Data Sources

The MRDRC conducts various activities to facilitate access to valuable data resources. Below are links to various data sources and data analytic tools that are important for those interested in retirement and Social Security research and policy analysis.

Looking for data tutorials? MRDRC has compiled tutorials for commonly used data sets.

Health and Retirement Study

• Health and Retirement Study (HRS)
  begun in 1992, and its companion study, AHEAD, conducts biennial surveys on aging and health.
• RAND HRS data files
  The RAND HRS Data file is a cleaned and easy-to-use version of data from most waves of the Health and Retirement Study data, including five entry cohorts: the original 1992 Health and Retirement Study (HRS) cohort; the 1993 Study of Assets and Health Dynamics (AHEAD) cohort; the Children of Depression and War Baby cohorts entering in 1998; and Early Baby Boomer cohort entering in 2004. Derived variables covering a broad though not complete range of measures have been constructed. It includes RAND imputations of wealth, income, and medical expenditures. All variables have been named consistently across waves.
• Corrected HRS Home Equity Data
  Second home equity is an important component of both housing equity and net worth for the elderly population. It has been covered, implicitly or explicitly, across all waves of HRS and AHEAD surveys. The treatment of second home equity, however, has not been consistent. Data problems that have arisen from this inconsistency are addressed and corrected in this file.
• Health and Retirement Study – Apply for restricted access data
  Researchers may be eligible to receive HRS Restricted data sets only if and when they meet specific requirements.

Other data

• Understanding America Study
  This household panel at the University of Southern California includes approximately 14,700 respondents, growing to 20,000 by 2025 representing the entire United States. The internet-based study has respondents answer surveys on a computer, tablet, or smart phone, wherever they are and whenever they wish to participate.
• Social Security Administration Public-Use Microdata Files
  SSA public-use microdata files include Benefits and Earnings Public-Use File, 2004; New Beneficiary Data System (NBDS); Old Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance (OASDI) Public-Use Microdata File, 2001; and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) Public-Use Microdata File, 2001.
• Data.gov
  Data.gov was launched in May 2009 “to increase public access to high value, machine readable data sets generated by the Executive Branch of the Federal Government.”
• New Immigrant Survey
  The New Immigrant Survey (NIS) is a nationally representative multi-cohort longitudinal study of new legal immigrants and their children to the United States based on nationally representative samples of the administrative records, compiled by the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS), pertaining to immigrants newly admitted to permanent residence.
• Public Plans Database
  This free, interactive resource was developed in 2007 as a partnership between the Center for State and Local Government Excellence and the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College. The database contains plan-level data from 2001 for more than 200 public pension plans, including plans administered at the state and local levels. The database is updated at least once a year, using data from the most recent comprehensive annual financial reports (CAFRs) and actuarial valuations (AVs). In addition, intermediate updates occur when new variables are added or data errors are corrected.
• MiCDA Data Enclave
  The MiCDA Data Enclave The Michigan Center on the Demography of Aging (MiCDA) Data Enclave is designed to assist a) prospective users of restricted data files who do not meet the requirements imposed by restricted data contractual agreements and b) researchers who have special data analysis needs that cannot be met under the terms of a standard restricted data agreement.
• Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID)
  The PSID is a longitudinal survey of a representative sample of US individuals and the families in which they reside. It has been ongoing since 1968. The data were collected annually through 1997, and biennially starting in 1999. The data files contain the full span of information collected over the course of the study. PSID data can be used for cross-sectional, longitudinal, and intergenerational analysis and for studying both individuals and families.
• Survey of Income and Program Participation
  The main objective of SIPP is to provide accurate and comprehensive information about the income and program participation of individuals and households in the United States, and about the principal determinants of income and program participation. SIPP offers detailed information on cash and noncash income on a subannual basis. The survey also collects data on taxes, assets, liabilities, and participation in government transfer programs. SIPP data allow the government to evaluate the effectiveness of federal, state, and local programs.
• Current Population Survey
  The Current Population Survey (CPS) is a monthly survey of about 60,000 households conducted by the Bureau of the Census for the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The survey has been conducted for more than 70 years.
• Consumer Expenditure Survey
  The Consumer Expenditure Survey (CE) program consists of two surveys—the quarterly Interview survey and the Diary survey—that provide information on the buying habits of American consumers, including data on their expenditures, income, and consumer unit (families and single consumers) characteristics.
• Dynamics of Economic and Demographic Behavior: “Clean Processes” From the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID)
  Lee Lillard created what he called “clean processes” to investigate a number of dynamic behaviors that are measured longitudinally in the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID), such as employment, marriage-divorce, and fertility. He and his programmers and research assistants put these processes into a consistent framework, and made decisions about how to resolve inconsistencies, missing items, etc. Data from the files can be entered, as appropriate, in dynamic econometric models of related and mutually causal processes: for instance, the relationships among marriage, fertility, and female labor supply. Thus, researchers can study various combinations of these behaviors without having to go through complex file creation for each project.
• Luxembourg Income Study (LIS)
  The LIS database is a collection of household income surveys. These surveys provide demographic, income and expenditure information on three different levels: household, person and child.
• Congressional Budget Office
  This interactive tool allows the user to explore seven policy options that could be used to improve the Social Security program’s finances and delay the trust funds’ exhaustion. The tool also shows the impact of the options on different groups of people.