Millennium Cohort Study: Survey of Mothers who Received Assisted Fertility Treatment, 2003

UKDA study number:5559

Principal Investigator

University of London. Institute of Education. Centre for Longitudinal Studies

Sponsor

Department of Health

Distributed by

UK Data Archive, University of Essex, Colchester.

March 2008 (2nd Edition)

Bibliographic Citation

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University of London. Institute of Education. Centre for Longitudinal Studies, Millennium Cohort Study: Survey of Mothers who Received Assisted Fertility Treatment, 2003 [computer file]. 2nd Edition. Colchester, Essex: UK Data Archive [distributor], March 2008. SN: 5559 , http://dx.doi.org/10.5255/UKDA-SN-5559-1

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Copyright:
University of London. Centre for Longitudinal Studies

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5559 . Millennium Cohort Study: Survey of Mothers who Received Assisted Fertility Treatment, 2003

Depositor:

University of London. Institute of Education. Centre for Longitudinal Studies

Principal Investigator:

University of London. Institute of Education. Centre for Longitudinal Studies

Sponsor:

Department of Health

Other Acknowledgements:

The Information Centre, Newcastle, Analytic and Services Branch, Department for Work and Pensions (formerly Department of Social Security) who: identified the main Millennium Cohort Study (MCS) sample from Child Benefit records, and ran an opt-out exercise for MCS1; provided a similar service to enable the inclusion in MCS2 of 'new families' (eligible for inclusion in MCS1 but not identfied in the records until after the completion of the first survey); and assisted with tracing families who had moved, for both MCS1 and MCS2.

Members of the Office for National Statistics (ONS) funding consortium provided advice as well as funding.

Individual academic advisers:
Specialist advisers: Julia Brannen, Tim Cole, Leon Feinstein, Charlie Owen.
Members of the Centre for Longitudinal Studies (CLS) internal team: Neville Butler, John Bynner, Elsa Ferri, Ian Plewis, Peter Shepherd and Kate Smith.

Collaborators on the MCS included: Mel Bartley, Helen Bedford, Dermot Bowler, Leslie Davidson, Carol Dezateux, Harvey Goldstein, Kath Kiernan, Yvonne Kelly, Michael Marmot, Barbara Maughan, Alison McFarlane, Catherine Peckham, Chris Power, Ingrid Schoon and Marjorie Smith.

Members of the Millennium Cohort Study Advisory Group, for advice on the form and content of MCS1, MCS2, MCS3 and MCS4.

Abstract:

Background:
The original objectives of the first MCS survey, as laid down in the proposal to the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) in March 2000, were:

• to chart the initial conditions of social, economic and health advantages and disadvantages facing children born at the start of the 21st century, capturing information that the research community of the future will require
• to provide a basis for comparing patterns of development with the preceding cohorts (the National Child Development Study, held at the UK Data Archive under GN 33004, and the 1970 Birth Cohort Study, held under GN 33229)
• to collect information on previously neglected topics, such as fathers' involvement in children's care and development
• to focus on parents as the most immediate elements of the children's 'background', charting their experience as mothers and fathers of newborn babies in the year 2000, recording how they (and any other children in the family) adapted to the newcomer, and what their aspirations for her/his future may be
• to emphasise intergenerational links including those back to the parents' own childhood
• to investigate the wider social ecology of the family, including social networks, civic engagement and community facilities and services, splicing in geo-coded data when available

Additional objectives subsequently included for MCS were:

• to provide control cases for the national evaluation of Sure Start (a government programme intended to alleviate child poverty and social exclusion)
• to provide samples of adequate size to analyse and compare the smaller countries of the United Kingdom

The first sweep (MCS1) interviewed both mothers and (where resident) fathers (or father-figures) of infants included in the sample when the babies were nine months old, and the second sweep (MCS2) was carried out with the same respondents when the children were three years of age. The third sweep (MCS3) was conducted in 2006, when the children were aged five years, and the fourth sweep (MCS4) in 2008, when they were seven years old.

Sub-sample studies:
Some studies based on sub-samples of MCS have also been conducted, including a study of MCS respondent mothers who had received assisted fertility treatment, conducted in 2003 (see SN 5559). Also, birth registration and maternity hospital episodes for the MCS respondents are held as a separate dataset (see SN 5614).

Weighting:
Users should note that the weighting section in the 'Guide to the Datasets' document recommends analysis in Stata, as SPSS is not currently able to weight the data using the survey design factors. The depositor is working on a solution for SPSS, but this is not yet available. A Stata version of the dataset is available for download by registered users, alongside the SPSS and tab-delimited versions.

MCS web pages:
Further information about the MCS can be found on the Centre for Longitudinal Studies website.

Participants for the Millennium Cohort Study: Survey of Mothers who Received Assisted Fertility Treatment, 2003 were drawn from existing MCS respondents. Consenting parents who had reported having any medical infertility treatment for the pregnancy covered by MCS were sent a postal questionnaire which asked more detail about their experiences of infertility treatment. Much of the resulting statistical analysis involved comparing the women who had received different types of infertility treatment, either with each other or with women who had received no such treatment. All analyses allowed for the clustered, stratified sample design, with re-weighting included where necessary to allow for the different sampling proportions.

For the second edition (March 2008), a new version of the data file was deposited, with the family serial number variable (famsrno) replaced by a new serial number variable, mcsid (MCS Research Serial Number). The documentation remains unchanged.

Main Topics:

Topics covered included when and where fertility treatment was sought, the type of treatment received (including drugs prescribed), fertility treatment for previous pregnancies, and costs and overall experience of treatment.

Coverage:

Dates of Fieldwork: May 2003 - September 2003
Country: United Kingdom; United Kingdom
Spatial Units: No spatial unit
Observation Units: Individuals; Families/households
Kind of Data: Numeric data; Alpha/numeric data; Individual (micro) level

Universe Sampled:

Location of Units of Observation: National
Population: The sample population for MCS was drawn from all live births in the United Kingdom over 12 months (from 1 September 2000 in England and Wales and for 59 weeks from 22 November 2000 in Scotland and Northern Ireland).
The Assisted Fertility Survey sub-sample was drawn from those responding to MCS1 who had reported successful infertility treatment. See SN 4683 for details of the full MCS sample.

Methodology:

Time Dimensions: Longitudinal/panel/cohort
Four waves have been conducted to date: MCS1 (age 9 months), MCS2 (age 3 years), MCS3 (age 5 years) and MCS4 (age 7 years).
Sampling Procedures: Purposive selection/case studies
Method of Data Collection: Postal survey; Self-completion
Weighting: Weighting used. See documentation for details.

Language(s) of Written Materials:

Study Description: English
Study Documentation: English

Access:

Access Conditions: The depositor has specified that registration is required and standard conditions of use apply. The depositor may be informed about usage.
Additional special conditions of use also apply. See terms and conditions of access for further information.
Availability: UK Data Service
Contact: Get in touch

Date of First Release:

25 January 2007

Date of Latest Release:

18 March 2008 ( 2nd Edition )

Copyright:

University of London. Centre for Longitudinal Studies

File last updated:

22 April 2013