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Comparable indicators

ESDS Longitudinal has compiled a number of tables below that allows users of the core longitudinal studies to look up a selection of variables from each study that match, or are equivalent to, the Office for National Statistics Primary set of harmonised concepts and questions.

Where a w*, s* or year* appears in a variable name or file name, this should be replaced by the appropriate number, letter or year of the wave or sweep. The content was last updated January 2012.

1970 British Cohort Study (BCS70)
British Household Panel Survey (BHPS)
English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA)
Families and Children Study (FACS)
Growing Up in Scotland (GUS)
Longitudinal Study of Young People in England (LSYPE)
Millennium Cohort Study (MCS)
National Child Development Study (NCDS)
Understanding Society

1970 British Cohort Study

Output variable	Maps exactly to ONS categories?	Wave	Data file	Variable name
Gender	Yes.	34-year follow-up	BCS_2004_FOLLOWUP	BDS7SEX
	Yes.	38-year follow-up	BCS_2008_FOLLOWUP	BDS8SEX
Age	Yes.	34-year follow-up	BCS_2004_FOLLOWUP	BD7RAGE11
	Yes.	38-year follow-up	BCS_2008_FOLLOWUP	B8DMAGE
Legal marital/partnership status	No.	34-year follow-up	BCS_2004_FOLLOWUP	BD7MS
	No.	38-year follow-up	BCS_2008_FOLLOWUP	B8MS
Living arrangements	No.	38-year follow-up	BCS_2008_FOLLOWUP	B8COHAB
Ethnic origin	Yes. Matches 2001 Census categories.	34-year follow-up	BCS_2004_FOLLOWUP	BD7ETHNIC
Tenure	No.	34-year follow-up	BCS_2004_FOLLOWUP	B7TEN2
	No.	38-year follow-up	BCS_2008_FOLLOWUP	B8TEN2
Economic status	No.	34-year follow-up	BCS_2004_FOLLOWUP	BD7ECACT
	No.	38-year follow-up	BCS_2008_FOLLOWUP	BD8ECACT
Industry (SIC) 1992	Yes.	34-year follow-up	BCS_2004_FOLLOWUP	B7SIC92
Industry (SIC) 2003	Yes.	38-year follow-up	BCS_2008_FOLLOWUP	B8SIC301
Occupation (SOC90)	Yes.	34-year follow-up	BCS_2004_FOLLOWUP	B7SOC90
	Yes.	38-year follow-up	BCS_2008_FOLLOWUP	B8SOC901
Occupation (SOC2000)	Yes.	34-year follow-up	BCS_2004_FOLLOWUP	B7XSO000
	Yes.	38-year follow-up	BCS_2008_FOLLOWUP	B8SOC901
Socio-economic classification (NS-SEC)	Yes.	34-year follow-up	BCS_2004_FOLLOWUP	B7NSSE01; BD7NS8
	Yes.	38-year follow-up	BCS_2008_FOLLOWUP	B8NSSE01
Full-time and part-time work	Available from the economic status variables, see section above.
Educational attainment (highest qualification)	No, but ONS categories can be created.	34-year follow-up	BCS_2004_FOLLOWUP	BD7HQ5; BD7HQ13

British Household Panel Survey

Output variable	Maps exactly to ONS categories?	Wave	Data file	Variable name
Gender	Yes.	All	w*INDRESP; w*INDALL	w*SEX
Age	Single year of age at date of interview.	All	w*INDRESP; w*INDALL	w*AGE
	Single year of age at 01.12.[year].	All	w*INDRESP; w*INDALL	w*AGE12
Legal marital/partnership status	Yes.	All	w*INDRESP	w*MLSTAT
Living arrangements	No.	All	w*INDRESP; w*INDALL	w*MASTAT
Ethnic origin	No.	Waves 1-12 (a-l)	w*INDRESP	w*RACE
	Yes. Matches 2001 Census categories.	Wave 13> (m>)	w*INDRESP	w*RACEL
Tenure	No.	All	w*HHRESP	w*HSOWND
	Yes.	All	w*INDRESP	w*TENURE
Economic status	No.	All	w*INDRESP	w*JBSTAT
Industry (SIC) 1980	Yes.	Waves 1-11 (a-k)	w*INDRESP	w*JBSIC
Industry (SIC) 1992	Yes.	Waves 4, 7, 12> (d, g, l>)	w*INDRESP	w*JBSIC92
Occupation (SOC90)	Yes.	All	w*INDRESP	w*JBSOC
Occupation (SOC2000)	Yes.	Waves 11> (k>)	w*INDRESP	w*JBSOC00
Socio-economic classification (NS-SEC)	Yes. Operational sub-categories classes.	All	w*INDRESP	w*JBSEC
Full-time and part-time work	Yes.	All	w*INDRESP	w*JBFT
Educational attainment (highest qualification)	No, but ONS categories can be created.	All	w*INDRESP	w*QFEDHI

English Longitudinal Study of Ageing

Output variable	Maps exactly to ONS categories?	Wave	Data file	Variable name
Gender	Yes.	Wave 0	WAVE0_year*_DATA	SEX
	Yes.	Waves 1>	WAVEw*_CORE_DATA_version*	INDSEX
Age	Yes.	Wave 0	WAVE0_year*_DATA	AGER
	Yes.	Waves 1>	WAVEw*_CORE_DATA_version*	INDAGER
Legal marital/partnership status	Yes.	Wave 0	WAVE0_year*_DATA	MARITAL
	Yes.	Waves 1>	WAVEw*_CORE_DATA_version*	DIMAR
Living arrangements	No, but ONS categories can be created.	Wave 0, year 1999 and 2001	WAVE0_1999_DATA; WAVE0_2001_DATA	MARSTATB
	No, but ONS categories can be created.	Waves 1>	WAVEw*_CORE_DATA_version*	COUPLE
Ethnic origin	No, categories in output variable are collapsed to White / Non-white to avoid disclosure.	Wave 0	WAVE0_year*_DATA	ETHNICR
	No, categories in output variable are collapsed to White / Non-white to avoid disclosure.	Waves 1>	WAVEw*_CORE_DATA_version*	AETHNICR (W1); FQETHNR (W2>)
Tenure	No.	Wave 0	WAVE0_year*_DATA	TENUREB
	No.	Waves 1>	WAVEw*_CORE_DATA_version*	HOTENU
Economic status	No.	Wave 0	WAVE0_year*_DATA	ECONACT
	No.	Waves 1>	WAVEw*_CORE_DATA_version*	WPDES
Industry (SIC) 1992	Yes.	Wave 0	WAVE0_year*_DATA	SIC; SIC92
Industry (SIC) 2003	Yes.	Wave 4	WAVEw*_CORE_DATA_version*	SIC2003
Industry (SIC) 2007	Yes.	Wave 4	WAVEw*_CORE_DATA_version*	SIC2007
Occupation (SOC90)	Yes.	Wave 0	WAVE0_year*_DATA	SOC; SOC90
Occupation (SOC2000)	Yes.	Wave 0, year 2001	WAVE0_2001_DATA	SOC2000
	Yes.	Wave 1	WAVE1_CORE_DATA_version*	EXS2000
Socio-economic classification (NS-SEC)	Yes.	Wave 0, year 2001 and Wave 4	WAVE0_2001_DATA; WAVE4_CORE_DATA_version*	NSSEC
	Yes.	Waves 1-2	WAVE*_CORE_DATA_version*	ANSSEC
Full-time and part-time work	Yes.	Wave 0	WAVE0_year*_DATA	FTPTIME
Educational attainment (highest qualification)	No, but ONS categories can be created.	Wave 1-2	WAVE*_CORE_DATA_version*	FQQUZM1-3; EDQUAL (W1)

Families and Children Study

Output variable	Maps exactly to ONS categories?	Wave	Data file	Variable name
Gender	Yes, gender of household members.	Waves 3-10	FACS_year*_FAMILY_LEVEL	w*SEX_[01-13]
	Yes, gender of child.	Waves 3-10	FACS_year*_CHILD_LEVEL	w*CSEX
Age	Yes, age of household members.	Waves 3-10	FACS_year*_FAMILY_LEVEL	w*PERAG[01-13]
	Yes, age of child.	Waves 3-10	FACS_year*_CHILD_LEVEL	w*CAGE
Legal marital/partnership status	Yes, marital status of main adult respondent.	Waves 3-10	FACS_year*_FAMILY_LEVEL	w*MARITAL
Living arrangements	No, but ONS categories can be created. Earlier waves do have some questions on cohabitation and living together as couple but derived variables would need to be created.	Waves 8-10	FACS_year*_FAMILY_LEVEL	w*COHAB
Ethnic origin	Yes, ethnic origin of main adult respondent.	Waves 1-10	FACS_year*_FAMILY_LEVEL	w*ETHNIC
Tenure	No.	Waves 1-10	FACS_year*_FAMILY_LEVEL	w*TENURE; w*TENTYPE
Economic status	No.	Waves 1-10	FACS_year*_FAMILY_LEVEL	w*EMPSTAT
Industry (SIC) 1992	Yes, 9 groups only.	Waves 1-10	FACS_year*_FAMILY_LEVEL	w*RSIC9[2]
Occupation (SOC2000)	Yes, 9 groups only.	Waves 1-10	FACS_year*_FAMILY_LEVEL	w*SOCR[9]
Socio-economic classification (NS-SEC)	Yes, long version.	Waves 1-2	FACS_year*_FAMILY_LEVEL	w*RNSSEC
Educational attainment (highest qualification)	No, but ONS categories can be created.	Waves 1-10	FACS_year*_FAMILY_LEVEL	w*PED3A (W1-2); w*HIQUA (W3>)

Growing Up in Scotland

Output variable	Maps exactly to ONS categories?	Sweep/Cohort	Data file	Variable name
Gender	Yes, gender of household members.	All sweeps and cohorts	All	Ms*HGSX[2-12]
	Yes, gender of study child.	All sweeps and cohorts	All	Ms*HGSX1
Age	Yes, age of household members.	All sweeps and cohorts	All	Ds*HGA[2-12]
	Yes, age of study child.	All sweeps and cohorts	All	Ms*HGA1
Legal marital/partnership status	No.	All sweeps and cohorts	All	Ds*HGMR[1-12]
Living arrangements	No, but ONS categories can be created.	All sweeps and cohorts	All	MEHGLV[1-12]
Ethnic origin	Ethnicity of respondent at Sweep 1. White or other ethnic group classification only.	Sweep 1 birth and child cohorts	GUSSW1B_V3; GUSSW1C_V3	DAETHGPM
	Ethnicity of respondent at current Sweep. White or other ethnic group classification only.	All sweeps and cohorts	All	Ds*METH07
	Ethnicity of study child at Sweep 1. White or other ethnic group classification only.	Sweep 1 birth and child cohorts	GUSSW1B_V3; GUSSW1C_V3	DAETHGPC
Tenure	Yes.	All sweeps and cohorts	All	Ms*ZHOU05
Economic status	No, a series of variables can be used to determine the economic status.	All sweeps and cohorts	All	Ms*WEST[01-12]
Socio-economic classification (NS-SEC)	Yes, six category version.	All sweeps and cohorts	All	Ds*MSEC01
Full-time and part-time work	Two variables per sweep and cohort can be used to create the categories.	All sweeps and cohorts	All	Ms*WEST01; Ms*WEST02
Educational attainment (highest qualification)	No, but ONS categories can be created.	All sweeps and cohorts	All	Ds*MEDU01

Longitudinal Study of Young People in England

Output variable	Maps exactly to ONS categories?	Wave	Data file	Variable name
Gender	Yes, gender of young person.	All	WAVE_*_LSYPE_YOUNG_PERSON_FILE; LSYPE_W7_NOV2011_SUPPRESSED	W*SEXYP; W7SEX (W7)
Age	No, date of birth month and year recorded.	Wave 1	WAVE_ONE_LSYPE_YOUNG_PERSON_FILE	DOBYEARYP; DOBMONTHYP
Ethnic origin	No.	Waves 1, 2 and 4	WAVE_*_LSYPE_YOUNG_PERSON_FILE	W*ETHGRPYP
Full-time and part-time work	No, but ONS categories can be created. Variable records hours per week young person spends on paid job.	Waves 1-3	WAVE_*_LSYPE_YOUNG_PERSON_FILE	W*JOBTIMEYP
	No, but ONS categories can be created. Derived variable recording employment status of young person.	Waves 3-4	WAVE_*_LSYPE_YOUNG_PERSON_FILE	W*EMPSYP
Educational attainment (highest qualification)	Various variables at all waves about qualifications currently studying towards. Derived variable available for highest academic qualification studied at Wave 6.	Wave 6	WAVE_SIX_LSYPE_YOUNG_PERSON_FILE	W6ACQNO

Millennium Cohort Study

Output variable	Maps exactly to ONS categories?	Sweep	Data file	Variable name
Gender	Yes.	All.	MCSs*_HOUSEHOLD_GRID	s*HCSEX00
Age	Yes, age in days.	All.	MCSs*_HOUSEHOLD_GRID	s*HCAGE00
Ethnic origin	No. Matches 2001 Census categories but collapsed to 6, 8 or 11 categories.	All.	MCSs*_PARENT_INTERVIEW	s*DC06E00; s*DC08E00; s*DC11E00
Tenure	No.	All.	MCSs*_PARENT_INTERVIEW	s*MROOW00 (S1-3); DDROOW00 (S4)

National Child Development Study (Sweeps 6, 7 and 8 only)

Output variable	Maps exactly to ONS categories?	Sweep	Data file	Variable name
Gender	Yes.	Sweeps 6-8	All	N622_S (S6); ND7SEX (S7); ND8SEX (S8)
Age	Yes.	Sweeps 6-7	All	AGE (S6); N7RAGE11 (S7)
Legal marital/partnership status	No.	Sweeps 6-7	All	MARSTAT2 (S6); ND7MS (S7)
Living arrangements	No.	Sweeps 7-8	All	ND7MS (S7); N8COHAB (S8)
Ethnic origin	Yes.	Sweeps 6 and 8	All	ETHNIC (S6); N8ETHNIC and ND8ETHNC (S8)
Tenure	No.	Sweeps 6-8	All	TENURE2 (S6); N7TEN (S7); N8TEN (S8)
Economic status	No.	Sweeps 6-8	All	ECONACT (S6); ND7ECACT (S7); N8ECON02 (S8)
Industry (SIC) 1992	Yes.	Sweep 7	All	N7SIC92
Industry (SIC) 2003	Yes.	Sweep 8	All	N8SIC3
Occupation (SOC90)	Yes.	Sweeps 6-8	All	SOC (S6); N7SOC90 (S7); N8SOC90 (S8)
Occupation (SOC2000)	Yes.	Sweeps 7-8	All	N7XSO000 (S7); N8SOC (S8 with dots);N8SOCX(S8 without dots)
Socio-economic classification (NS-SEC)	Yes.	Sweeps 6-8	All	SEG (S6); N7NSSEC (S7); N8NSSEC (S8)
Full-time and part-time work	No, but ONS categories can be created.	Sweeps 7-8	All	ND7ECACT (S7); N8ECON02 (S8)
Educational attainment (highest qualification)	No, questions asked on highest qualifications obtained since last interview.	Sweeps 7-8	All	ND7ACHQ1 (S7); ND8ACHQ1 (S8); ND8AGHM (S8 but covers S5-8)

Understanding Society

Output variable	Maps exactly to ONS categories?	Wave	Data file	Variable name
Gender	Yes.	All	w*_INDRESP; w*_INDALL	w*_SEX
Age	Yes.	All	w*_INDRESP; w*_INDALL	w*_DVAGE
Legal marital/partnership status	Yes.	All	w*_INDRESP	w*_MARSTAT; w*_MLSTAT
Living arrangements	Yes.	All	w*_INDRESP; w*_INDALL	w*_LIVESP; w*_LIVEWITH
Ethnic origin	Yes, uses Census 2011 ethnicity classification.	All	w*_INDRESP	w*_RACEL
Tenure	Yes.	All	w*_HHRESP	w*HSOWND; w*_TENURE_DV
Economic status	No.	All	w*_INDRESP	w*_JBSTAT
Industry (SIC) 2007	Yes, condensed 2-digit version.	All	w*_INDRESP	w*_JBSIC07_CC
Occupation (SOC90)	Yes, condensed 2-digit version.	All	w*_INDRESP	w*_JBSOC90_CC
Occupation (SOC2000)	Yes, condensed 2-digit version.	All	w*_INDRESP	w*_JBSOC00_CC
Socio-economic classification (NS-SEC)	Yes, long, 8-class, 5-class and 3-class versions.	All	w*_INDRESP	w*_JBNESSEC_DV; w*_JBNESSEC8_DV; w*_JBNESSEC5_DV; w*_JBNESSEC3_DV
Full-time and part-time work	Yes.	All	w*_INDRESP	w*_JBFT_DV
Educational attainment (highest qualification)	No, but ONS categories can be created.	All	w*_INDRESP	w*_QFHIGH; W*_HIQUAL_DV