Data from the 1958 National Child Development Study (NCDS) Age 62 Sweep are now available to download from the UK Data Service.
The dataset includes information collected from more than 8,400 study participants between 2020 and 2024 when they were age 61 to 65. This data collection is the most comprehensive of the cohort’s adult lives and is the first to feature objective health measures in nearly two decades.
These latest data offer new opportunities for researchers to investigate a wealth of policy-relevant topics, including pensions and retirement, financial wellbeing and healthy ageing. The data collection builds on the information collected across study participants’ lives, allowing for comparisons with earlier-born generations at similar ages, particularly those taking part in the 1946 National Survey of Health and Development.
About the NCDS Age 62 Sweep
The National Child Development Study follows a nationally representative sample of more than 17,000 baby boomers born in Britain in a single week in 1958. Since their birth, there have been 12 main sweeps of the cohort.
Fieldwork for the Age 62 Sweep ran from January 2020 until April 2024. Interviews took place in person or by video call. Video calls were a new innovation, added in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
A total of 8,405 people took part in the survey and 6,309 participated in the health visit. Survey fieldwork was conducted by NatCen and Verian (formerly Kantar) with health visits managed by NatCen and INUVI. Study participants were asked questions covering various aspects of their lives. These included:
- employment and finances
- household relationships and family
- mental health and wellbeing
- physical health and health behaviours
- relationships and social support
- retirement
- views and attitudes.
Study participants repeated a series of cognitive assessments, measuring memory, executive function and concentration, previously completed at age 50. They also kept a record of their diet on two randomly allocated days across a seven-day period.
NCDS participants were invited to take part in a series of health assessments for the first time since they were in their mid-40s. These biomeasures were collected by a healthcare professional and included:
- balance assessment
- blood pressure (sitting and standing)
- blood sampling
- grip strength
- timed walk
- waist and hip circumference
- weight and body fat percentage.
Over the years, NCDS has continued to build a picture of participants’ lives by collecting the same important information about them at each survey. New questions have also been asked appropriate to their stage of life. In this latest survey, some of the new questions concerned financial literacy, sexuality and expectations for the future.
Data linkage
If they had not already given consent in earlier sweeps, participants were also asked for consent to link data about their health, employment and earnings, held by various government departments and agencies, to their survey information. If they had a partner, they were also asked for consent for data linkage, if they had not given their permission earlier.
Linking administrative data to survey records can expand the scope of research on various key social issues and help to fill in any gaps in the data provided by the participants themselves.
Professor George Ploubidis, NCDS director, said: “With study participants now in their 60s, these new data from NCDS can cast a light on how people are experiencing retirement and ageing in the 21st century.
“With people living longer, the rise in the state pension age, and pressures on the NHS, it is vitally important to understand if this generation are ageing in good physical and cognitive health, whether they are coping financially and if they are juggling caring responsibilities.”
How to access the data
Most of the NCDS Age 62 Sweep data are available for free from the UK Data Service under an end user licence agreement, with selected sensitive data available under secure access arrangements:
Data available under end user licence
Data available under secure access
Visit the NCDS Age 62 Sweep page to download the user guide, questionnaires, and other documentation of the data and fieldwork. The Centre for Longitudinal Studies have also published a one–hour webinar recording providing an overview of the NCDS Age 62 Sweep data.