WLS Codebooks

Note: Codebooks contain frequency data from the private data release. For some variables, these differ from the frequencies in the public release. Variables that differ between the public and private versions include "(not available on public release)" as part of the variable description, or a note indicating the difference between the public and private versions.

In Person: Retirement Attitudes

JRETIR  Retirement Attitudes Module         
              
OVERVIEW

The Retirement Attitudes Module was first introduced as part of the 2004
telephone interview in the Pensions Module. The variables are replicated
exactly but a few have been added to the 2011 collection wave. The new
variables are: HT112SP which asks about spouse's retirement status; HT119RE
which gives the century-month in which the participant retired; and HT125RE
which asks about how the participant's relationship with their children has
changed since retirement.

All respondents were asked if they considered themselves completely, partly, or
not at all retired.  For those who had retired, the month and year of
retirement were ascertained.  Respondents who had not retired were asked when
they planned on retiring and whether their spouse would retire at that time. 
Respondents were asked about their current or expected post-retirement living
standards, and about their post-retirement relationship with their children and
spouse.


BRIEF VARIABLE DESCRIPTIONS

    Variable ranges reference dataset/codebook order and are not necessarily 
    alphabetical.
    _____________________________________________________________________
    

    HRETSTAT-HRETREL:	    Module-Level Status Variables.
    
    HT112RE-HT125RE:        Retirement Experience / Outlook on Retirement

hretstat: Was the Retirement Attitudes Module completed by Participant alone, with help, or by proxy?

Data source: Graduate Participant or Proxy      Collected in: 2011      Mode: In person & telephone
Source variables: y_retproxy1, y_rethelp0, capiproxy, y_proxy, y_ivwloc

Frequencies
Value Label Male Female Total
. System missing - NR 2146 2019 4165
-30 NOT PART OF MOSAQ 68 116 184
-5 PARTIAL INTERVIEW 2 0 2
1 R COMPLETED ALONE 2434 2998 5432
2 R COMPLETED ALONE WITH SOMEONE ELSE IN THE ROOM 266 154 420
3 R RECEIVED A LITTLE HELP 54 20 74
4 R RECEIVED A LOT OF HELP 6 2 8
5 HELPER RESPONDED TO ALL ITEMS 1 0 1
7 WHOLE INTERVIEW DONE BY PROXY 14 17 31
Note: For many cases a participant's spouse or other family member was present during the interview. This sometimes resulted in the participant relying on the other person for help in answering some or many of the questions. At the end of each module the interviewer indicated the amount of help the participant received and who provided that help. That assessment is covered by codes 1 through 5. Additionally, a code of 7 indicates that the entire interview was administered to a proxy while a code of 6 indicates that this particular module was answered by a proxy but other modules were answered by the participant.

hretrel: Relationship of Retirement Attitudes Module helper or proxy to Participant.

Data source: Graduate Participant or Proxy      Collected in: 2011      Mode: In person & telephone
Source variables: HRETSTAT, y_retproxy1, y_rethelp0, y_rethelp1, y_rethelp2_hfn, y_rethelp3, y_h1fn-y_h4fn, y_pfn, prxyfnam, y_p1fn-y_p5fn, y_prel, prxyrel, y_p1rel-y_p5rel

Frequencies
Value Label Male Female Total
. System missing - NR 2146 2019 4165
-30 NOT PART OF MOSAQ 68 116 184
-5 PARTIAL INTERVIEW 2 0 2
-4 NOT ASCERTAINED 1 1 2
-2 2700 3152 5852
0 SPOUSE 71 28 99
2 BROTHER 1 0 1
8 DAUGHTER 1 4 5
25 FRIEND 0 2 2
39 NEPHEW 0 1 1
48 SON 1 3 4
Note: If this module was administered via proxy or if the participant received help answering the questions in this module then we record the relationship of the proxy/helper to the participant. Although most participants relied on only one helper or proxy for the interview, some had more than one. Thus the value of the relationship code may vary across the modules.

ht112re: At this time do you consider yourself partly retired, completely retired, or not retired at all?

Data source: Graduate Participant or Proxy      Collected in: 2011      Mode: In person & telephone
Source variables: y_b11q485

Frequencies
Value Label Male Female Total
. System missing - NR 2146 2019 4165
-30 NOT PART OF MOSAQ 68 116 184
-27 NOT ASKED OF PROXY 14 17 31
-5 PARTIAL INTERVIEW 2 0 2
-1 DON'T KNOW 1 4 5
1 COMPLETELY RETIRED 1775 2322 4097
2 PARTLY RETIRED 727 557 1284
3 NOT RETIRED AT ALL 258 291 549

ht113re: At what age do you plan to stop working?

Data source: Graduate Participant or Proxy      Collected in: 2011      Mode: In person & telephone
Source variables: y_b11q490a

Frequencies
Value Label Male Female Total
. System missing - NR 2146 2019 4165
-30 NOT PART OF MOSAQ 68 116 184
-27 NOT ASKED OF PROXY 14 17 31
-5 PARTIAL INTERVIEW 2 0 2
-4 NOT ASCERTAINED 0 1 1
-2 2503 2883 5386
-1 DONT KNOW 73 88 161
1 NEVER 87 102 189
65 - 72 18 23 41
73 - 75 51 47 98
76 - 80 19 23 42
85 - 97 10 7 17

ht112sp: At this time do you consider your SPOUSE partly retired, completely retired, or not retired at all?

Data source: Graduate Participant or Proxy      Collected in: 2011      Mode: In person & telephone
Source variables: y_b11q485sp

Frequencies
Value Label Male Female Total
. System missing - NR 2146 2019 4165
-30 NOT PART OF MOSAQ 68 116 184
-27 NOT ASKED OF PROXY 14 17 31
-5 PARTIAL INTERVIEW 2 0 2
-2 2611 3066 5677
-1 DON'T KNOW 1 0 1
1 COMPLETELY RETIRED 63 48 111
2 PARTLY RETIRED 28 20 48
3 NOT RETIRED AT ALL 58 40 98

ht114re: Do you expect your spouse to retire at about the same time that you do?

Data source: Graduate Participant or Proxy      Collected in: 2011      Mode: In person & telephone
Source variables: y_b1105

Frequencies
Value Label Male Female Total
. System missing - NR 2146 2019 4165
-30 NOT PART OF MOSAQ 68 116 184
-27 NOT ASKED OF PROXY 14 17 31
-5 PARTIAL INTERVIEW 2 0 2
-2 2674 3114 5788
-1 DON'T KNOW 6 6 12
1 YES 52 33 85
2 NO 29 21 50

ht115re: When you (and your spouse) are (both) retired, how do you expect your living standards will change?

Data source: Graduate Participant or Proxy      Collected in: 2011      Mode: In person & telephone
Source variables: y_b1110

Frequencies
Value Label Male Female Total
. System missing - NR 2146 2019 4165
-30 NOT PART OF MOSAQ 68 116 184
-27 NOT ASKED OF PROXY 14 17 31
-5 PARTIAL INTERVIEW 2 0 2
-2 2589 2981 5570
-1 DONT KNOW 2 1 3
1 INCREASE A LOT 2 1 3
2 INCREASE SOMEWHAT 5 3 8
3 STAY ABOUT THE SAME AS NOW 109 115 224
4 DECLINE SOMEWHAT 51 54 105
5 DECLINE A LOT 3 19 22
Note: This question was asked of non-married/partnered participants as well as those who were married or partnered. If the participant was married/partnered it was asked regarding when both the participant and their spouse/partner would be retired.

ht116re: How much had you discussed retirement with your spouse?

Data source: Graduate Participant or Proxy      Collected in: 2011      Mode: In person & telephone
Source variables: y_b1125

Frequencies
Value Label Male Female Total
. System missing - NR 2146 2019 4165
-30 NOT PART OF MOSAQ 68 116 184
-27 NOT ASKED OF PROXY 14 17 31
-5 PARTIAL INTERVIEW 2 0 2
-3 REFUSED 0 1 1
-2 629 1271 1900
-1 DONT KNOW 2 4 6
1 A LOT 990 824 1814
2 SOME 633 589 1222
3 A LITTLE 173 148 321
4 HARDLY AT ALL 334 337 671

ht117re: In what month did you completely/partly retire?

Data source: Graduate Participant or Proxy      Collected in: 2011      Mode: In person & telephone
Source variables: y_b1130_a

Frequencies
Value Label Male Female Total
. System missing - NR 2146 2019 4165
-30 NOT PART OF MOSAQ 68 116 184
-5 PARTIAL INTERVIEW 2 0 2
-4 NOT ASCERTAINED 1 4 5
-3 REFUSED 0 2 2
-2 258 291 549
-1 DON'T KNOW 180 378 558
1 January 320 258 578
2 February 141 129 270
3 March 164 140 304
4 April 190 189 379
5 May 183 272 455
6 June 323 476 799
7 July 198 197 395
8 August 150 136 286
9 September 171 203 374
10 October 164 161 325
11 November 108 124 232
12 December 224 231 455

ht118re: In what year did you completely/partly retire?

Data source: Graduate Participant or Proxy      Collected in: 2011      Mode: In person & telephone
Source variables: y_b1130_b

Frequencies
Value Label Male Female Total
. System missing - NR 2146 2019 4165
-30 NOT PART OF MOSAQ 68 116 184
-5 PARTIAL INTERVIEW 2 0 2
-4 NOT ASCERTAINED 1 4 5
-3 REFUSED 0 1 1
-2 258 291 549
-1 DON'T KNOW 23 125 148
1939 - 1997 494 646 1140
1998 - 2001 755 760 1515
2002 - 2005 670 725 1395
2006 - 2010 540 584 1124
2011 - 2012 34 55 89

ht119re: Century-month in which participant completely/partially retired.

Data source: Graduate Participant or Proxy      Collected in: 2011      Mode: In person & telephone
Source variables: y_b1130_a, y_b1130_b

Frequencies
Value Label Male Female Total
. System missing - NR 2146 2019 4165
-30 NOT PART OF MOSAQ 68 116 184
-5 PARTIAL INTERVIEW 2 0 2
-4 NOT ASCERTAINED 27 137 164
-2 258 291 549
479 - 1170 454 601 1055
1171 - 1210 517 538 1055
1211 - 1242 531 530 1061
1243 - 1281 499 563 1062
1282 - 1353 489 531 1020
Note: Here, century-months are calculated based on calendar years. 1900 is first subtracted from the calendar year reported by the participant. Then, the resulting number of years is multiplied by 12 to capture how many months have elapsed since the beginning of the year 1900. Finally, we add a number representing the sequential position in a calendar year of the month in which the participant retired (e.g. 3 for March, the 3rd month in the year). If we do not have data on the participant's month of retirement, 6 (for June, the midmost month of the year) is added to the number of months elapsed since the beginning of 1900 to approximate the exact century-month.

ht120re: Thinking about your retirement years compared to the years just before you retired, would you say that your living standards are better, about the same, or not as good?

Data source: Graduate Participant or Proxy      Collected in: 2011      Mode: In person & telephone
Source variables: y_b1145

Frequencies
Value Label Male Female Total
. System missing - NR 2146 2019 4165
-30 NOT PART OF MOSAQ 68 116 184
-27 NOT ASKED OF PROXY 14 17 31
-5 PARTIAL INTERVIEW 2 0 2
-4 NOT ASCERTAINED 132 129 261
-3 REFUSED 0 1 1
-2 258 291 549
-1 DON'T KNOW 0 3 3
1 BETTER 566 718 1284
2 ABOUT THE SAME 1554 1683 3237
3 NOT AS GOOD 251 349 600

htb121re: Thinking about your retirement years compared to the years just before you retired, would you say that your relationship with your SPOUSE has been better, about the same, or not as good?

Data source: Graduate Participant or Proxy      Collected in: 2011      Mode: In person & telephone
Source variables: y_b1155

Frequencies
Value Label Male Female Total
. System missing - NR 2146 2019 4165
-30 NOT PART OF MOSAQ 68 116 184
-27 NOT ASKED OF PROXY 14 17 31
-5 PARTIAL INTERVIEW 2 0 2
-3 REFUSED 4 4 8
-2 745 1335 2080
-1 DON'T KNOW 30 27 57
1 BETTER 671 644 1315
2 ABOUT THE SAME 1270 1094 2364
3 NOT AS GOOD 41 70 111
Note: There are two analysis variables in the 2011 wave that measure changes in marital quality after spouse retirement. The other variable is HTA121RE and can be found in the marriage module

ht125re: Thinking about your retirement years compared to the years just before you retired, would you say that your relationship with your CHILDREN has been better, about the same, or not as good?

Data source: Graduate Participant or Proxy      Collected in: 2011      Mode: In person & telephone
Source variables: y_b1149

Frequencies
Value Label Male Female Total
. System missing - NR 2146 2019 4165
-30 NOT PART OF MOSAQ 68 116 184
-27 NOT ASKED OF PROXY 14 17 31
-5 PARTIAL INTERVIEW 2 0 2
-3 REFUSED 3 2 5
-2 551 591 1142
-1 DON'T KNOW 4 18 22
1 BETTER 581 625 1206
2 ABOUT THE SAME 1580 1905 3485
3 NOT AS GOOD 42 33 75

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