Children of the 2020s Study

Age 9 months survey

Taking part in the Age 9 months survey
The first time you took part was when your child was around 9 months old and you will be contacted again soon now that your child is around 2 years old. This will allow us to gather information on your child’s early development and their home learning environment, as well as some information about you and your family.

At the Age 9 months survey, you were asked to take part in an interview with one of our trained interviewers or to complete an online survey. The parent who was asked to take part in an interview was the person who spent the most time caring for your child overall, at that time.

We also asked all parents about adding information from government administrative records to your survey responses. This information is only to be used for the purposes of understanding child and family development better, as part of our research study. More information about adding this information can be found here.

If you had more than one child who was around 9 months old (such as twins or triplets), you would have still been invited to take part and hear about all your children of this age.

The Age 9 months survey included questions about:

FAQS

What if I am out or busy when the interviewer comes to visit?

If you are unable to do the interview when the interviewer visits, they will be happy to arrange a more convenient time.

How do I know the interviewer is genuine?

All interviewers carry ID photocards with a Freephone number 0808 238 5456 to call if you want to check who they are. If you have any concerns, please contact us via this number (please note that calls from a landline are free but calls from mobiles may vary so please check with your provider).

What happens in the interviews?

The interview will be relaxed and informal and the interviewer will arrange to do the interview at a time and place that suits you. They will have a tablet computer and follow a set questionnaire. There are no right or wrong answers - we just want to know your views and information about you and your child. You do not have to answer any question if you do not want to. The most important thing is that you answer as accurately and honestly as possible. You can also stop the interview at any time. If you stop and want to complete the interview at a later date, that is also possible.

Do I get a voucher for taking part in the surveys?

If you took part in the Age 9 months survey, either in person or by MS Teams/telephone with an interviewer, we offered you a voucher as a thank you for your time. You will have been asked whether you would like an eGift voucher via email, or a paper voucher in the post. In case you have not received your voucher or are having troubles with this, please don’t hesitate to contact us.

If you took part in the online survey rather than the interview, we greatly appreciate your participation but unfortunately cannot offer vouchers for this.

Key resources

Here are some key study resources for the Age 9 months survey which you can download.