About the Health and Retirement Study

The University of Michigan Health and Retirement Study (HRS) surveys more than 22,000 Americans over the age of 50 every two years. Supported by the National Institute on Aging (NIA U01AG009740) and the Social Security Administration, the HRS is a large-scale longitudinal project that studies the labor force participation and health transitions that individuals undergo toward the end of their work lives and in the years that follow.

Since its launch in 1992, the study has collected information about income, work, assets, pension plans, health insurance, disability, physical health and functioning, cognitive functioning, and health care expenditures. Through its unique and in-depth interviews with a nationally representative sample of adults over the age of 50, the HRS provides an invaluable, growing body of multidisciplinary data to help researchers address the challenges and opportunities of aging.

The full scope of the study is described in the publication Growing Older in America: The Health and Retirement Study.

HRS data products are available without cost to researchers and analysts; certain Conditions of Use apply. Registration is required in order to download files.