Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.The General Lifestyle Survey (GLF), formerly the General Household Survey (GHS), ran from 1972-2011. It was a continuous annual national survey of people living in private households, conducted by the Office for National Statistics (ONS). The main aim of the survey was to collect data on a range of core topics, covering household, family and individual information. This information was used by government departments and other organisations for planning, policy and monitoring purposes, and to present a picture of households, family and people in Great Britain. From 2008, the GHS became a module of the Integrated Household Survey (IHS). In recognition, the survey was renamed the General Lifestyle Survey. The GLF closed in January 2012. The 2011 GLF Special Licence study (SN 7475) is therefore the last in the series. A limited number of questions previously run on the GLF have been included on the Opinions and Lifestyle Survey (OPN), and will be deposited at the UK Data Archive as OPN outputs. Secure Access GHS/GLF The UK Data Archive holds GLF/GHS data from 1972-2011, but standard access End User Licence (EUL) data are only available from 1972-2006. A Secure Access version is available, covering years 2000-2011 and can be found under SN 6716 General Lifestyle Survey, 2000-2011: Secure Access. History The GHS started in 1971 and was conducted annually until 2011, except for breaks in 1997-1998 when the survey was reviewed, and 1999-2000 when the survey was redeveloped. Further information may be found in the 'An overview of 40 years of data' document, available with the GLF 2011 (SN 7475), or on the ONS An overview of 40 years of data: General Lifestyle Survey webpage. Details of changes each year may be found in the individual GHS/GLF survey documentation. EU-SILC In 2005, the European Union (EU) made a legal obligation (EU-SILC) for member states to collect additional statistics on income and living conditions. In addition to this the EU-SILC data cover poverty and social exclusion. These statistics are used to help plan and monitor European social policy by comparing poverty indicators and changes over time across the EU. The EU-SILC requirement was integrated into the GHS/GLF in 2005. After the closure of the GLF, EU-SILC will be collected via the Family Resources Survey (FRS) with a standalone survey providing the longitudinal SILC element. Further information may be found on the ONS General Lifestyle Survey webpages. Reformatted GHS data 1973-1982 - Surrey SPSS Files SPSS files have been created by the University of Surrey for all GHS years from 1973 to 1982 inclusive. The early files were restructured and the case changed from the household to the individual with all of the household information duplicated for each individual. The Surrey SPSS files contain all the original variables as well as some extra derived variables (a few variables were omitted from the data files for 1973-76). In 1973 only, the section on leisure was not included in the Surrey SPSS files. This has subsequently been made available, however, and is now held in a separate study, General Household Survey, 1973: Leisure Questions (SN 3982). Records for the original GHS 1973-1982 ASCII files have been removed from the UK Data Archive catalogue, but the data are still preserved and available upon request. Users should note that GLF/GHS data are also available in formats other than SPSS.

Main Topics:The main GHS consists of a household questionnaire, completed by the Household Reference Person, and an individual questionnaire, completed by all adults aged 16 and over resident in the household. A number of different trailers each year covering extra topics were included in later (post-review) surveys in the series from 2000. The household questionnaire covers the following topics: household information, accommodation type, housing tenure/costs, and consumer durables including vehicle ownership. The individual questionnaire includes data from the household dataset, and additional sections on migration/citizenship/national identity/ethnicity, employment, pensions, education, health, child care, smoking, drinking, family information, financial situation, and income.

Face-to-face interview