The ONS Longitudinal Study – opportunities for longitudinal research on the England and Wales population.

This presentation will showcase the Office for National Statistics Longitudinal Study (ONS-LS) and the opportunities that it offers for longitudinal research on the England and Wales population.

The ONS Longitudinal Study, follows a 1% sample of the England & Wales population from the decennial census data (1971 – 2011), linked to births, deaths and cancer registration data. Sample members are selected on the basis of four confidential birthdays, with new study members entering the study through birth on one of the four birthdays or immigration (and being born on one of the four birthdays), and leave through death or emigration. The main strength of the ONS-LS is its large sample size (>1 million), making it the largest nationally representative dataset in the UK, and allowing the analysis of small areas and specific population groups.

The ONS-LS currently has 46 years of follow-up data 1971 – 2017, and the upcoming linkage of the 2021 Census data to the Study will extend this follow-up to 2021 enabling researchers to examine changes that have taken place in the 2011 – 2021 period, which saw Brexit and the Covid 19 pandemic. The paper will introduce the data available in the ONS-LS and will discuss its size and scope. The support available to researchers interested in using the ONS-LS in their research is also highlighted, as are the arrangements for accessing the data.

The presentation summarises some recent examples of research using the ONS-LS and highlights some key areas for future research. It concludes with a brief introduction to the ONS-LS’s sister studies, the Scottish Longitudinal Study and the Northern Ireland Longitudinal Study, and the opportunities that these studies offer for comparative research.