The Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) -- Israel, 2005-2006

The Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) is a multidisciplinary and cross-national database of micro data on health, socio-economic status and social and family networks of individuals aged 50 or over which was designed after the role models of the United States Health and Retirement Study (HRS) and the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA). SHARE-Israel was added to the collection during 2005 and 2006 and required a complex adaptation of the SHARE survey instruments for implementation in Israel. In order to access the three major population groups that make up Israeli society, veteran Jewish-Israelis, Arab-Israelis and new immigrants from the former Soviet Union after 1989, it was necessary to translate the CAPI questionnaire and the drop off questionnaire into Hebrew, Arabic and Russian. Data collected include health variables (e.g., self-reported health, physical functioning, cognitive functioning, health behavior, use of health care facilities), psychological variables (e.g., psychological health, well-being, life satisfaction), economic variables such as (current work activity, job characteristics, opportunities to work past retirement age, sources and composition of current income, wealth and consumption, housing, education), and social support variables (e.g., assistance within families, transfers of income and assets, social networks, volunteer activities). Two physical performance measures were also employed. The first was grip strength, the respondent's maximum handgrip strength measured by means of a dynamometer. The second physical performance measure was walking speed, which was asked only of persons aged 75 and older. This physical measurement involved asking the respondent to walk a certain distance and measuring the time it took for the respondent to complete the task. Unique to SHARE-Israel were questions in the drop-off questionnaire regarding trauma. Respondents were asked about difficult life events that they had experienced and the degree to which they were affected by them. The events were drawn from the following areas (1) having personally suffered injury in war, in a terrorist attack, a grave illness or accident, (2) having witnessed injury or death in war, in a terrorist attack, and/or in an accident or crime, (3) having been a victim of crime, abuse, sexual harassment and/or severe economic adversity, (4) having had a close person injured or lost due to war, a terrorist attack, accident or grave illness, (5) loss of spouse and/or offspring, and (6) having provided or received long term care due to functional disability. A separate inventory chronicled respondents' exposure to the Holocaust. Also included in the drop-off questionnaire were questions regarding pension reform: which addressed respondents' awareness of the legislated delay in the age of eligibility for retirement pension in Israel, (for men, age 67 and for women, age 64). It also inquired about implications of the change in pension age, information regarding personal plans for employment or retirement in light of the change, and sources of income that would be used to bridge the period between retirement and receipt of pension, if early retirement was contemplated. Full details regarding SHARE can be located at the SHARE Web site.

欧洲健康、老龄化与退休调查（Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe，简称SHARE）是一项多学科、跨国家的微观数据库，面向50岁及以上人群，收集其健康、社会经济状况以及社会与家庭网络相关的微观数据，其设计以美国健康与退休研究（Health and Retirement Study，简称HRS）与英国老龄化纵向研究（English Longitudinal Study of Ageing，简称ELSA）为范本。以色列分支（SHARE-Israel）于2005至2006年被纳入该数据集体系，为适配以色列的调查实施场景，需对SHARE的调查工具进行复杂的本土化调整。为覆盖构成以色列社会的三大主要人群——本土犹太裔以色列人、阿拉伯裔以色列人以及1989年后来自前苏联的新移民，需将计算机辅助个人访谈（Computer-Assisted Personal Interviewing，CAPI）问卷与留置问卷分别译为希伯来语、阿拉伯语与俄语。所收集的数据涵盖健康变量（如自评健康状况、躯体功能、认知功能、健康行为、医疗服务使用情况）、心理变量（如心理健康、幸福感、生活满意度）、经济变量（包括当前工作状态、职业特征、超过退休年龄后的就业机会、当前收入的来源与构成、财富与消费、住房状况、受教育程度）以及社会支持变量（如家庭内部互助、收入与资产转移、社会网络、志愿活动）。此外，研究还采用了两项躯体功能测试指标：其一为握力，即通过握力计测量受访者的最大手部握力；其二为行走速度，该测试仅面向75岁及以上的受访者，具体流程为要求受访者行走一段固定距离，并记录其完成该任务所需的时间。以色列分支的留置问卷中包含了针对创伤经历的专属问题。受访者需回答其曾经历的艰难生活事件，以及这些事件对其造成的影响程度。相关事件涵盖以下类别：(1) 本人在战争、恐怖袭击、重症或意外事故中受伤；(2) 目睹战争、恐怖袭击、意外事故或犯罪行为中的受伤或死亡场景；(3) 遭受犯罪、虐待、性骚扰以及严重经济困境的侵害；(4) 近亲属因战争、恐怖袭击、意外事故或重症而受伤或离世；(5) 配偶或子女离世；(6) 因功能障碍而提供或接受长期护理。另有一份独立清单用于记录受访者的犹太人大屠杀经历。留置问卷中还包含与养老金改革相关的问题：旨在了解受访者对以色列法定延迟退休养老金领取年龄的知晓情况（男性为67岁，女性为64岁）；同时询问该养老金年龄调整政策的影响、受访者据此制定的就业或退休个人计划，以及若考虑提前退休，用于填补从退休到领取养老金期间收入缺口的资金来源。有关SHARE的完整详细信息可通过其官方网站查询。