Economic Status Measures in the Health and Retirement Study

Variables measuring economic status represent a straightforward but crucial part of Round 1 of the Health and Retirement Study (HRS). In addition to studies focusing directly on the economic well-being of this cohort of the population, the economic status variables are likely to be inputs into other analyses that focus on retirement and savings behavior, on variations in health status, on intrafamily transfers and support, and on poverty status. As a first look at these data, this paper has several modest goals: to offer a flavor for the major economic status variables on the HRS, to indicate some preliminary analysis of the quality of the data, and to take a preliminary look at the interrelationships among economic status measures like income and wealth and other important variables such as health status, pension rights, and health insurance coverage.