The survey
The ratio of older people to total population is higher in Europe than on any other continent – the phenomenon of population ageing will continue well into this century. SHARE (also called "50+ in Europe") is the first study of its kind to examine the different ways in which people aged 50 and older live. 27 EU member states as well as Israel are part of the survey. The data are collected every second year and started in 2004 with the 1st wave. In 2020 the data for wave 8 were collected and data for waves 1-8 are now available. SHARE is set to end in 2024 with the 10th and final wave.
The questionnaire
Based on probability samples in all participating countries, SHARE represents the non-institutionalized population aged 50 and older. The SHARE questionnaires contain information regarding demography, social participation, health and socio-economic status. All questionnaires – both the generic and country specific versions – can be found on SHARE's official website.
Collaborators
Statistics Denmark (DST Survey) collect the interviews for the Danish part of the SHARE survey. SDU has been collaborating with DST Survey (previously SFI Survey) since the very first data collection in 2004.
SDU also collaborates with several other Danish universities and research institutions, please see REGLINK-SHAREDK for more information.
Funding
European funding
The SHARE data collection (waves 1-3 in Denmark) has been primarily funded by the European Commission through the 5th framework programme (project QLK6-CT-2001-00360 in the thematic programme "Quality of Life"). Further support by the European Commission through the 6th framework programme (projects SHARE-I3, RII-CT-2006-062193, as an Integrated Infrastructure Initiative, COMPARE, CIT5-CT-2005-028857, as a project in Priority 7, Citizens and Governance in a Knowledge Based Society, and SHARE-LIFE (CIT4-CT-2006-028812)) and through the 7th framework programme (SHARE-PREP (No. 211909), SHARE-LEAP (No. 227822) and M4 (No. 261982)) is gratefully acknowledged.
Substantial co-funding for add-ons, such as the intensive training programme for SHARE interviewers, came from the U.S. National Institute on Aging (U01 AG09740-13S2, P01 AG005842, P01 AG08291, P30 AG12815, R21 AG025169, Y1-AG-4553-01, IAG BSR06-11 and OGHA 04-064). The Danish wave 5 was partially funded by NIA.
Substantial funding for the central coordination of SHARE came from the German Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung (BMBF).
National funding
Besides international funds, several national institutions have supported SHARE over the years. In wave 4 SHARE-DK received funds from “Forskningsrådet for Samfund og Erhverv” (FSE) and wave 5 was partially financed by the University of Southern Denmark (Department for Public Health). Waves 6 and 7 were financed through the REGLINK Consortium and “Styrelsen for Forskning og Innovation” (the Danish Agency for Science, Technology and Innovation).
Wave 8 is financed by the members of the REGLINK-SHAREDK Consortium and by a grant from the Carlsberg Foundation. For waves 9 and 10, funding has been provided by the parties in the REGLINK-SHAREDK consortium as well as by the Carlsberg Foundation, TrygFonden, the Velux Foundation, Helsefonden and the Danish Ministry of Higher Education and Science.