1 / 12

An Introduction to the Families and Children Study (FACS)

An Introduction to the Families and Children Study (FACS). DWP Social Research National Centre for Social Research. Contents. Overview of FACS Sample design Questionnaire content Accessing data Publications Further information. Overview of FACS.

andra
Download Presentation

An Introduction to the Families and Children Study (FACS)

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. An Introduction to the Families and Children Study (FACS) DWP Social Research National Centre for Social Research

  2. Contents • Overview of FACS • Sample design • Questionnaire content • Accessing data • Publications • Further information

  3. Overview of FACS • Formerly Survey of Low Income Families (SOLIF) • Started in 1999 (Wave 1) - sample of low-income couples and lone parents at all income levels • From 2001 sample represents all families - became FACS at this point • Questionnaire content has changed over the waves

  4. Sample • FACS is a refreshed panel study • There are two components • cross-section: representative of all families • panel: those interviewed in previous waves • Sample frame = child benefit records • Main respondent usually the mother

  5. Cross-cutting • Department for Work and Pensions (child poverty) • Inland Revenue (tax credits) • Department for Education and Skills (childcare) • Department for Transport (travel to school) • Children and Young Persons Unit (youth services) • Sure Start (early childhood) • Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (social exclusion)

  6. Questionnaire content

  7. Data format • Family level datasets • Separate child level datasets • Single flat files • Small set of derived variables added to each file

  8. Data - number of cases • Low-income + lone parent sample • Wave 1 (1999) cross-section, approx. 4,700 families • Wave 1-4 panel, approx. 2,700 families • All families • Wave 3 (2001), cross-section, approx. 8,000 families • Wave 3-4 panel, approx. 6,700 families

  9. How to access the data • Data and documentation available from data archive • http://www.data-archive.ac.uk • SN 4427 Families and Children Survey (FACS), 1999-2002; Waves 1-4 • Wave 5 (2003) available late 2004

  10. Documents supplied with the data • Codebooks – listings of variables • Derived variables – details of what is supplied and how derived • Imputation – what’s been imputed and how • Questionnaires – Word and CAPI versions • Weights – details of use • User guide - hints on how to use FACS

  11. Main publications • Wave 1 (1999) • Low-income families in Britain [DWP RR no. 138] • Wave 2 (2000) • WFTC & work [161]; Living standards [164]; Family change [165] • Wave 3 (2001) • Family change 1999-2001 [180]; WFTC [181]; Living standards and children [190]; Work and childcare [191] • Wave 4 (2002) • Families and Children in Britain 2002 [206] • http://www.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd5/rrs-index.asp • Technical reports each year

  12. Further Information • FACS user website http://www.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd5/facs • FACS work in progress (FACS Analysis Programme) http://www.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd5/facs/facs_progress.asp • FACS respondent website http://www.natcen.ac.uk/facs • National Centre for Social Research website http://www.natcen.ac.uk

More Related