Interviews with mothers and fathers across Wales will start this week, as part of a landmark UK-wide study following 30,000 babies born in 2026. Generation New Era will be the first study of its kind in 25 years, and the largest ever.
It will follow babies across the UK as they grow up in our rapidly changing world and is being led by the UCL Centre for Longitudinal Studies. Study lead for Wales is Professor Lucy Griffiths, of Swansea University Medical School.
In Wales, the mothers and fathers of 4,500 babies, around a third of all babies born in the country this year, will be invited to take part. Parents will receive a letter when their babies are around nine to 10 months old, and interviews will be taking place across the UK over the coming year.
The study aims to build an up-to-date picture of children’s development, and what it means to raise a child – the ups and downs, and the factors that help children to thrive, to inform how public policy can meet the needs of families today.
Funded by UKRI Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), Generation New Era will ask questions on a variety of topics that have been developed with the input of parents and the public, expert researchers, and policymakers. The research themes include babies’ development and health, parental health, family and home, social and environmental influences, inequality, disadvantage and diversity, plus much more.
Professor Griffiths said: “Longitudinal studies have played a vital role in helping us understand how children develop and how the environments in which they grow up shape their lives. It’s fantastic that so many families from Wales will be invited to take part in Generation New Era. Their experiences and insights will provide a rich source of information for research, contributing to new evidence that informs policies and services for children, families and communities across the UK.”
To make sure the study is big enough to create policy evidence for each of the four UK countries, the study contains substantial boosts in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. A quarter of babies born in Scotland, a third in Wales and around half of all babies born in Northern Ireland will be invited to take part.
To ensure the smooth running of the initiative, a pilot study was held earlier this year using same questions. One Welsh parent who took part at that stage said her family felt like a small part of something big.
She said: “It’s exciting that we could help form new understanding of this generation and the lives they will lead. It’s cool to think that at the next follow up survey, we’ll be able to remember back to when she was this little and be amazed at how much she has changed.
“As a new parent, I’m constantly trying to work out what would be best for my daughter – this food, this play, this childcare? Having the scientific evidence to help the next generation of parents and professionals will be so beneficial, and I love that we are contributing to this.”
