An Overview of the Health and Retirement Study

This paper examines the scientific, public policy, and organizational background out of which the Health and Retirement Study emerged. It describes the evolution of the major parameters of the survey and the unique planning structure designed to ensure that the substantive insights of the research community were fully reflected in the content of the database, highlights key survey innovations contained in the HRS, and provides a preliminary assessment of the quality of the data as reflected by sample size, sample composition, response rate, and survey content. The paper also describes the several types of administrative data that are expected to be added to the HRS data: earnings and benefits from Social Security files, and health insurance and pension data from the employers of survey respondents.