Sight impaired at age seven: secondary analysis of the Millennium Cohort Survey. Emotional wellbeing and social and economic inclusion

1. Introduction

The Millennium Cohort Study (MCS) is a longitudinal survey of 19,000 children born in 2000. It covers a variety of topics including the children's health, wellbeing, behaviour, education and social experiences.In 2012 the Royal London Society for the Blind (RLSB), with RNIB as partner organisation, commissioned the National Centre for Social Research (NatCen) to carry out statistical analysis of the MCS with the aim of identifying children at the age of seven with a sight impairment and comparing their experiences with those of the other children in the survey who did not have a sight impairment.The findings presented here focus on children's emotional wellbeing, friendships and social inclusion and their families' economic circumstances. They draw on information collected from nearly 14,000 children aged seven (357 with sight impairment and 13,500 without), their parents and their teachers.

2. Method

Children in the survey were defined as having a sight impairment that affected their day-to-day functioning if:

  • their parent reported a sight related impairment and the impairment limited the amount or kind of activities that the child could do,
  • and/orthe parent reported that the child was registered with the local authority or had been offered registration because of low vision,
  • and/or the parent reported that the child received additional support in the classroom because of ‘a problem with sight’,
  • and/or the parent reported that the child had a Statement of SEN because of ‘a problem with sight’,
  • and/or their class teacher reported that the child received additional support or had a SEN because of ‘a problem with sight’.

A total of 357 children with sight impairment were identified, over half of whom had another disability or special educational need.

The question topics selected for analysiswere primarily those relating to the children's wellbeing. These included their emotional wellbeing, friends and social relationships, experiences of school, and whether their family was experiencing financial hardship.

Because other research has identified differences in outcomes for children whose sight impairment is their only disability/special educational need compared to children with a sight impairment and anadditional disability/special educational need, the analysis looked at 3 groups of children with sight impairment:

  • Sight impairment only
  • Sight impairment plus additional impairment
  • All children with sight impairment (i.e. both groups combined)

Tests for statistical significance compared children with sight impairment (with and without additional impairment) with children with no sight impairment.

3. Key findings from the research

3.1 Finding 1: Effect of having an additional impairment

For some measures of wellbeing lower levels were found for all children with sight impairment (with or without an additional impairment) when compared to children with no sight impairment. However, differences between children with a sight impairment and an additional impairment and children with no sight impairment were found on a greater number of variables than between children with a sight impairment only and children with no sight impairment. Having an additional disability in addition to a sight impairment appears to put a child at greater risk of reduced wellbeing.

3.2Finding 2: Feeling happy/sad

Child's perspective: around 7 in 10 of allchildren (with and without a sight impairment) reported feeling sad 'some of the time' and the vast majority said they felt happy 'all' or 'some' of the time. However, 5%(one in 20) of children with a sight impairment and another impairment said they never felt happy compared with 1%(one in 100) of children with a sight impairment only and 2%(one in 50) of children with no sight impairment.

Parent's perspective: parents of children with sight impairment (with and without an additional impairment) were more likely than other parents to report that their child was often unhappy, downhearted or low. Approximately 2 in 10 parents of children with sight impairment said it was 'somewhat' or 'certainly' true that their child was often unhappy, downhearted or low compared with around one in 10 parents of children with no sight impairment.

3.3 Finding 3: Feeling worried

Child's perspective:around 3 in 10 of all children (with and without a sight impairment) said theynever felt worried. However, children with a sight impairment and another impairment were twice as likely as those with a sight impairment only or with no sight impairment to feel worried all of the time. One in ten (11%) children with a sight impairment and another impairment said they felt worried all of the time compared with 6% with a sight impairment only and 5% with no sight impairment.

Parent's perspective:parents of children with a sight impairment and another impairment were also more likely than other parents to feel that their child was worried. Over a third (34%) of parents of children with a sight impairment and another impairment said it was 'somewhat' or 'certainly' true that their child 'has many worries or often seems worried' compared to just over one in five (22%) of parents of parents of children with a sight impairment only or no sight impairment.

3.4Finding 4: Other measures of emotional wellbeing

Parent's perspective: parents of children with sight impairment (with and without an additional impairment) were far more likely than other parents to report that their child had emotional, concentration or behaviour difficulties. The proportion of parents reporting that their children had such difficulties was:

  • All children with sight impairment: 61%
  • Sight impairment only: 49%
  • Sight impairment plus additional impairment: 69%
  • No sight impairment: 31%

Parent's perspective: while overall, most parents did not report that their child wet the bed, parents of children with sight impairment (with and without an additional impairment) were more likely than parents of children without a sight impairment to report that their child did wet the bed at least once a week. The proportion of parents reporting this was:

  • All children with sight impairment: 12%
  • Sight impairment only: 10%
  • Sight impairment plus additional impairment: 13%
  • No sight impairment: 5%

3.5Finding 5: Friends

Child's perspective: children with a sight impairment (with and without additional impairment) were just as likely as children with no sight impairment to say they had 'lots' of good friends.

Parent's perspective: parents ofchildren with a sight impairment and an additional impairment were less likely than parents of children with a sight impairment only or no sight impairment to say their child had at least one good friend. Just under 8 in 10 (78%) parents of children with sight impairment andan additional impairment said their child had at least one good friend compared to 9 in 10 parents of children with a sight impairment only (89%) and parents of children with no sight impairment (90%).

Teacher's perspective:teachers of children with a sight impairment and an additional impairment were less likely than teachers of children with a sight impairment only or no sight impairment to say the child had at least one good friend. Only one in 2 (49%) teachers of children with a sight impairment and an additional impairment said it was 'certainly true' that the child had at least one good friend compared to just over 7 in 10 (73%) teachers of children with sight impairment only and almost 8 in 10 (79%) teachers of children with no sight impairment.

3.6 Finding 6: Social and culturalactivities

Parents perspective: children with sight impairment and an additional impairment were less likely than children with no sight impairment to have been to a play, concert or live show, or to an art gallery or museum in the past 12 months. Although the differences were statistically significant, they were relatively small: 72%versus 78%, and 65% versus 70%. Children with sight impairment and an additional impairment were also less likely than children with no sight impairment to have been to a cinema in the past 12 months: 70% compared to 83%.

3.7 Finding 7: Leisure reading

Parent's perspective: children with sight impairment andan additional impairment were significantly less likely than children with no sight impairment to read for enjoyment on their own every day, or almost every day: 21%of children with a sight impairment and an additional impairment read for enjoyment on their own almost every day, compared to 40%of children with no sight impairment and 35% with a sight impairment only. Children with a sight impairment and an additional impairment were also significantly likely to never read for pleasure or to do so less than once a year (this may have been associated with their additional impairment rather than their sight impairment).39% never read for pleasure compared to 12% with a sight impairment only and 9% with no sight impairment.

Parent's perspective: 60% of children with a sight impairment and an additional impairment had been to a public library in the past year; this was significantly fewer than children with no sight impairment (69%). For children with a sight impairment only the proportion was 66%.

3.8 Finding 8: Involvement in physical activity

Parent's perspective: while more than 3 in 5 of all children (with and without sight impairment) were involved in physical activity on 5 or more days a week, 11% of children with sight impairment and an additional impairment never engaged in physical activity compared with 4% of children with no sight impairment and 9% of children with sight impairment only.

3.9 Finding 9: Family financial circumstances

Children with sight impairment were more likely to live in homes that find it hard to make ends meet. This was particularly so for children with sight impairment and an additional impairment but even in the households of children with sight impairment only there was evidence of difficulties in coping financially although the differences did not always meet statistical significance.

Having at least one parent in employment: only 73% of children with sight impairment and another impairment lived in households where at least one parent was in employment, compared to 87% of children with no sight impairment and 76% of children with sight impairment only.

Household income: children with sight and other impairment were more likely than children without sight impairment to have a total household income less than £300 per week: 52% compared with 35%. For children with sight impairment only the proportion was 47%.

Household behind with bill payment: children with a sight impairment (with or without an additional impairment) were significantly more likely than children with no sight impairment to live in households that were behind with bill payments: 21%children with sight impairment (both groups) versus 13% with no sight impairment.

Managing financially: children with a sight impairment (with or without an additional impairment) were significantly more likely than children with no sight impairment to live in households that were finding it 'quite' or 'very' difficult to manage financially: 19% of children with sight impairment only and 16% with sight impairment and additional impairment, versus11% of children with no sight impairment.

Whether below 60% median poverty indicator: more than a third (35%) of children with sight impairment (with or without an additional impairment) lived in households that were 60% below the median poverty indicator, compared to less than a quarter (23%) of children with no sight impairment.

4. Conclusions

Children with sight impairment at age 7 are much more likely than children without sight impairment to live in a family experiencing financial hardship. Children with sight impairment also differ across a range of characteristics associated with wellbeing when compared with sighted children of the same age. For example their parents were significantly more likely to say that their child had emotional, concentration or behaviour difficulties; was often unhappy, downhearted or low; and wet the bed at least once a week. A notable finding however, was that for children with sight impairment and another impairment the differences were often greater and applied to a greater number of variables. This groupin particular, is likely tohave less exposure to social and cultural events, have fewer friends and do less physical activity.

When we consider these findings along with the findings relating to children's experiences of school it is even more evident that there are clear differences between children with sight impairment and children with no sight impairment. Children with visual impairment and another impairment are at even greater risk of poor outcomes across a range of emotional and social wellbeing indicators.

Further research is needed to understand to what extent these differences may be attributable to the developmental effects of sight or other impairment; the effects of different levels of severity of sight impairment; what role is played by social and economic disadvantage; and to identify best practice in ameliorating these effects. Further work is also urgently needed to address the particular problems of children with sight and other impairment in relation to emotional, psychological and social development to identify the most effective interventions to help them build a positive sense of self worth.

5. Further information

The full research report can be downloaded from:

For further information contact

© RNIB 2013

ESI Research briefing1