General Lifestyle Survey (formerly the General Household Survey)
The General LiFestyle Survey (GLF), formerly known as the General Household Survey (GHS), is a multi-purpose continuous survey carried out by the ONS collecting information on a range of topics from people living in private households in Great Britain. This information is used by government departments
and other organisations for planning, policy and monitoring purposes and to
present a picture of households, family and people in Great Britain.
The survey has run continuously since 1971, except for breaks in 1997/8 (when the survey was reviewed) and 1999/2000 when the survey was re-developed. Following the 1997 review, the survey was relaunched from April 2000 with a different design. The relevant development work and the changes made are fully described in the Living in Britain report for the 2000-2001 survey. Following its review, the GLF was changed to comprise two elements: the continuous survey and extra modules, or 'trailers'. The continuous survey remained unchanged from 2000 to 2004, apart from essential adjustments to take account of, for example, changes in benefits and pensions. The GLF retained its modular structure and this allowed a number of different trailers to be included for each of those years, to a plan agreed by sponsoring government departments.
The GLF pages on the data.gov.uk web site contain some detailed
information about the survey and links to the reports. The GHS
Summary Quality Report from ONS is also a useful document which includes key
information about the survey (using dimensions of quality defined by Eurostat).
Recent News
Update from ONS on the future of the GLF Survey
ONS has recently published a short information note on their progress and intentions regarding the future of the GLF Survey. The note, called Update
to the future of the GLF survey outlines the intention to change the way the General Lifestyle Survey data are collected, seeks to identify the current uses of the survey data, any implications of stopping the survey, and options for alternative information sources.
General Lifestyle/General Household Survey to close
Following consultation with users, the Office for National Statistics has decided that the General Lifestyle Survey (GLF) will not continue in its current format after January 2012. Full details are available in the Response to the future of the GLF survey consultation document, which states:
"ONS welcomes all of the responses received and notes the concerns. These responses will be taken into consideration during the next steps of this project. Given the need to harmonise UK and EU poverty indicators, and ensure efficient data collection, we propose that the GLF ceases to run in its current form from January 2012. Statistics on Income and Living Conditions required by European law (EU-SILC) will be collected via the Family Resources Survey (FRS) with a standalone survey providing the longitudinal SILC element. GLF questions not covered by EU-SILC will be collected using a separate survey, subject to continued funding for non-EU-SILC variables. Over the next six months, ONS will explore the exact format for this survey to best meet users' needs. Details will be made available later in the year."
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) undertook the consultation on the future of the General Household Survey/General Lifestyle Survey which ended on 6 May 2011.
ESDS Government compiled a response to the consultation on behalf of the general GLF user community.
Secure Data Service Access
GLF datasets are now available from the Secure Data Service (SDS). These datasets are more detailed version of existing data available through ESDS. To find out more about the content of these datasets view the online catalogue records. Before applying for access researchers should read through the catalogue records to determine if the data are suitable for their research and whether less detailed versions of the data are available and could be used instead. More information about the SDS can be found on the Secure Data Service website.
Transition to a Longitudinal
General Lifestyle Survey
The 2005-2006 GLF fieldwork was the
first to be undertaken under a new longitudinal survey design. The new design
was accompanied by a slight change in substantive emphasis, which leans
towards a greater range of questions on social exclusion. The changes to the
GLF aim to satisfy new EU requirements to produce comparable data from a Survey
of Income and Living Conditions (EU-SILC).
A key advantage to users is that the design would allow scope for genuine longitudinal analysis of GLF data, albeit over a relatively short period of four years. The survey would allow the construction of measures of change, for example in household structure, residential mobility, income, employment history and health measures. This would allow investigation of the effects of change, for example the relationship between changes in employment status and income or health measures. A disadvantage is that combining data from different sample years, which is currently done to boost sample numbers for small population groups, will be less effective.
An ONS paper on the Transition to a Longitudinal GHS is available in PDF format.
The GLF is the survey vehicle used for the 2005-2011 EUSILC in the UK. Two UK EUSILC datasets are now available.
Latest data
