Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) is a multidisciplinary and cross-national database of micro data on health, socio-economic status as well as social and family networks of more than 30,000 individuals aged 50 or over. Data collected include health variables (e.g. self-reported health, physical functioning, cognitive functioning, health behaviour, use of health care facilities), psychological variables (e.g. psychological health, well-being, life satisfaction), economic variables (current work activity,
job characteristics, opportunities to work past retirement age, sources and composition of current income, wealth and consumption, housing, education), and social support variables
(e.g. assistance within families, transfers of income and assets, social networks, volunteer activities).[1]

Eleven European countries have contributed data to the 2004 SHARE baseline study. They constitute a balanced representation of the various regions in Europe, ranging from Scandinavia (Denmark and Sweden) through Central Europe (Austria, France, Germany, Switzerland, Belgium, and the Netherlands) to the Mediterranean (Spain, Italy and Greece). Further data have been collected in 2005-06 in Israel. Two 'new' EU member states - the Czech Republic and Poland - as well as Ireland have joined SHARE for its second wave in 2006. [2] [3]

SHARE data are available for download by resarchers and analysts at no costs [1].

SHARE is designed after the role models of the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) and the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA), but has the advantage of encompassing cross-national variation in public policies, cultures and histories across a variety of European countries.

SHARE currently builds up a biannual panel with funding from the European Commission, the US National Institute on Aging and national sources. SHARE is co-ordinated centrally at the Mannheim Research Institute for the Economics of Aging by Prof. Axel Börsch-Supan, Ph.D. (Project co-ordinator) and PD Dr. Hendrik Jürges (Assistant co-ordinator).

[edit] References

  1. ^ Börsch-Supan, A.; Hank, K.; Jürges, H. (2005): A New Comprehensive and International View on Ageing: Introducing the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe, European Journal of Ageing (2) 4, 245-253.
  2. ^ Börsch-Supan, A.; Brugiavini, A.; Jürges, H.; Mackenbach, J.; Siegrist, J.; Weber, G. (eds.) (2005): Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe – First Results from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe, Mannheim Research Institute for the Economics of Aging, University of Mannheim.
  3. ^ Börsch-Supan, A.; Jürges, H. (eds.) (2005): The Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe - Methodology, Mannheim Research Institute for the Economics of Aging, University of Mannheim.

[edit] External links

  • Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe SHARE [2]
  • Co-ordinator of SHARE:
    Mannheim Research Institute for the Economics of Aging [3]

SHARE sister studies:

  • U.S. Health and Retirement Study HRS [4]
  • English Longitudinal Study of Aging [5]