Guide to British Household Panel Survey
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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)
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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.
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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 .
From Wave 19, the BHPS will be subsumed into a new longitudinal study called Understanding Society,
or the United Kingdom Household Longitudinal Study (UKHLS), conducted by ISER. The BHPS Wave 19 will
be part of Understanding Society Wave 2 (January 2010 - March 2011). The BHPS fieldwork will therefore
move from September - April to January - March. This means that the gap between interviews 18 and 19 for
the BHPS sample ranges between 16 and 30 months rather than the standard 12 months. From Wave 2, the BHPS
sample will be a permanent part of the larger study and interviews will be annual again. BHPS sample
members will have an identifier within the Understanding Society datasets, allowing BHPS users to match
BHPS Wave 1-18 data to Understanding Society Wave 2 (and onwards) data. Understanding Society is held at
the UK Data Archive under SN 6614. Further information is available at:
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.
- How to register with ESDS:
- BHPS datasets:
- ESDS Nesstar Catalogue:
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
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BHPS data available via the Secure Data Service
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From Spring 2011, very detailed geographical BHPS data have been made available via the Secure Data Service. These data are subject to strict conditions of access:
- BHPS National Grid Reference data at the Secure Data Service:
- Secure Data Service FAQs:
- Overview of access to BHPS geographical variables:
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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:
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BHPS resources
There are a host of BHPS resources on the web.
Institute for Social and Economic Research (ISER) resources:
BHPS:
Publications using the BHPS:
BHPS mailing list:
ESDS Longitudinal resources:
UK longitudinal data in an international context:
ESDS Longitudinal data mailing list:
Other resources:
Cross-National Equivalent File (CNEF):
Northern Ireland Household Panel Survey (NIHPS):
Paul Lambert's guide 'The British Household Panel Survey: Introduction to a longitudinal data resource':
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User documentation
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.
- BHPS study description:
- BHPS at the Survey Question Bank:
- BHPS online documentation at ISER:
L33196 Guide to
British Household Panel Survey
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