The English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA) 2009 Update Natasha Wood

Content Background and history Wave 5 Data and documentation available for ELSA

Key facts about ELSA A study of people aged 50+ and their partners Multi-disciplinary - health, economic and social circumstances Longitudinal - change over time Comparative - USA (HRS) and Europe (SHARE) Funding - National Institute on Aging, UK Government Departments

Dept of Epidemiology and Public Health, UCL National Centre for Social Research Institute for Fiscal Studies and UCL Dept of Economics Universities of Cambridge, East Anglia Exeter and Manchester Research Team

History

ELSA Wave One 2002 Core Interview (12,099) ELSA Wave One 2002 Core Interview (12,099) HSE + Nurse HSE + Nurse

ELSA Wave One 2002 Core Interview (12,099) ELSA Wave One 2002 Core Interview (12,099) Wave Two 2004 Core (9,432) Wave Two 2004 Core (9,432) HSE + Nurse HSE + Nurse Wave Two 2004 Nurse (7,666) Wave Two 2004 Nurse (7,666)

ELSA Wave One 2002 Core Interview (12,099) ELSA Wave One 2002 Core Interview (12,099) Wave Two 2004 Core (9,432) Wave Two 2004 Core (9,432) HSE + Nurse HSE + Nurse Wave Two 2004 Nurse (7,666) Wave Two 2004 Nurse (7,666) Wave Three 2006 Core (9,771) Wave Three 2006 Core (9,771) Wave Three 2006 Life History (7,848) Wave Three 2006 Life History (7,848)

ELSA Wave One 2002 Core Interview (12,099) ELSA Wave One 2002 Core Interview (12,099) HSE + Nurse HSE + Nurse HSE + Nurse HSE + Nurse Wave Two 2004 Core (9,432) Wave Two 2004 Core (9,432) Wave Two 2004 Nurse (7,666) Wave Two 2004 Nurse (7,666) Wave Three 2006 Core (9,771) Wave Three 2006 Core (9,771) Wave Three 2006 Life History (7,848) Wave Three 2006 Life History (7,848)

ELSA Wave One 2002 Core Interview (12,099) ELSA Wave One 2002 Core Interview (12,099) HSE + Nurse HSE + Nurse HSE + Nurse HSE + Nurse Wave Two 2004 Core (9,432) Wave Two 2004 Core (9,432) Wave Two 2004 Nurse (7,666) Wave Two 2004 Nurse (7,666) Wave Three 2006 Core (9,771) Wave Three 2006 Core (9,771) Wave Three 2006 Life History (7,848) Wave Three 2006 Life History (7,848) HSE + Nurse 2006 HSE + Nurse 2006 Wave Four 2008 Core Interview Wave Four 2008 Core Interview Wave Four 2008 Nurse Visit Wave Four 2008 Nurse Visit

Interview Content Household and individual demographics Health Social participation Work and pensions Income and assets Housing and consumption Cognitive function (assessments) Expectations Effort and reward (of voluntary work and caring) intro at Wave 2 Psychosocial health Final questions Timed walk (assessment) Self-completion

Nurse Content Blood pressure Grip strength Blood sample (fasting where possible) Height (standing, sitting) Weight Waist and hip measurement Lung function Balance Leg rise Chair raise Saliva sample (after visit) Self-completion on personal beliefs & wellbeing (one in ten households) only Wave 2

Life History

Life History Interview Follow up interview at Wave 3 Asks about childhood and important life events Aim to enhance our understanding of how early life and events throughout life impact upon circumstances of older people Calendar technique to enhance recall

Topics covered Children & fertility Partners Where lived Work history Health Relationship with parents as a child Other important life events

Wave 5

Changes at Wave 5 Refreshment sample years (HSE 2008) Module on financial risk taking

Risk year olds - examine choice of pension schemes and how they plan financially Play 14 games - win between £5 and £80 from 1 randomly selected game The games measure: Attitudes towards risk Willingness to accept a delay in receiving winning money How much they regret not making certain choices

Data available

ELSA data in archive FileWave 0Wave 1Wave 2Wave 3Wave 4 Core Data TBA Nurse Data N/A N/ATBA Index File Updates TBA Life History DataN/A N/A Ryff Self Completion DataN/A N/A Telephone Interview (with non - responders) Data N/A TBA End of Life Interview DataN/A TBA Financial Derived VariablesN/A TBA Pension Wealth Derived VariablesN/A N/A Pension GridN/A TBA Mortgage DataN/A N/A Mortgage GridN/A TBA Technical ReportN/A 5 TBA

ELSA documentation Currently archived: Complete questionnaires Field documents, coding & editing info etc. User guides for datasets Future developments: Documentation for Wave 4 Interactive documentation – also HRS and SHARE

Other data available (not archived) Geography (Waves 0, 1, 2 & 3) Wave 2 genetics data Other non-archived variables

Where to get more info ELSA website Data and associated documentation ELSA data manager (Susan Nunn) To contact me...

The English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA)