Pregnant wave
Data collection started on January 1, 2018, with surveying pregnant women in their 28-31st week of pregnancy.
The initial sample of the Cohort ’18 study and the first two waves of data collection relied on the district health visitor system and the health visitors who work within it. The Hungarian pregnancy care system – the health visitors’ district network – provides substantial, high-quality care to families that are expecting a child. This network has provided a solid basis on which to persuade expectant mothers to participate in the study, and has enabled their responses to be collected in a professional, yet trusting environment and manner. We are grateful to the 721 cooperating local health visitors and 64 senior health visitors working within the 52 nursing districts that form the study sample. By the end of this wave of our data collection, 8,287 expectants joined our study.
Six-month-old cohort-babies
During the second wave of our study (June 2018 – November 2019) – again with the help of local health visitors – we interviewed the mothers of the newly born cohort-babies when the babies reached six months of age. In addition to those who had already participated earlier, nearly 400 mothers who had previously been invited but had not completed the pregnancy questionnaire also joined the study at this stage. Altogether almost 8,400 children were included in this phase of our research.
Supplementary regional study
A supplementary regional study focusing on psychological questions was conducted between April 2019 and March 2020 in cooperation with the University of Pécs – Institute of Psychology, on a South Transdanubian subsample of approximately 250 families, when the children turned one year old. The aim of this study was to obtain a more detailed understanding of the development of the children’s emotional and cognitive abilities and the factors influencing these processes. During data collection, trained interviewers administered parental questionnaires and observed the children during playful tasks, recording the children’s behaviour and abilities.
Eighteen-month-old children and father survey
In April 2019, we contacted our respondents again with questionnaires scheduled for when their children turned eighteen months old. This wave of data collection was administered by professional interviewers, staff of Inspira Research Ltd. The completion of this wave was seriously affected by the Covid-19 pandemic: between March and June 2020 fieldwork had to be suspended, and afterwards it continued under difficult circumstances due to the second wave of the virus. Data collection was concluded in December 2020 with the participation of approximately 5,000 mother–child pairs.
An important aim of this phase was also to involve fathers and to learn about their perspectives. For this purpose, a short telephone questionnaire was developed covering fathers’ activities with their children, the sharing of childcare responsibilities, paternal role attitudes, and the challenges of balancing work and family life. Approximately 2,000 fathers participated in the survey.
Mother’s employment situation
The main objective of this research wave – when the children turned 2.5 years of age – was to ask the mothers about their employment plans and childcare opportunities after the state childcare allowances were no longer provided. Data collection concluded in November 2021, with altogether 5,700 mothers responding our questionnaire conducted via telephone.
Children turning 3 years of age
The three-year follow-up wave started in May 2021 and covered a wide range of topics. Mothers were asked, for example, about their own and their husband’s/partner’s employment, the division of work between them, as well as the child’s everyday life, development and health at the age of three. This wave ended in June 2022 with the participation of approximately 6,000 families.
Five-year-old children
Between May 2023 and August 2024, families were contacted again. When the children turned five years old, we collected data on the development of approximately 5,500 children. Mothers informed us about the major changes in their lives and about the development of their preschool-aged children either by telephone or by completing an online questionnaire.
The research continues in 2026
In spring 2026, when the participating children are 7–8 years old, families will be contacted by telephone to ask about the circumstances of school entry, their decisions regarding school choice, and their current experiences with school life. As before, mothers will be asked to respond.
Subsequently, when the children reach the age of nine, families will be visited in person. Our aim is to obtain a comprehensive picture of the children’s development and the well-being of family members. The data collected at this stage will allow us to interpret information gathered in earlier years – such as the characteristics of school entry – in the context of the children’s longer-term development. In addition to mothers, we will also seek responses from fathers and, in a short and playful format, from the children themselves.