1970 British Cohort Study (BCS70) Twenty one-year Sample Survey

Key takeaways

content: "@bynner1970BritishCohort2017" -file:@bynner1970BritishCohort2017

Reading notes

Imported on 2024-05-07 20:06

⭐ Important

• & BCS70 began in 1970 when data were collected about the 17,198 babies born in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland in the week 5-11 April. At this time, the study was named the British Births Survey (BBS) and it was sponsored by the National Birthday Trust Fund, in association with the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists. Since 1970, there have been five attempts to gather information from the full cohort - when they were aged 5, 10, 16, 26 and 30 years (p. 8)
• & As Table 1.1 shows, information has been obtained from a number of different sources, and by varying types of instruments. With each successive attempt, the scope of enquiry has broadened from a strictly medical focus at birth, to encompass physical and educational development at the age of five, and physical educational and social development at the age of ten. This wider and more comprehensive approach has been continued in the 16-year, 26-year and 30-year sweeps. (p. 8)
• & The twenty-six year follow-up was carried out by the Social Statistics Research Unit, City University and it was now called the BCS70 26-year survey. The 30-year survey was carried out by the Centre for Longitudinal Studies after the SSRU moved to the Institute of Education. (p. 9)
• & Table 1.1: BCS70 Follow-ups, sample surveys and sources of information 1970-2000 (p. 9)
• & The BCS70 Twenty one-year Sample Survey is the fourth sample survey of the 1970 cohort born in Great Britain 5-11 April 1970. (p. 10)
• & In looking at Education, Training and Employment in the context of a survey of 21-year-olds, it is important to note how routes to employment for young people have evolved in recent decades. Apprenticeship was traditionally viewed as the main way that young people learnt the skills and amassed the experience necessary to enter an occupation. As apprenticeships became rarer, other forms of education and training became more important in the transition from school to work. Although education and training at schools and colleges is invaluable, acquiring work experience and learning 'on the job' is increasingly important. With increasing age, an individual's ability to influence their career path may diminish. Someone with poor school qualifications may find it difficult to secure a desirable job or to get the necessary training and experience. Relevant courses may not be available locally, or there might be financial or other personal constraints t (p. 12)
• & Youth Training: In developing a typology, Youth Training was of particular interest because it should represent a genuine transition stage between full-time education and employment. YT has been modified since it was introduced by the government with the objective of improving young people's employment prospects (Department of Education and Science, 1981; Department of Employment, 1986) and providing them with the skills required for modern industry (Department of Employment, 1988). YTS began as a one year scheme designed to reduce youth unemployment and was extended to two years in 1978. The 1988 Employment Act replaced the national scheme with Youth training, (YT) which was to be run by the newly established Training and Enterprise Councils (TECs). BCS70 cohort members experienced both one year and two year YT/YTS schemes. (p. 12)
• & The variation in type of YT available to cohort members requires some consideration. Differences in local labour market skill requirements should be taken into account (Ashton and Maguire, 1986). These differences in skill requirements should affect the kind of training that is offered. Training and Enterprise Councils were set up by the government so that local training requirements could be met (Department of Employment, 1988). This diversity in the provision of YT has made it undesirable to classify everybody who experienced YT in a single YT category. Three YT sectors were identified by Roberts and Parsell (1989): the sponsored sector, the contest sector and sink schemes, which can be defined as follows. Trainees who entered the sponsored sector were the most likely to find employment at the end of the scheme through qualifications or apprenticeships. Possibly more importantly, trainees in this sector had more chance of a permanent job with the sponsoring employer when the scheme was over. The contest sector schemes could also provide qualifications and work experience, although there was less certainty of achieving permanent employment with the firm that provided the training. The third YT sector, described as sink schemes by Roberts and Parsell (1989), tended to be community-based rather than employer-led: there were virtually no opportunities for trainees on these programmes to be offered employment when their schemes came to an end. (p. 12)
• & The different YT sectors tended to provide differing levels of training quality: highest quality training being provided by the sponsored and contest sectors, while the sink schemes offered the least to their trainees. These differences were reflected in recruitment, as those with the poorest qualifications tended to enter the sink schemes. The differences between the sectors were also reflected in the training for qualifications that was provided for trainees. Sink schemes were less likely to provide or lead to qualifications for their trainees. (p. 13)
• & (b) Full-Time Education: Recruitment into the different categories of the typology is determined by a combination of choice and opportunity (Roberts and Parsell, 1988). It has been argued that although the ambitions of school leavers can shape their careers, the consequences of their decisions were trivial in comparison to other factors such as their educational attainment and the jobs that are available in the local labour market. Roberts and Parsell also supported the argument that further constraints were made on opportunities when some choices were made. For instance, a decision to leave fulltime education may be practically irrevocable after an individual has entered the labour market. It is therefore important to describe the categories of the typology in terms of school qualifications and age of leaving full-time education. (c) Post-School Vocational Qualifications: The most commonly achieved post-school vocational qualifications included were: Royal Society of Arts awards (RSA); City and Guilds; Joint Industry Board and National Joint Council awards (JIMNC); National Diplomas and Certificates; TEC BEC and BTEC awards (TEC/BEC). Other types of qualification are excluded due to the relatively small numbers. (d) Unemployment: Youth unemployment is one of the most important outcomes in measuring failure in transition from education to employment. Unemployment is defined here as not having a job and seeking work. Only those who have had one or more periods of three consecutiv (p. 13)
• & The continued success of longitudinal studies like BCS70, is dependent on knowing the whereabouts of the study subjects. For the purposes of the follow-ups in 1975, 1980 and 1986, the cohort members were traced mainly through schools, and no effort was made to maintain contact in the intervening years. Following the 1986 survey, it was no longer possible to trace the 16,000 cohort members anew in this way, and after responsibility for the study was assumed by SSRU in 1991, efforts were made to maintain contact with those for whom a current address was still available, by mailing an annual birthday card. This was designed to give cohort members feedback about the use of information they had already given, and to advise them of plans for future surveys. It also provided an opportunity to confirm address details and other helpful information. As a result of these efforts, information about the current whereabouts of some 10,000 of the 16,000 BCS70 cohort members was available at the time that preparations for the 1991 Sample Survey began in autumn 1991. (p. 13)
• & The BCS70 Twenty one-year Sample Survey made use of four questionnaires, “Your Life Since 1986”, “Your Views”, “Interview”, and “Literacy and Numeracy Assessments”. This was developed by the cohort studies research team at SSRU, in consultation with those who had been involved with the design and analysis of earlier BCS70 sweeps, and those familiar with the 1958 National Child Development Study (NCDS). It was based on survey instruments used for the 23-year NCDS follow-ups, and was designed to provide details of the views and current circumstances of the cohort members in a number of key areas, plus more limited information on their experiences since the last follow-up in 1986 (p. 13)
• & The final version included questions concerning: employment and education histories since age 16, qualifications, training (p. 13)
• & BCS70 Twenty one-year Follow-up: Section 1 - Page - 1.8 unemployment, reading and writing behaviour, literacy and numeracy self-appraisal and assessments, household composition, relationships, children, housing, income, health, attitudes to employment, education, literacy and numeracy, and self efficacy. (p. 14)
• & The main survey achieved 1,650 interviews using a clustered sample of 25 sampling points based on 26 postcode areas throughout England and Wales. The sample was obtained using interval sampling of all postcode areas in England and Wales with a random starting point. To ensure that the sample would be representative, the characteristics of cohort members resident in the sample areas were compared with those of 21 year olds who participated in the 1989 Labour Force Survey (LFS89). The regional distribution and characteristics of cohort members resident in the sample areas was very similar to the distribution and characteristics of LFS89 respondents. (p. 14)
• & The target of 1,650 interviews was achieved, representing 70 per cent of the 2,359 addresses which were included in the sample. A breakdown of response is given below. Table 1.2: Interview response (p. 15)
• & The largest cause of non-response was that cohort members had moved house in the 9 months prior to fieldwork. Due to the short duration of the fieldwork period and the clustered nature of the sample, it was not possible to pursue interviews with the majority of cohort members who had moved hou (p. 15)
• & The low refusal rate of 6 per cent indicates the extremely cooperative nature of BCS70 cohort members. (p. 15)
• & Table 1.3: Distribution of the BCS70 sample by region and postcode area (p. 16)
• & Qualifications were coded using a scheme based on that used for recent NCDS follow-ups, but because of an improved approach to the survey also provided information on each qualification identified. (p. 16)
• & The tables show that, on the basis of economic activity and marital status, the two samples are broadly similar. The slight difference between the LFS and BCS70-21 economic activity data can be largely explained by differences in coding conventions. (p. 17)
• & Comparisons between the achieved sample and the target sample have been extensive. They are based on variables selected from the earlier BCS70 follow-ups. The variables chosen include many relating t (p. 17)
• & BCS70 Twenty one-year Follow-up: Section 1 - Page - 1.12 demography, education, literacy and numeracy problems, social and economic circumstances, financial problems, the family and relationships, housing and household, and health. (p. 18)
• & Absolute differences between the sampled population and the achieved sample are, on the whole, small and this is reflected in many of the figures for percentage bias. However, small absolute differences can result in a relatively large figure for percentage bias where the percentage in the sampled population is small. Levels of statistical significance are not reported, but it should be noted that, in samples of this size, tests of statistical significance are sensitive to very small differences. In general, the achieved sample does not differ greatly from the sampled population. (p. 18)
• & Overall, it appears that men, those born outside Britain, and those with minority ethnic background are under-represented in the BCS70 21-year follow-up. This also holds for those born to single mothers, teenage mothers, and unemployed fathers; as well as for those with low school achievement; those with a disability, those who have been in care, those with origins in the lower social classes, those who grew-up in families with financial problems, and those who have experienced poor housing conditions (p. 18)
• & Perhaps not surprisingly, this picture is similar to that emerging from the analyses of differential response to other surveys, and especially the NCDS follow-ups. (p. 18)

• Users should note that the Interactive Data Dictionary file available from UK Data Archive for this study is named 'idealist.zip', and the readme file is included within it, named '4715reame.txt'. Apart from the changed file names, all instructions for use are the same as those given here. UK Data Archive cannot offer support for Idealist, and users should address all queries to cohort@cls.ioe.ac.uk .: (p. 30)