Children & Young People
Childhood plays a pivotal role in who we become as adults: from our educational attainment and progression into work, to how we form relationships with others.
Children and young people are two of the most vulnerable groups in society, and forming a more complete understanding of their lives and of how early experiences affect later life is vital. Investing in research and policy around children and young people will allow us to not only safeguard and support the next generation, but enrich their lives and allow each child and young person the opportunity to excel.
Children and Young People is one of ADR UK’s flagship research themes. It is aimed at enabling a more comprehensive assessment of the experience of childhood in the UK to in turn develop a better understanding of what does and doesn’t work in public sector services for children and young people. This includes assessing trends in vulnerability, wellbeing and welfare in early life and their impact upon later life experiences.
There are several ambitious new data linkage projects – as well as research projects using existing linked data – being undertaken across the partnership within this theme. These include, for example, linking together 2011 Census data with attainment data from the Department for Education (DfE) to create an anonymised longitudinal dataset on children in England: the ‘Growing Up in England’ dataset.
ADR Scotland is leading on the ‘Understanding Children’s Outcomes’ project, which is linking pupil census data for Scotland with Scottish Government data on looked-after children, children’s health, births and deaths, and the 2001/2011 national census.
ADR Northern Ireland (ADR NI) and ADR Wales are conducting important work examining the lives of looked-after children. In Northern Ireland, 30 years’ worth of individual-level social services data from Social Services Care Administrative and Records Environment are being linked to prescribed medication data, hospital data, the registry of self-harm and death records and the Northern Ireland Longitudinal Study (NILS), creating the UK’s first historical, population-wide cohort of those known to social services as children.
You can find out more about these projects and others underway within this theme by exploring the links below and visiting the ‘Projects’ page.
ADR England Children & Young People Representative Panel
To ensure the needs and interests of children and young people are properly considered in research using their data, the ADR England Children & Young People Representative Panel enables researchers to engage with those who work directly with or for children and young people in England. There are currently 15 members of the Panel from a variety of third sector organisations, voluntary and community groups and professional practices – all working directly with or on behalf of children and young people.
Panel members have the first-hand knowledge and expertise to be able to represent the interests of children and young people in discussions around their data and its research uses. Their input and advice helps ensure research is as impactful as possible by enabling researchers to frame their work around the most pressing issues faced by children and young people, as well as by helping to facilitate direct engagement with children and young people. See the full Terms of Reference for the Panel.
To find out more about other community and public engagement activities underway across the ADR UK partnership, see the Working with the Public page.
Children & Young People Projects
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ADR UK Research Fellows: Ministry of Justice and the Department for Education linked datasets fellowships
16 December 2021
ADR UK is funding five 12-month Research Fellowships to conduct analysis using the Ministry of Justice (MoJ)-Department for Education (DfE) linked dataset to understand links between childhood characteristics, educational outcomes, and offending.
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Education Policy and Youth Crime in England
19 May 2021
The Education Policy and Youth Crime in England project is an initiative led by researchers at LSE, and funded by ADR UK, to use linked administrative data to improve understanding of the relationship between education policy and youth crime.
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Understanding the Impact of Educational Interventions Beyond Test Scores
16 March 2021
This project, being conducted by the Behavioural Insights Team and funded by ADR UK, will use linked data to establish whether programmes intended to boost children’s educational attainment also have a positive impact on other related outcomes.
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Children & Young People News
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New Data First linked dataset ready to provide even more insight into the family court system
12 May 2022
As of last week, accredited researchers can apply to use the Data First family court - Cafcass linked dataset.
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Exploring educational attainment patterns and criminal offending
10 May 2022
In this blog, ADR UK Research Fellow Alice Wickersham describes her work on the Ministry of Justice and Department for Education linked dataset, exploring the relationships between changes in educational attainment and criminal offending.
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Exploring ethnicity, care experience and justice systems involvement
12 April 2022
In this blog, ADR UK Research Fellow Dr Katie Hunter describes how she is using de-identified data, made available via the Data First programme, to investigate how ethnic identity and care experience intersect with criminal justice system involvement.
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Find out more
If you are a researcher interested in working with admistrative data within this theme, or a policymaker interested in how ADR UK work can improve your insights and support your decision making in this area, please get in touch.