New blog: Raj Patel identifies five ways to tackle the stagnant productivity and low growth which – along with persistent inequality – have plagued the UK economy for nearly 20 years

Registration now open – @usociety.bsky.social Biosocial Conference 2026: combining biological and social data. A one-day event bringing together researchers working with biological and social data. London, Broadway House, 15 October 2026. www.understandingsociety.ac.uk/news/2026/05...

New case study: @resolutionfoundation.org used our data as one of its sources to assess whether the government’s tax plans benefitted poorer households

Barriers to opportunity for children and young people/ Long read: what research using @usociety.bsky.social tells us about children and young people’s futures. www.understandingsociety.ac.uk/blog/2026/04...

Registration now open – @usociety.bsky.social Biosocial Conference 2026: combining biological and social data www.understandingsociety.ac.uk/news/2026/05... The conference will take place in London at Broadway House on 15 October 2026.

New Working Paper from @profpeterlynn.bsky.social: Web-first or CAPI-first? How best to combine modes to recruit a probability-based general population survey sample. Web-first design resulted in higher response rates and a more representative sample. www.understandingsociety.ac.uk/research/pub...

New Working Paper on cognitive testing questions asked to families. Carried out by @ipsosintheuk.bsky.social, this report explores how to balance consistency of questions over time and reflect the increasing complexity of family relationships. www.understandingsociety.ac.uk/research/pub...

New blog: what did we learn at the launch event for our Insights report on barriers to children’s and young people’s opportunities in life? Presentations, new findings and discussions in our new long read...

Call for new fellows open! We're looking for projects on three themes: public engagement environment, climate change, energy use the unique features of UKHLS Read the full call and download the application form on our website: www.understandingsociety.ac.uk/research/fel... Apply by 27 May.

Check out this @usociety.bsky.social blog by @jmikolai.bsky.social & Hill Kulu: "Gendered patterns of partnership, family formation, and work are likely to have serious long-term implications for [...] female children of immigrants." www.understandingsociety.ac.uk/blog/2026/04...

Call for new fellows open! We're looking for projects on three themes: public engagement environment, climate change, energy use the unique features of UKHLS Read the full call and download the application form on our website: www.understandingsociety.ac.uk/research/fel... Apply by 27 May.

Using data from the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, HMRC, and Understanding Society, this new report looks at young women and multiple job holding. "Multiple jobholding is not a choice for many young women, but a necessity driven by precarious employment." www.wbg.org.uk/publication/...

New blog: @jmikolai.bsky.social @phrg-standrews.bsky.social and Hill Kulu @standrewssgsd.bsky.social – children of immigrants from culturally similar countries have similar partnership, fertility, and employment paths to natives – and family-friendly policies could erode conservative gender roles

New blog: @jmikolai.bsky.social @phrg-standrews.bsky.social and Hill Kulu @standrewssgsd.bsky.social – children of immigrants from culturally similar countries have similar partnership, fertility, and employment paths to natives – and family-friendly policies could erode conservative gender roles

I learnt a heck of a lot working on this piece, now out in American Psychologist. Big thanks to all collaborators particularly the mentorship of @omidvebrahimi.bsky.social and @ludvigdb.bsky.social. And of course the amazing resource that is the UKHLS @usociety.bsky.social

A new edition of the marital and cohabitation histories file has been released - it now includes data from Wave 15 of Understanding Society. Find the file @ukdataservice.bsky.social datacatalogue.ukdataservice.ac.uk/studies/stud...

If you're an early career researcher using population studies data to look at digital tech and social media use among children and teens the next @closer-uk.bsky.social Emerging Longitudinal Scholars Symposium is for you! closer.ac.uk/news-opinion...

Understanding Society is now a partner in PEDRI - the public engagement in data research initiative. PEDRI brings together organisations that work in data to improve how we all engage with data and statistics. Check out their website for more about PEDRI's work: www.pedri.org.uk

New @healthequals.bsky.social and @lukemunford.bsky.social analysis of @usociety.bsky.social data shows proportion of young people not earning or learning with a likely mental health condition doubles: healthequals.org.uk/data_insight...

New blog: research finds changing climate has “substantial economic impacts” on us – by Georgios Marios Chrysanthou at the University of Dundee, and Panagiotis Tzouvanas at the University of Portsmouth

New blog: research finds changing climate has “substantial economic impacts” on us – by Georgios Marios Chrysanthou at the University of Dundee, and Panagiotis Tzouvanas at the University of Portsmouth

New @healthequals.bsky.social analysis of UK data spanning 15 years shows a generational shift as the proportion of young people not in employment, education or training (NEET) with a likely mental health condition doubles.

For unpaid #carers, earning more does not always lead to economic security. Motivated by the recent #Carer's #Allowance scandal, I have a new working paper @usociety.bsky.social on how much insecurity carers experience, for how long, who's most exposed and why: osf.io/preprints/so... 1/2

Our latest blog: Chris Coates looks at Daisy Fancourt’s use of our data in her new book, Art Cure – The Science of How the Arts Transform our Health, and finds evidence for lower levels of inflammatory markers in the blood, and for slower biological ageing

New working paper: @gianfrancoaddario.bsky.social @natcen.bsky.social on ethnic and immigrant participants dropping out of the Study – findings suggest different combinations of factors can be linked to an increase or decrease in the likelihood of attrition, depending on the ethnic group

Almost Friday lunchtime. Looking for something to read? How about a blog? The traditional U-shape in wellbeing…?

Every year, we produce a major report on the significant issues of the day, and what research using our data can tell us. This year, following the government’s announcement of its opportunity mission, we examine the evidence on children’s development and young people’s life chances

New from @healthfoundation.bsky.social analysis of unpaid care in the UK. Using data from UKHLS to see who cares, for how long, and the impact it has. "Caring is often rewarding but without the right support, it can come at a personal and financial cost." www.health.org.uk/reports-and-...

Every year, we produce a major report on the significant issues of the day, and what research using our data can tell us. This year, following the government’s announcement of its opportunity mission, we examine the evidence on children’s development and young people’s life chances

Our latest blog: Yusuff Adebisi @glasgow.ac.uk and Najim Alshahrani at the University of Jeddah examine links between disability and smoking, and say governments should address factors which drive higher smoking rates in disabled populations, such as poverty

Want to know more about key topics in Understanding Society? Our lunch time webinars give an overview of questions asked and demonstrate how to quickly find specific questions and variables: 5 March (linked data) 12 March (income, wealth and housing) www.understandingsociety.ac.uk/help/trainin...

Our latest blog: Nick Litsardopoulos @employmentstudies.bsky.social explores how financial support and digital technology worked together to affect entrepreneurship

If you want to present your work at our Biosocial Conference (15 Oct, London) you've got until 20 March to submit your abstract. www.understandingsociety.ac.uk/news/2025/12...

🗞️ CPC-CG's Athina Vlachantoni & Maria Evandrou examine why white British #families are more likely to depend on #grandparents for #childcare, drawing on findings from @usociety.bsky.social data. Full article in section 5 of the latest Changing Populations: sway.cloud.microsoft/WzAYgcw05ELX...

If you want to present your work at our Biosocial Conference (15 Oct, London) you've got until 20 March to submit your abstract. www.understandingsociety.ac.uk/news/2025/12...

📑 CPC-CG members @valediiasio.bsky.social, @corradogiulietti.bsky.social & @jackiewahba.bsky.social discuss their analysis of @usociety.bsky.social data examining the uneven social consequences of #Brexit in the UK and how it affected the mental health of ethnic minority youth ⤵️ @bspsuk.bsky.social

New #OpenAccess Bringing economic & family sociology into the digital era, @yanghu.co.uk & @yueqiansoc.bsky.social analyze longitudinal data from @usociety.bsky.social to reveal how the use of online banking shape couples' money management and financial decisions doi.org/10.1093/esr/jcag002

@childrenssociety.bsky.social uses data from Understanding Society to track children's wellbeing over time. Their latest report brings together the evidence from their Good Childhood research programme.

💷 Digital tools may not just make life easier (sometimes) – they are also quietly reconfiguring power, inequality, and intimacy in everyday family life. (Powered by @usociety.bsky.social data) 📰 Read the @ucl.ac.uk | @ioe.bsky.social press release here: www.ucl.ac.uk/news/2026/fe...

Our latest blog: Nick Litsardopoulos @employmentstudies.bsky.social explores how financial support and digital technology worked together to affect entrepreneurship

New Working Paper! Does asking participants to do extra tasks affect whether they take part in later annual interviews and subsequent additional data collection? Read the paper to find out! www.understandingsociety.ac.uk/research/pub...

Could you help us develop the future of Understanding Society? We're looking for new members to join our Strategic Oversight Board, the group that reviews and advises on the direction and operational delivery of the Study. www.understandingsociety.ac.uk/news/2026/01...

As it’s Friday lunchtime, why not check out our new blogs from this month? The U-shape of wellbeing – “among the most striking, persistent patterns in social science” – has disappeared in recent years...

Short introductions to @usociety.bsky.social topics - www.understandingsociety.ac.uk/help/trainin... Linked data – 5 March Income, wealth and housing – 12 March Health and Biomarker data - 15 April Employment – 14 May Family, households and children – 21 May Linked data – 1 October

New paper on #UK #children's diverse #family pathways using #sequenceanalysis on @usociety.bsky.social data shows: * More than 25% of children do not grow up with biological parents * Children of more educated, Asian, and migrant mothers tend to grow up with married parents tinyurl.com/47x4r57z

Could you help us develop the future of Understanding Society? We're looking for new members to join our Strategic Oversight Board, the group that reviews and advises on the direction and operational delivery of the Study. www.understandingsociety.ac.uk/news/2026/01...

JRF uses our data in this report to examine, persistent poverty (including among religious minorities), and some of the psychological effects of poverty, among other subjects

BLOG from @usociety.bsky.social The disappearance of the hump shape in ill-being by age - Lifetime happiness trend changes as youth mental health suffers www.understandingsociety.ac.uk/blog/2026/01... By @xiaoweixu.bsky.social @alexbryson.bsky.social @dannyblanchy.bsky.social

Check out this new publication using data from the GIP and our Mannheim Corona Study!

Our latest blog: our associate director Alita Nandi on her new book with researchers from France, Italy, and Germany which looks at how the pandemic changed lives, and the different impacts seen in four European countries