The SHARE survey: presentation and first results for the French edition

The SHARE survey (Survey on Health Ageing and Retirement in Europe) is an international and multidisciplinary operation launched in 2002, led by a European network coordinated by the MEA of the University of Mannheim. Its ambition is to become an instrument of reference for interdisciplinary research on ageing. A test of this survey on approximately 12000 households took place in 10 European countries in 2004. This first wave already allows the realization of comparative work on participating countries, either descriptive or microeconometric. Data have been made available to researchers in spring 2005, after publication of a volume of first results. This article presents the survey and gives an outline of its potentialities, using some first descriptive results for France.