UKHLS is a UK-wide household panel running annually since 2009 with ~40,000 households at baseline. Successor to the British Household Panel Survey (BHPS, 1991-2008, embedded as ukhls cohort). Workhorse dataset for UK labour, family, health and inequality research.
Wave 13 (2021-2023) · updated: 2024-04 · official pageUnderstanding Society — UK Household Longitudinal Study registers 16 variables — 5 commonly used as dependent variables, 3 as core regressors and 10 as controls. Common research directions for this dataset include: Returns to qualification on net personal income, Household income and mental health (SF-12 MCS).
Returns to qualification on net personal income: DV fimnnet_dv, IV qfhigh_dv, controls dvage, sex, racel_dv.
Household income and mental health (SF-12 MCS): DV sf12mcs_dv, IV fihhmnnet1_dv, controls dvage, sex, qfhigh_dv.
| name | label | type/role | data file | description · keywords |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| pidp | Person Identifier Cross-wave Person Identifier | identifier / identifier | indresp | Stable cross-wave individual identifier — primary panel key pidpidperson |
| hidp | Household Identifier (wave-specific) Household Identifier (wave-specific) | identifier / identifier | indresp | Within-wave household ID (changes when households split) hidphousehold |
| wave | Wave Number Wave Number | identifier / control | indresp | UKHLS wave number (1 = 2009-2011) wavetime |
| indpxub_xw | Cross-sectional Weight Cross-sectional Adult Calibrated Weight | continuous / control | indresp | Adult full-interview cross-sectional weight (calibrated, includes BHPS sample) weightcross-sectional |
| dvage | Age (Derived) Age at Interview (years) | continuous / control | indresp | Derived age in years at interview age |
| sex | Sex Sex | binary / control | indresp | Sex of respondent sexgender |
| racel_dv | Ethnicity (Derived) Ethnic Group (16-cat, Derived) | categorical / control | xwavedat | Derived ethnic group, 16 categories (UK census-style) ethnicityrace |
| qfhigh_dv | Highest Qualification (Derived) Highest Qualification (Derived) | ordinal / iv,control | indresp | Highest qualification (UK NVQ-equivalent) educationqualification |
| marstat_dv | Marital Status (Derived) Legal Marital Status (Derived) | categorical / control | indresp | Legal marital status maritalmarriage |
| jbstat | Current Labour Status Current Economic Activity | categorical / control | indresp | Current main economic activity employmentlaboureconomic activity |
| fimnnet_dv | Net Personal Income Total Net Personal Income, Last Month (£) | continuous / dv,iv | indresp | Total net personal income last month, £ incomenetpersonal |
| fihhmnnet1_dv | Net Household Income Net Household Income, Last Month (£) | continuous / dv,iv | hhresp | Total net household income last month, £ incomehousehold |
| sf12mcs_dv | SF-12 Mental Component SF-12 Mental Component Summary | continuous / dv,control | indresp | SF-12 mental component summary score (higher = better) mental healthsf-12wellbeing |
| scghql | Life Satisfaction Life Satisfaction (1-7) | ordinal / dv | indresp | Overall life satisfaction (1=completely dissatisfied, 7=completely satisfied) satisfactionwellbeing |
| sclfsato | Satisfaction with Health Satisfaction with Health (1-7) | ordinal / dv | indresp | Satisfaction with own health (1-7) healthsatisfaction |
| gor_dv | Government Office Region Government Office Region (UK) | categorical / control | indresp | Government Office Region of residence regiongeography |
The codebook is an open lookup. The Wizard consumes the same codebook to drive code generation — upload your data and the system auto-recognises variables, applies cleaning rules, recommends research designs, runs regressions and produces a Word report.