Experiences of parenting in the early years by socio economic background

The Social Mobility and Child Poverty Commission (www.gov.uk/smcpc) is inviting proposals for research into parents’ experiences of parenting in the early years. The purpose of this work is to understand more about different groups of parents’ choices and preferences.

We specifically want to commission a survey of parents to better understand access to antenatal services, advice and support at key points in child development, local play/activities and parents’ networking. The survey should have a range of means of identifying the socio-economic characteristics of the parents (including income, level of education and professional background) as well as ethnic group and the provider should ensure a representative sample to be able to draw conclusions according to these variables.

Although we are open to a range of methods, our budget is limited so we expect to commission an online survey of the individual who was the main care-giver over the first year of the child’s life (so likely to be in most, but not all cases the mother) which could be as part of an omnibus or a bespoke survey. We have developed a draft survey to give an idea of the maximum number of questions and format that we would seek to include.

The Commission seeks proposals from experienced providers offering an efficient and robust survey process. Bids will be judged primarily on the proposed approach, expertise of team and value for money.