Children born today will grow up in a very different world to that experienced by previous generations. That world has been shaped by era-defining changes in technology (including the growth of the digital world), society (including dramatic changes in how we work) and the environment (including the impact of climate change).
We may be on the brink of a significant reshaping of society, just as the Industrial Revolution fundamentally changed lives hundreds of years ago. In this new era, having timely access to evidence that will support policies directly impacting the lives of future generations will be vital.
The need for this evidence is why UK Research and Innovation, through the Economic and Social Research Council, is investing in Generation New Era – the UK’s first longitudinal birth cohort study in 25 years.
Generation New Era will be a vital new part of the UK’s social science data infrastructure supported by ESRC. These infrastructures are less visible than the physical telescopes and labs relied upon by other research disciplines. But they are as important in enabling timely access to high-quality data at scale, removing the need for costly project-specific data collection and generating impactful, often highly policy-relevant, research.
Generation New Era, which will begin collecting data from 2026 on babies born that year, is part of a long-standing and world-leading UK tradition of ESRC-funded longitudinal birth cohort studies.
They follow the lives of particular groups of people over time, often decades. Many readers will be familiar with the ‘Seven Up’ television series; these studies are like ‘Seven Up’ on steroids, with tens of thousands of people across the UK taking part in them over the past eight decades. They have resulted in significant medical and policy impacts, and driven improvements in the provision of services for early years, health, education, and employment.
For example, the 1958 National Child Development Survey demonstrated that children whose mothers smoked while pregnant were more likely to weigh less and were therefore at greater risk of infant death, prompting a public health campaign.
Findings from the 1970 British Cohort Study underpinned the “Skills for Life” initiative, improving adult literacy rates by 13%. Meanwhile the Millennium Cohort Study has provided unique evidence about changing levels of mental health among teenagers, leading to greater awareness of this as a public health priority and a clearer understanding of who is likely to be most at risk.
These are ideal case studies illustrating the value and power of following a cohort of children throughout their lives. Generation New Era will build on this legacy and expand it for a new generation, informing policies that improve their health and development in the same ways those studies improved the lives of those who came before.
For the reasons outlined at the start of this piece, it’s particularly important that we make this investment in the next generation. Between the increasing impact of climate change and the ever-accelerating pace of technological progress, their lives could end up being almost incomparable to those of their grandparents. If we’re going to manage the effects of those changes, or even maximise any benefits, we need to understand the generation whose lives will be most affected by them. It’s really important that we get this right.
That’s why the study has been designed to make it as representative as possible of that generation. The team at UCL's Centre for Longitudinal Studies aim to recruit 30,000 children born in 2026, with a particular focus on boosting numbers from low-income households and ethnic minority families, and from Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. They will also collect data from both parents, including those who live in separate households, to better reflect family life in the UK today.
This approach increases the likelihood that the policies designed based on evidence from the study will be effective. Relying on data from a narrow, unrepresentative pool of study participants risks designing interventions that only work for that narrow pool of people. If you want to design good policies, you need representative data and that is what Generation New Era aims to achieve.
Which brings me to my final point. It’s important that the study reflects the needs of civil servants and public sector colleagues so we welcome ideas as to how the study can provide relevant data, focusing initially on the first round of data collection before participants’ first birthdays.
To that end, the study team are holding consultation events in London, Edinburgh, Cardiff, and Belfast this October. These sessions offer a unique opportunity for data and evidence users across the UK to find out more about the study and suggest areas it might cover. It’s a fantastic chance to shape the start of an important new study.
Professor Alison Park is deputy executive chair at the Economic and Social Research Council