HRS Survey Design and Methodology

This graphic depicts the longitudinal cohort sample design of HRS. The initial 1992 HRS cohort consisted of persons born 1931 to 1941, who were then aged 51 to 61, and their spouses of any age. Members of this first HRS cohort, now in their 80s and 90s, have been interviewed every two years since 1992. A second study was added in 1993, the Asset and Health Dynamics Among the Oldest Old, or AHEAD, which captured those born before 1924, who were 70 and older at the time. Then in 1998, the HRS and AHEAD cohorts were merged, and two new cohorts were enrolled to bridge the study age gaps for Americans 50 and older. These birth cohorts are the Children of the Depression, or CODA, for those born 1924 to 1930, and the War Babies, for those born 1942 to 1947. HRS now employs a steady-state design, replenishing the sample every six years with younger cohorts. In 2004 HRS added the Early Baby Boomers (EBB), born 1948 to 1953, and in 2010 added the Mid Baby Boomers (MBB), born 1954 to 1959. The Late Baby Boomers (LBB), born 1960 to 1965, were added in 2016. Early Generation X (EGENX), born 1966-71, will be enrolled in 2022. For all cohorts, both members of a couple are included in the sample.