​​Generation New Era

Join 30,000 other families with babies in their first year of life in this landmark new study of children growing up in a changing world.

About Generation New Era

Generation New Era is a study of 30,000 babies born in the UK in 2026 and their families. It will gather information from the mothers and fathers of these babies to provide a detailed picture of their lives and development in their crucial first year, and every few years after that. The first interviews will take place when the baby is aged 9-10 months old.

The data from Generation New Era will provide vital evidence on families across the UK at a critical time, highlighting how inequalities in children’s development and stresses on families arise, and identifying areas where policy can be improved. The study aims to paint a nationally representative picture of the circumstances and lives of a new cohort of babies. The findings will reflect the impact on their lives of events and changes in this ‘new era’ including climate change, Brexit, the rise of AI, social media, financial uncertainty and cost-of-living crisis, and a changing world of work and education. Researchers will compare the findings for this cohort of babies and parents with those gathered from cohort studies of babies born in previous decades.

An important pilot study will be conducted during August and September 2026 with a small, specially selected group. This will include babies born in October 2025.

You can find all the information you need about the study on the dedicated website for participants.

Visit the Generation New Era website

Who is responsible for this study?

Generation New Era is funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) and is led by the UCL Centre for Longitudinal Studies (CLS), with support from a consortium of partners, including University of Edinburgh, Swansea University, Ulster University, and the Fatherhood Institute. CLS lead, and ESRC fund, the 1970, 1958 and 2000 birth cohort studies.

Who is the National Centre for Social Research (NatCen)?

NatCen will be carrying out the interviews with parents for Generation New Era alongside Ipsos and Verian. We’re Britain’s largest independent social research agency. For the last 50 years we’ve worked on behalf of government and charities to find out what people really think about important social issues and how Britain is run.  

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