVS / ESS British Election Studies

April 2006: LDA6 3) Household Panel Surveys The BHPS The BHPS in international context The BHPS in the UK

April 2006: LDA7 The British Household Panel Survey  Panel study of 5k households re-contacted annually since 1991  Major UK research investment For lots more introductions, see:

April 2006: LDA8 The ‘Essex’ BHPS  ISER - Institute for Social and Economic Research  ULSC - UK Longitudinal Studies Centre Design, coordinate, release, analyse and promote the BHPS  Data supplied by UK Data Archive at University of Essex  Online documentation and support:

April 2006: LDA9 Annual survey since 1991 Sample re-interviewed once a year Each new panel is a ‘wave’ Interviews start each September Datasets updated and re-released annually Government funding to at least 2009

April 2006: LDA10 BHPS data file structures

April 2006: LDA11 You’ll most likely use.. Adult individual interviews All adults within household contribute and individual record Youth records All 11-14’s within houshold Combined life-history files Oriented around event history analyses (durations)

April 2006: LDA12 Sampling design W1 (1991): Stratified random sample of 5,500 households  14,000 ‘OSM’ household members  Later waves: trace all OSM’s; their descendants; and their household sharers (TSM’s) NB: longitudinal trace of individuals and their surrounding household, but not of ‘longitudinal households’

April 2006: LDA13 W7-11 -> ECHP supplement (low incomes) W9- -> Scottish and Welsh boosts W11- -> Northern Irish boosts Future: possible minority group boosts? These are important!! –affect representativeness –use of weights is complicated –catches every user out at least once… Extension samples

April 2006: LDA14

BHPS Unbalanced panel & Data Management: Below data may have come from 6 different BHPS source files WavePerson  Person-level Vars  N_w=3N_p=3

April 2006: LDA16 The household structure of the BHPS All adults within a household are interviewed Clustering analysis issues Person groups? All persons within a household are ennumerated Children records Rising 16’s Siblings and migration  BHPS Household analysis possibilities are exciting but complex..

April 2006: LDA17

April 2006: LDA18 The BHPS in International Context Part of: –ECHP ( ) –CHER ( ) –PACO ( ) –CNEF (1991->) –EU-SILC (2003 onwards: under-discussion) –Numerous stand-alone comparative projects Source project : US PSID Use of comparable questionnaire design

April 2006: LDA19 Cross-national comparisons Focussed studies McGinnity, F. (2002) “The Labour-Force Participation of the Wives of Unemployed Men: Comparing Britian and West Germany” European Sociological Review, 18(4)  Benefits system influences wives participation in Britian, not Germany Broader comparisons Robson, K. and Berthoud, R. (2003) “Teenage Motherhood in Europe: A Multi-Country Analysis of Socioeconomic Outcomes” European Sociological Review, 19(5)  Substantial variations in economic circumstances of teenage mothers, and their family structures, across Europe

April 2006: LDA20 The BHPS in the UK Major ESRC investment 5500 households nationally Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish boost samples 1999 / 2001

April 2006: LDA21 Assets of the BHPS 1) Large scale panel dataset! Answer questions on processes, transitions, state dependence Offers longitudinal controls Extensive methodological resources, support, validation 2) Household information Full information of family sharers Complex but tractable handling

April 2006: LDA22 Assets of the BHPS 3) The wYOUTH records Unique datasource on 11-15yrs Can link to family / trace to adulthood 4) Occupational information Detail on own jobs, histories, spells Detail on family, parental, friends jobs

April 2006: LDA23 Assets of the BHPS 5) High quality income information Range of sources Imputation procedures / validation work 6) Subpopulaton analyses Plausible to identify and analyse distinct groupings, eg home nations But not others, eg ethnicity

April 2006: LDA24 Drawbacks with the BHPS 1) Complexity of the data records Puts off potential users Forces advanced users to specialise 2) Short term panel coverage Doesn’t yet span long enough spells

April 2006: LDA25 Drawbacks with the BHPS 3) Dropout and item non-response A little of the first A lot of the second 4) Interviewers & Panel conditioning Panel conditioning very likely?

April 2006: LDA26 Drawbacks with the BHPS 5) Regional sampling bases Endogeneity to labour market? Imposition on generalisations, eg more from Dundee than Glasgow. 6) Complex clustering BHPS individual level response = Y tijkl

April 2006: LDA27 Three modes of analysis 1) (Repeated) Cross-sectional 2) Panel 3) Life history

April 2006: LDA28 Example: Descriptive analysis of panel data

April 2006: LDA29

April 2006: LDA30 SUMMARY BHPS many complexities But more potential uses Eclectic resources Greater use seems sensible