Cross-wave 2015-2017 Life History Mail Survey (LHMS): Harmonized and Aggregated Public Data Resource

The Cross-wave 2015-2017 Life History Mail Survey (LHMS): Harmonized and Aggregated Public Data Resource was created using retrospective reports provided by HRS respondents or their proxy in off-year surveys sent to different HRS panel subsamples in Fall 2015, Spring 2017 and Fall 2017. All information has previously been released for public use separately for each year. The data description provides an overview of the data collection strategy in each wave. For example, people who responded to the first off-year LHMS in Fall 2015 which covered only residential and education histories were asked in Fall 2017 to participate in a supplement LHMS that expanded coverage of partnership, employment, and early adult health histories. The data file contains 568 variables and includes complete and partial data for 11,761 respondents. The items were designed to be collected only once from each participant. Additional information about the aggregation and harmonization process is provided in the data description for this data product. Individuals are identified using the household identifier HHID and the person identifier PN. These two variables can be used to merge an individual's LHMS data with additional information in the Cross-wave Childhood Family and Health Data as well as all other parts of the HRS.