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Guide to British Household Panel Survey

link to British Household Panel Survey ESDS Longitudinal provides:
  • a web-based download service
  • specialist user support in conjunction with the Institute for Social and Economic Research (ISER)
  • training and workshops
  • a range of value-added data enhancements for a number of key UK longitudinal data collections, including the British Household Panel Survey (BHPS)

The BHPS is carried out by ISER at the University of Essex. The main objective of the survey is to further understanding of social and economic change at the individual and household level in Britain (the UK from Wave 11 onwards), to identify, model and forecast such changes, their causes and consequences in relation to a range of socio-economic variables.

The BHPS provides information on household organisation, employment, accommodation, tenancy, income and wealth, housing, health, socio-economic values, residential mobility, marital and relationship history, social support, and individual and household demographics.

Wave 9 saw the recruitment of two additional samples to the BHPS in Scotland and Wales to permit independent analysis of the two countries and to facilitate analysis compared to England in order to assess the impact of devolution. Wave 11 saw the formation of the Northern Ireland Household Panel Survey (NIHPS), to extend representation to cover the whole of the UK.

     image of houses     

The BHPS provided the UK component of the European Community Household Panel (ECHP). The ECHP survey presents comparable micro-level (persons/households) data on income, living conditions, housing, health and work in the European Union (EU). The survey covers all but one of the EU member states and follows the same private households and persons over consecutive years from 1994-2001. The ECHP data can be accessed via Eurostat - see epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/portal/page/portal/microdata/echp.

Access to the BHPS

Users registered with the Economic and Social Data Service (ESDS) have access to the BHPS datasets via the download service or can analyse, visualise, subset and download teaching datasets from BHPS via the online Nesstar software tool.

BHPS - ESDS data holdings

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In addition to the main BHPS data, there are also a number of other related datasets available including:

  • the Derived Current and Annual Net Household Income Variables dataset
  • the Combined Work-Life History dataset
  • the Consolidated Marital, Cohabitation and Fertility Histories dataset
  • the Calibrated Time Use dataset

Each of these datasets is available via www.esds.ac.uk/findingData/bhps.asp


BHPS teaching datasets

Three BHPS samplers have been added to the Teaching Datasets section of the ESDS Nesstar Catalogue. The first two contain Wave 1 respondents, and follow them for eleven waves, selecting broadly the same variables at each wave. The first sampler focuses on the theme of work, family and health, and can also be used to examine social and income mobility. The second sampler is based around the theme of social and political attitudes. The third sampler contains Wave 1 respondents and follows them for thirteen waves. This file is based around the theme of time use, leisure activity and membership of social organisations.

See the Guide to the BHPS Nesstar teaching datasets:
www.esds.ac.uk/longitudinal/support/L1.asp.

     link to ESDS Nesstar Catalogue     

BHPS resources

There are a host of BHPS resources on the web.

Institute for Social and Economic Research (ISER) resources:
BHPS: www.iser.essex.ac.uk/ulsc/bhps/
Publications using the BHPS: www.iser.essex.ac.uk/ulsc/bhps/pubs/
Publications and working papers: www.iser.essex.ac.uk/pubs/
BHPS mailing list: www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/bhps.html

ESDS Longitudinal resources:
UK longitudinal data in an international context: www.esds.ac.uk/longitudinal/resources/international.asp
ESDS Longitudinal data mailing list: www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/esds-longitudinal.html

Other resources:
Cross-National Equivalent File (CNEF): www.human.cornell.edu/che/PAM/Research/Centers-Programs/German-Panel/cnef.cfm
Northern Ireland Household Panel Survey (NIHPS): www.ark.ac.uk/nihps/
Paul Lambert's guide 'The British Household Panel Survey: Introduction to a longitudinal data resource': www.longitudinal.stir.ac.uk/wp/lda_2006_2.pdf
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User documentation

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  ESDS user documentation for the BHPS can be downloaded in the form of a multi-volume user guide in PDF format from the BHPS catalogue record page. The questionnaires can also be downloaded from the Survey Question Bank.

Alternatively, there is an online version of the documentation available from the ISER web site.
www.esds.ac.uk/longitudinal       longitudinal@esds.ac.uk
L33196 Guide to British Household Panel Survey

A step-by-step ESDS guide to BHPS Nesstar teaching datasets A step-by-step ESDS guide to BHPS Nesstar teaching datasets

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