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

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 2002Core Interview (12,099)

ELSA Wave One 2002Core Interview (12,099)

HSE + Nurse1998-1999-2001

HSE + Nurse1998-1999-2001

ELSA Wave One 2002Core Interview (12,099)

ELSA Wave One 2002Core Interview (12,099)

Wave Two 2004Core (9,432)

Wave Two 2004Core (9,432)

HSE + Nurse1998-1999-2001

HSE + Nurse1998-1999-2001

Wave Two 2004Nurse (7,666)

Wave Two 2004Nurse (7,666)

ELSA Wave One 2002Core Interview (12,099)

ELSA Wave One 2002Core Interview (12,099)

Wave Two 2004Core (9,432)

Wave Two 2004Core (9,432)

HSE + Nurse1998-1999-2001

HSE + Nurse1998-1999-2001

Wave Two 2004Nurse (7,666)

Wave Two 2004Nurse (7,666)

Wave Three 2006Core (9,771)

Wave Three 2006Core (9,771)

Wave Three 2006Life History (7,848)

Wave Three 2006Life History (7,848)

ELSA Wave One 2002Core Interview (12,099)

ELSA Wave One 2002Core Interview (12,099)

HSE + Nurse1998-1999-2001

HSE + Nurse1998-1999-2001

HSE + Nurse

2001-04

HSE + Nurse

2001-04

Wave Two 2004Core (9,432)

Wave Two 2004Core (9,432)

Wave Two 2004Nurse (7,666)

Wave Two 2004Nurse (7,666)

Wave Three 2006Core (9,771)

Wave Three 2006Core (9,771)

Wave Three 2006Life History (7,848)

Wave Three 2006Life History (7,848)

ELSA Wave One 2002Core Interview (12,099)

ELSA Wave One 2002Core Interview (12,099)

HSE + Nurse1998-1999-2001

HSE + Nurse1998-1999-2001

HSE + Nurse

2001-04

HSE + Nurse

2001-04

Wave Two 2004Core (9,432)

Wave Two 2004Core (9,432)

Wave Two 2004Nurse (7,666)

Wave Two 2004Nurse (7,666)

Wave Three 2006Core (9,771)

Wave Three 2006Core (9,771)

Wave Three 2006Life History (7,848)

Wave Three 2006Life History (7,848)

HSE + Nurse2006

HSE + Nurse2006

Wave Four 2008Core Interview

Wave Four 2008Core Interview

Wave Four 2008Nurse Visit

Wave Four 2008Nurse 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 50-53 years (HSE 2008)

• Module on financial risk taking

Risk• 50-59 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 archiveFile Wave 0 Wave 1 Wave 2 Wave 3 Wave 4

Core Data TBA

Nurse Data N/A N/A TBA

Index File Updates TBA TBA

Life History Data N/A N/A N/A N/A

Ryff Self Completion Data N/A N/A N/A N/A

Telephone Interview (with non -responders) Data

N/A N/A N/A TBA TBA

End of Life Interview Data N/A N/A TBA TBA TBA

Financial Derived Variables N/A TBA

Pension Wealth Derived Variables N/A N/A N/A N/A

Pension Grid N/A TBA

Mortgage Data N/A N/A N/A N/A

Mortgage Grid N/A N/A N/A TBA

Technical Report N/A5 TBA 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• http://www.ifs.org.uk/elsa

Data and associated documentation• http://www.esds.ac.uk/longitudinal/

ELSA data manager (Susan Nunn)• susan.nunn@natcen.ac.uk

To contact me...• natasha.wood@natcen.ac.uk

The English Longitudinal Study of

Ageing (ELSA)