New, Improved Version of HRS Data Released

From the University of Michigan’s Health and Retirement Study page: 

A new version of the RAND HRS Data File has been released, replacing allprior versions.

The RAND HRS Data file is a cleaned and easy-to-use version of the Health and Retirement    Study (HRS) with derived variables covering a broad range of measures and named    consistently across waves. The file was developed by the RAND Center for the Study of Aging    with funding from the National Institute on Aging (NIA) and Social Security    Administration (SSA).

As of 2005, eight HRS waves are available for study. The RAND HRS Data file (Version E)is based on 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1998, 2000 and the 2002 final releases of HRSdata. The complete HRS includes four entry cohorts, as does the RAND file. The fileincorporates only the core interviews. It does not include exit interview or any restricted data.

Besides incorporating the 2002 final releases, this version corrects known problems and adds    some new variables for insurance, pensions, retirement, poverty and nursing home utilization.

Please see the    rnd_Edd.pdf file for a brief data description. The data are described in    detail in the RAND HRS Data Documentation, which is included in this    distribution. It contains complete descriptions of the derived variables,    including descriptions of how they are constructed, notes on cross-wave differences,    and all raw HRS variables used.

The Office of Research, Evaluation, and Statistics at SSAprovided important research direction in the design of this data file.

See the RAND Contributions page for furtherinformation.