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UAS Comprehensive File

The UAS Comprehensive File merges the data from a number core surveys in the UAS that are repeated every two years. It includes basic demographics as well data on cognitive tests, personality, financial literacy, subjective well-being, health, retirement, several surveys dealing with financial management, preparation for retirement and knowledge of Social Security rules. It also includes the harmonized version of the UAS-Health and Retirement Study (UAS-HRS).

Currently, it contains data from My Household (the quarterly brief demographic survey) and the following core surveys from Wave 1: UAS1, UAS2, UAS16, UAS18, UAS20-UAS25 (the HRS Wave 1 surveys), UAS26, UAS38, UAS42-UAS44 (cognitive ability). For Wave 2 it contains data from the following core surveys: UAS83-UAS85 (cognitive ability), UAS94, UAS95-UAS100 (HRS Wave 2 surveys), UAS113, UAS119, UAS121, and UAS177. For Wave 3: UAS185-UAS190 (HRS Wave 3 surveys), UAS231, UAS237-UAS239, UAS292-UAS294 (cognitive ability), UAS322, and UAS413. For Wave 4: UAS396-UAS401 (HRS Wave 4 surveys), UAS457-UAS460, UAS483-UAS485 (cognitive ability), UAS551, and UAS578. For Wave 5: UAS530-535 (HRS Wave 5 surveys), UAS593, UAS594, UAS602-605, UAS629-631, and UAS642-644 (cognitive ability). The Comprehensive File also contains select variables from the Cognitive Comprehensive File and several other non-core UAS studies. Please see the Comprehensive File Data Description for more information on all of the studies included in the data set.

The UAS Comprehensive Data File can be linked with any of the UAS surveys not already included. The current version of the UAS Comprehensive File (May 2025) can be downloaded here (registration required) and it focuses on measures related to financial decision‑making such as income, housing, and financial wealth, as well as health-related topics such as current health conditions, activity difficulties, and cognitive abilities. For a detailed explanation please have a look at the UAS Comprehensive File Data Description. The Comprehensive File also includes wave-specific weights. An additional dataset with yearly weights can be found under Downloads below.

To explore some of the UAS Comprehensive File data in an interactive manner check out the UAS Visualization Toolkit (opens in a new window).


What's New in the May 2025 release


UAS Component File

Accompanying the UAS Comprehensive File is the UAS Component File. The Component file contains the HRS income and wealth component variables that comprise several HRS income and wealth summary variables. In addition, there are timestamp variables indicating when the respondent began taking each UAS survey in the Comprehensive file, and timestamps marking when the respondent completed each survey. Other variables in the Component file include demographic variables from the My Household survey associated with each UAS survey in the Comprehensive file.

The Component file can be linked to the Comprehensive file by using the uasid identifier variable. The current version of the UAS Component File (May 2025) can be downloaded here. Please look at the UAS Component File Data Description for detailed information about the Component file.


Downloads

The following downloads are available:

Previous versions of these files can be downloaded in the UAS Comprehensive File Archive.


Funding and citation

Funding for the initial waves of the Comprehensive Data File has been provided by the United States Social Security Administration, the National Institute on Aging through the grant U01AG054580 “Toward Next Generation Data on Health and Life Changes at Older Ages”, and the Society of Actuaries. Since 2023, the comprehensive file construction has been paid for by the continuation grant, U01AG077280. For citation please use the following for the different files and documentation: