Description: The University of Michigan Health and Retirement Study (HRS) is a longitudinal panel study that surveys a representative sample of approximately 20,000 Americans over 50 years old. Core surveys take place every two years, with additional topics covered in off-year surveys. Data collected through a mix of phone and face-to-face interviews provides a comprehensive look at the changing experiences of older Americans on a range of topics including physical and mental health history and status, cognition, family structure, health care utilization and costs, financial status, and employment history and retirement plans. Interviews are supplemented with information from physical measurements, biomarker and genetic data, and linkages to administrative data.
Publisher: University of Michigan Institute for Social Research
Timeframe: 1992 - Present
Geographic Coverage: United States
Local Experts: Ester Villalonga-Olives

John G. Cagle

Richard J. Manski

Subject of Study

Subject Domain

Population Age

Adult (19 years to 64 years)

Senior (65 years to 79 years)

Elderly (80 years and over)

Keywords

Restrictions: Approval required

Registration required
Instructions: Create an account and sign in to https://hrs.isr.umich.edu/about. Public survey data is available to all with registration. Users must be signed in to download data. Restricted data sets are also available, to those who fulfill eligibility criteria, through an application process.; Access via HRS Website
survey responses, codebooks, descriptions, survey instruments, read in files for SPSS, STATA, and SAS

Associated Publications

Data Type

Dataset Format(s)

SAS, ASCII, SPSS, STATA, DAT

Health and Retirement Study