The Office for National Statistics Longitudinal Study (ONS LS) follows the lives of over 950,000 people in England and Wales by linking their census records from 1971 onward with data on births, deaths, and cancer registrations. This project funds a research support unit at UCL—CeLSIUS—to help scientists analyse this massive, anonymised dataset. The problem is that the ONS LS is extraordinarily rich but technically difficult to use. Without dedicated support, many researchers cannot access it, leaving critical questions unanswered. The study captures a continuous 1% sample of the population, updated every decade, making it one of the few tools that can track long-term health and social trends across generations. If CeLSIUS succeeds, it will enable studies that directly inform public policy and health services. Past work has linked employment status to mortality, economic conditions to cancer rates, and housing changes to family structure. Future analyses will incorporate 2011 census data, allowing researchers to examine how recent recessions, migration patterns, or healthcare reforms have affected life expectancy, disease incidence, and social mobility. The unit does not conduct the research itself but acts as a gateway—without it, much of this vital, policy-relevant analysis would simply not happen.
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What is UCL-CeLSIUS? UCL-CeLSIUS will be a research support unit providing support for analysis of the Office of National Statistics Longitudinal Study (ONS LS) which is a complete set of census records for individuals, linked between successive censuses, together with data for various events. It relates to a sample of the population of England and Wales. The sample comprises people born on one of four selected dates of birth and therefore makes up about 1% of the total population. The sample was initiated at the time of the 1971 Census, and the four dates were used to update the sample at the 1981,1991 and 2001 Censuses and in vital event registrations and registration of cancer. New sample members found in the 2011 Census will be added to the sample. Thus, the ONS LS represents a continuous sample of the population of England and Wales, rather than a sample taken at one time point only. It currently includes records for over 950,000 study members. Census information is also included for all people living in the same household as the ONS LS member. However, it is important to emphasise that the ONS LS does not follow up household members in the same way from census to census. Full ONS LS members enter the study through birth on one of the four dates and immigration and existing members leave through death and emigration. The four dates are known only to a small number of researchers based in ONS and the data is analysed in anonymised form and all results are published so that no one could be identified from them. What types of analysis will UCL-CeLSIUS be used to support? In the past valuable analysis of, births, cancer, deaths, and other census data has been completed with support from the research support unit. This has included various projects. Linked analysis of census and births, deaths and cancer registration data. For example: studies of associations between employment status and mortality, between economic status and cancer registrations, or between socio-economic factors and fertility; survival analysis of mortality by area deprivation. Analysis of successive census data. For example: analysis of patterns of retirement migration, studies of the effects of divorce and remarriage on housing tenure, comparison of changes in education, employment and migration between the 1970s and 1980s. Analysis of successive event data. For example, studies of changes in birth spacing, associations between fertility and cancer survival. Cross-sectional analysis of a single census year, especially for studies of ethnic or geographical factors. International comparisons. Countries such as Scotland, Northern Ireland, France, Denmark, Finland and the USA have similar programmes to the LS. This project will provide users with support in using the data and enable vital work to be carried out betwebe 2012 and 2017 including the analysis of 2011 data when it becomes available in 2013.
Adam Dennett (Co-Investigator)Emily M D Grundy (Co-Investigator)Michael Batty (Co-Investigator)Nicola Shelton (Principal Investigator)Oliver Duke-Williams (Co-Investigator)
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