Can we trust older people's statements on their childhood circumstances? Evidence from SHARELIFE

Titel:: Can we trust older people's statements on their childhood circumstances? Evidence from SHARELIFE
Autor(en):: Mazzonna, Fabrizio; Havari Enkelejda
Abstract:: This study provides evidence about the quality of retrospective assessments of individualsaged 50+ regarding their childhood histories in 3rd wave of the Survey of Health Ageing andRetirement in Europe (SHARE). Early life events are important to social scientists in predictingindividuals' outcomes in adulthood. Nevertheless, there is wide skepticism about the ability ofold age respondents to recall with good accuracy events which happened decades ago. We assessthe internal and external consistency of some measures of childhood health and socio-economicstatus and ﬁ nd that overall respondents seem to remember well their health status and livingconditions between ages 0-15. Thanks to the cross-country dimension of SHARE (13 Europeancountries), we are able to compare individual responses with aggregate data (e.g. GDP percapita) at country level. The results we ﬁ nd should mitigate doubts on retrospective datacollection and promote their use for research purposes.
Stichworte:: Arbeitspapier/Diskussionspapier
Jahr:: 2011
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