Understanding Society User Support

Hi,

I have been comparing the UKHLS data to data from the FRS and LFS. For reasons not clear to me, the UKHLS data seem to be very significantly different when looking at lone mothers.

I attach two .do files which calculate the share of lone mothers that are homeowners, and the age that lone mothers finished education, in both the FRS and UKHLS (for 2009-10 data in FRS, and wave A in UKHLS). It should run if you simply change the "path" global at the top to specify where FRS/UKHLS data are saved.

The results are very different. In the FRS, 16% of lone mothers finished full time education aged 19 or older, and 35% own their own home. In UKHLS those figures are 32% and 47% respectively.

• These differences hold in other years/waves too
• The differences persist if you do not weight the data
• The LFS gives figures very similar to FRS, not UKHLS
• If you look at the whole population (rather than just lone mothers), the two surveys are pretty similar for homeownership, but there is still a much higher rate of leaving education at 19 or later in UKHLS
• Similar differences seem to hold for lone mothers for other outcomes, including employment (higher in UKHLS) and the take-up of out-of-work benefits (lower in UKHLS)

Very grateful for any guidance in what might be going on here.