Collecting Event-Triggered Data on Relationship and Family Transitions in Understanding Society

Abstract

This Working Paper describes the proposed content of a monthly, event‑triggered Life Events survey that will run alongside Understanding Society, the UK Household Longitudinal Study. The proposed survey covers a range of events, and this Working Paper focuses on partnership and family dynamics. The aim is to collect time‑sensitive factual information, subjective assessments and future expectations within one month of each event which can be linked to rich pre‑ and post‑event data from the main study. The proposed Life Events survey will enable longitudinal research on relationship trajectories, pregnancy and early parenthood experiences, separation and co‑parenting across households, and their consequences for wellbeing, finances and housing. The paper presents the proposed content for relationship, marital, pregnancy, newborns and early parenthood, and co‑parenting modules for consultation.