Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.The English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA) study is a longitudinal survey of ageing and quality of life among older people that explores the dynamic relationships between health and functioning, social networks and participation, and economic position as people plan for, move into and progress beyond retirement. The main objectives of ELSA are to:construct waves of accessible and well-documented panel data;provide these data in a convenient and timely fashion to the scientific and policy research community;describe health trajectories, disability and healthy life expectancy in a representative sample of the English population aged 50 and over;examine the relationship between economic position and health;investigate the determinants of economic position in older age;describe the timing of retirement and post-retirement labour market activity; andunderstand the relationships between social support, household structure and the transfer of assets.Further information may be found on the the ELSA project website or the Natcen Social Research: ELSA web pages.Health conditions research with ELSA - June 2021 The ELSA Data team have found some issues with historical data measuring health conditions. If you are intending to do any analysis looking at the following health conditions, then please contact elsadata@natcen.ac.uk for advice on how you should approach your analysis. The affected conditions are: eye conditions (glaucoma; diabetic eye disease; macular degeneration; cataract), CVD conditions (high blood pressure; angina; heart attack; Congestive Heart Failure; heart murmur; abnormal heart rhythm; diabetes; stroke; high cholesterol; other heart trouble) and chronic health conditions (chronic lung disease; asthma; arthritis; osteoporosis; cancer; Parkinson's Disease; emotional, nervous or psychiatric problems; Alzheimer's Disease; dementia; malignant blood disorder; multiple sclerosis or motor neurone disease).Secure Access Data:Secure Access versions of ELSA have more restrictive access conditions than versions available under the standard End User Licence or Special Licence (see 'Access' section below).Secure Access versions of ELSA include:Primary Data from Wave 8 onwards (SN 8444) includes all the variables in the SL primary dataset (SN 8346) as well as day of birth, combined SIC 2003 code (5 digit), combined SOC 2000 code (4 digit), NS-SEC long version including and excluding unclassifiable and non-workers.Pension Age Data from Wave 8 onwards (SN 8445) includes all the variables in the SL pension age data (SN 8375) as well as year reached pension age variable.Detailed geographical identifier files for each wave, grouped by identifier held under SN 8423 (Index of Multiple Deprivation Score), SN 8424 (Local Authority District Pre-2009 Boundaries), SN 8438 (Local Authority District Post-2009 Boundaries), SN 8425 (Census 2001 Lower Layer Super Output Areas), SN 8434 (Census 2011 Lower Layer Super Output Areas), SN 8426(Census 2001 Middle Layer Super Output Areas), SN 8435 (Census 2011 Middle Layer Super Output Areas), SN 8427 (Population Density for Postcode Sectors), SN 8428 (Census 2001 Rural-Urban Indicators), SN 8436 (Census 2011 Rural-Urban Indicators).Where boundary changes have occurred, the geographic identifier has been split into two separate studies to reduce the risk of disclosure. Users are also only allowed one version of each identifier:either SN 8424 (Local Authority District Pre-2009 Boundaries) or SN 8438 (Local Authority District Post-2009 Boundaries)either SN 8425 (Census 2001 Lower Layer Super Output Areas) or SN 8434 (Census 2011 Lower Layer Super Output Areas)either SN 8426 (Census 2001 Middle Layer Super Output Areas) or SN 8435 (Census 2011 Middle Layer Super Output Areas)either SN 8428 (Census 2001 Rural-Urban Indicators) or SN 8436 (Census 2011 Rural-Urban Indicators)

English Longitudinal Study of Ageing: Wave 8-10, 2016-2023, State Pension Age Data: Secure AccessThese datasets include the two SL-level State Pension Age (SPA) related variables (SN 8375), as well as four additional variables specifying the SPA to the level of month year and day. These data have more restrictive access conditions than those available under the standard End User Licence or Special Licence (see 'Access' section).Latest edition information For the second edition (September 2024), state pension age data for Waves 9 and 10 were added to the study, along with  accompanying documentation.

Main Topics:

ELSA User Guide in SN 5050 includes detailed information about all the ELSA datasets available under different licences. The data dictionary included provides details about the variables included in the state pension age Secure Access licence datasets.

Multi-stage stratified random sample

Face-to-face interview

Self-administered questionnaire