Growing Up in Scotland: Using the findings in a local context

1. Growing Up in Scotland: Using the findings in a local context ScotStat Survey Conference 16th March 2010 Lesley Kelly, GUS Dissemination Officer CRFR, University of Edinburgh www.growingupinscotland.org.uk

2. Presentation content • Background to the study - design and content • The relevance of GUS to Local Authorities • GUS and the National Performance Framework • Applying the data and using findings from GUS to inform policy development and service planning at the local level • How to access the data

3. Aim of GUS study : “To describe the characteristics, circumstances and experiences of children in the early years in Scotland and to improve our understanding of how experiences and conditions in early childhood might affect people’s chances later in life”

4. Research Objectives • To provide data and information • Characteristics, circumstances and experiences of children in Scotland aged between 0 and 6 • Longer-term outcomes across a range of key domains • Levels of awareness and use of key services • Nature and extent of informal sources of help, advice and support for parents • To document differences • Characteristics, circumstances and experiences of children from different backgrounds • Longer-term outcomes for children from different backgrounds • To identify key predictors • E.g. of adverse longer-term outcomes • With particular reference to the role of early years

5. Study Design • National sample capable of analysis by urban/rural, deprivation index and other sub-groups of interest but not by LA • Sample drawn from Child Benefit records - universal • Two ‘cohorts’ - at Sweep 1 (launched April 2005): • Birth cohort: 5217 children aged 10.5 months • Child cohort: 2858 children aged 34.5 months • Face-to-face survey of parents annually until child reaches five (almost six) years of age then at selected stages of interest. Includes self-complete section

6. Study design (2): Ages and Stages

7. Study Content: Core topics • Household composition • Non-resident parents • Parental support • Parenting styles • Childcare • Child health and development • Activities with others • Work, employment and income • Accommodation and transport

8. Study content: Other topics • Parental health and well-being • Early experiences of pre-school • Early experiences of primary school • Pregnancy and birth • Material deprivation • Food and nutrition • Housing and neighbourhood • Social networks

9. Sources of information

10. Using GUS at the local level (intro slide) • GUS is representative at the national level. • Due to the size of the sample, findings cannot be reported at LA or Health Board level – study was not designed to do so. • BUT – the findings can be used to provide context for local policy development and service planning, to provide baseline or ‘control’ data or to estimate what is happening at the local level. • Some sub national info available – rural/urban and area deprivation level.

12. The effect of small sample sizes on data precision Example: Aberdeen City • Birth cohort sample size at sweep 3 = 145 • After taking account of the effect of clustering and non-response the ‘effective’ sample size = 69 • For an estimate of 50%, the confidence interval for an effective sample size of this magnitude is +/- 12% • That is, we would expect the true value to lie between 38% and 62% on 95% of occasions

13. GUS and the National Performance Framework • NPF, Concordat, Single Outcome Agreements • GUS can support the NPF by providing longitudinal data, particularly in relation to 2 of the 15 National Outcomes: ‘Our children have the best start in life and are ready to succeed’ ‘We have improved life chances for children, young people and families at risk’

14. GUS can provide context, comparison and understanding • Context for Integrated Children’s Services Planning, Childcare Strategies, Parenting Strategies, Health Improvement Strategies Community/Neighbourhood Planning • GUS can provide a national ‘baseline’ against which local performance can be assessed OR a ‘control’ group against which to test the effect of locally implemented interventions.

15. Producing Synthetic Local Data? • Unlike other government surveys, GUS data cannot be combined across years to generate LA representative data. • Possible to use statistical modelling to combine administrative data at LA level with GUS survey data to generate ‘artificial’ data reflecting the likely characteristics of the children and families in the LA area (expected prevalence) BUT cannot be used to compare situations over time.

16. Accessing GUS data • Data from Sweeps 1, 2 and 3 available from the UK Data Archive (in SPSS or STATA) http://www.data-archive.ac.uk/findingData/snDescription.asp?sn=5760 • Data documentation, including copy of the questionnaires from Archive or GUS website • Materials from recent Data Workshops available from GUS website (Using Data page)

17. What next for GUS? • 4 new reports to be published April 2010. • Sweep 5 currently in field – birth cohort only • New birth cohort recruited in 2011 • Less frequent interviewing in future. • Children may get more involved. • Build a community of people using GUS to inform their research. • Encourage local policy makers, service planners and practitioners to engage with the findings.

18. GUS is funded by The Scottish Government and is being carried out by the Scottish Centre for Social Research (ScotCen) in collaboration with the Centre for Research on Families and Relationships (CRFR) at the University of Edinburgh and the MRC Social & Public Health Sciences Unit at Glasgow University. For more information about GUS or to download findings please visit our web site: www.growingupinscotland.org.uk or contact Lesley Kelly on 0131 651 5004 lesley.kelly@ed.ac.uk