Guide to using the ONS LS: Births and Fertility Thematic Guide

The Office for National Statistics Longitudinal Study (ONS-LS) includes birth information taken from the annual ONS birth file, which contains information on all births (live and stillbirths) registered in England and Wales. Combining ONS-LS census data with birth information gives an estimate of the population and the number of births in the period. This guidance aims to outline the fertility data that are available in the ONS-LS and show how to calculate measures of population fertility using the ONS-LS.