Authors
Abstract
Understanding Society provides a unique insight into families living together or apart. For parents who separate whilst part of the study, it follows them pre-partnership, into parenthood and post-separation. However, parents living apart (PLA) also include non-co-resident parent couples and parents who were never in a relationship, as well as step-families. As a household survey, it is imperative that we identify and collect information about parents living apart in all forms to enable research into pathways, trajectories and outcomes for sample members and their dependent children. The Understanding Society questionnaire currently asks modules across a range of domains. In this Working Paper we have reviewed questionnaire content in eleven modules in Understanding Society where we collect information specifically relevant to parents living apart (PLA). We explain the changes made to questionnaire content in waves 14 and 15 of the main survey to improve the identification of and data we provide about families across households. The changes will significantly enhance the data we produce for scientific and policy research and impact and this Working Paper should help users understand the rationale and nature of these changes.