2021 HRS Perspectives on the Pandemic

The HRS Perspectives on the Pandemic mail-in survey was designed to assess the experiences of Health and Retirement Study respondents during the first year of the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Mail-in questionnaires were sent to a subsample of 20,333 HRS respondents divided into three separate groups. Groups 1 and 2 received the spring version of the questionnaire. The first group consisted of 10,421 respondents who were not scheduled to participate in an enhanced face-to-face (EFTF) interview during the 2020 HRS core survey wave, and had completed their assigned mode of interview that wave without complication. The second group included 3735 respondents who were scheduled to participate both in the 2020 EFTF and in the 2021 CAMS survey, as well.

The field period for the Spring 2021 Perspectives on the Pandemic Mail Survey was May 2021 to June 2022. Spring Data Release Version 2.0 contains 8360 respondents from Groups 1 and 2 only.

The remaining 6177 respondents were assigned to Group 3 and received the fall version of the questionnaire. Group 3 respondents were defined as those who were scheduled for EFTF in the 2020 HRS core survey wave and who were not part of the 2021 CAMS sample.

The field period for the Fall 2021 Perspectives on the Pandemic Mail Survey was October 2021 to June 2022. Fall Data Release Version 1.0 contains 3211 respondents from Group 3 only.

For Groups 2 and 3, EFTF interviewing was cancelled for 2020 HRS core respondents due to the pandemic and interviews were conducted by telephone or web. Also, note that Spring and Fall of 2021 respondent data are released in two separate sets of files.

The questionnaire covers the following topics: COVID-19 Diagnosis and Testing, Coronavirus Emergency Room/Hospital Visits, Health Care, Economic Impact Payments, Work, Income and Spending, Living Arrangements and Caregiving, and Everyday Life during the Pandemic.