Pension data in SHARE

SHARE asks respondents about the pensions they receive now and, if they are not yet drawing them, about the pensions they expect to receive later. Most of these questions are in the Employment and Pensions (EP) module, which has been part of every regular wave since the first one in 2004. This page lists the pension items, what each one measures, and the wave in which it first appeared.

What pension information does the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe ask respondents about?

• Pension income. Which public, occupational and private pensions a respondent received in the previous calendar year, how much a typical payment was, how often it was paid, for how many months, any extra or lump-sum payments, and the year the pension started.
• Future entitlements. For pensions not yet being drawn: the type of pension, whether membership is compulsory or voluntary, years of contributions, the age at which the respondent expects to start claiming, and the benefit they expect.
• Retirement. The year (and month) of retirement and the reasons for retiring. People still in work are asked whether they would like to retire as early as they can and whether they think their health will force them to stop before regular retirement age.
• Benefit spells (waves 2 to 5). Start and end dates of periods in which respondents received old-age, early retirement, disability, sickness or unemployment benefits or social assistance between interviews.

Wave overview of pension items

Question wording is taken from the most recent wave in which the item was asked. Text in square brackets is filled in by the interview program, for example with the name of the pension or the reference year. Wording varies slightly between waves, so please check the questionnaire for the wave you are using.

Wave 3 (SHARELIFE) collected life histories and did not include the EP module, so it is not shown. Text in square brackets is filled in during the interview, for example with the name of the pension.

 Retirement status and timing

Public pensions and benefits received

¹ The list of public pensions and benefits was revised in wave 6 (EP071 became EP671). Sickness benefits and disability pensions are now separate categories, and social assistance was added.
² In wave 1, occupational pensions were also part of this list. From wave 2 they were asked about separately (see Occupational pensions).
³ In wave 1 amounts were asked before tax. From wave 2 onwards they are asked after tax.
⁴ Amounts are recorded in national currency and refer to the calendar year before the interview.
⁵ To get an annual figure, combine the payment amount with the payment period (EP074) and the number of months received (EP208).

Occupational pensions

¹ Occupational pensions were asked about differently over time. In wave 1 they were part of the main list of pensions (EP071). In waves 2 to 5 respondents reported each occupational pension separately (EP324) with its own amount. Since wave 6 there is a single question on whether any occupational pension was received (EP624) and one annual total for all of them (EP678).
² Amounts are recorded in national currency and refer to the calendar year before the interview.

Private pensions and other regular payments

¹ In wave 1 amounts were asked before tax. From wave 2 onwards they are asked after tax.
² Amounts are recorded in national currency and refer to the calendar year before the interview.
³ To get an annual figure, combine the payment amount with the payment period (EP090) and the number of months received (EP096).

Future pension entitlements and expectations

¹ Expected pension benefit was asked as a percentage of last earnings in waves 1 to 5 (EP109). From wave 6 it is asked as an expected first monthly amount after tax (EP409 in wave 6, EP609 from wave 7).

Benefit spells between interviews

Further information

The full questionnaire for each wave, including routing and the show cards that list pension types, is available on the SHARE website. The release guide explains how these items appear in the released data and how they are named. If you have questions about the pension data, please contact the SHARE team.