In response to a request from the DHSS, the OPCS undertook a programme of research to find out the numbers and circumstances of disabled people in Great Britain. This programme included surveys of disabled adults living in private households; disabled children living in private households; disabled adults living in communal establishments; disabled children living in communal establishments. The aims of the Survey of Disabled Children Living in Private Households, 1985 were: to provide estimates of the prevalence of disability by age, degree of severity and type of disability; to provide information about the financial and social consequences of disability, in particular sources and levels of income and the nature and levels of extra costs arising because of disability and the effect of disability on parents' employment; to provide information about the use and need for health and personal social services and the effect of disability on family, child's mobility and education.