ELSA 50+ Health and Life
As the population in England is ageing, adults above the age of 50 are increasing by the year. We're carrying out this research to find out more about the lives of people in this influential age group.
Taking Part
We will be inviting people to take part in the latest round of ELSA interviews between May 2025 and Spring 2026.
Find out more about taking part here.
About the study
ELSA is unique. We are the only major study in England talking to people from 50, right up to 100 years old and beyond, at the same time. We go back to the same people every few years, to help us understand in detail how things are changing for people in this age group.
The research is funded by a number of UK government departments coordinated by the National Institute for Health Research, and the National Institute on Aging in the United States. Funding has also been provided by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC).
Meet the ELSA team
A number of organisations work together to run ELSA and analyse the information you give us. As well as the National Centre for Social Research (NatCen), they are:
- The Institute of Epidemiology and Health Care at University College London (UCL)
- The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS)
- The School of Social Science at the University of Manchester (UoM)
- The University of East Anglia (UEA)
ELSA helps to build a picture of ageing in England. Government, charities, and academics use ELSA data when thinking about policies and initiatives for people aged 50 and over. This includes things like work, pensions, and healthcare which could affect you and your family.
Why take part?
Make your voice heard
People aged 50 and over account for half of the nation's spending and three quarters of the nation's wealth, so it’s important the Government listens to your opinions and experiences.
Change over time
We’d like to find out how your life is changing. This allows us to collect really useful information about changes in your health, social life, finances and relationships.
Be part of a bigger picture
ELSA isn’t the only study of people aged 50 and over, there are others in America, Europe, India and China. We hope you take part in ELSA; if you do, you’ll be contributing to an international effort to understand later life and what it means for people.
Your contribution makes a big difference
Your participation in the study is really important to ensure the research findings are reliable and contribute effectively to future decision-making. Participation is completely voluntary, however, so it is up to you. If you do take part, you can change your mind at any time and choose not to answer any questions that you prefer not to. We know your time is precious, but our work really does make a difference. We help government and charities to make the right decisions about the big issues.
A token of our appreciation
As a thank you for taking part, we'll give you a £20 gift card or an e-voucher which you can use at a range of high street shops. Please see a list of retailers where you could use your Love2Shop voucher:
Why have I been chosen?
Why we’ve gotten in touch with you
You’ve been selected to take part in ELSA 50+ Health and Life because either you’ve already taken part in ELSA, or because you've taken part in the Health Survey for England or the Family Resources Survey and at the time, you kindly agreed to us contacting you again.
The great thing about interviewing the same people again is that we can link to information collected already to get even more value out of the survey.
Even if you've been asked to take part in the past and have said no, we'd love you to take part now.
Why you’re so important to us
You have been chosen for your unique perspective and your contribution is very important to the study. By taking part, you will help create valuable information to improve policies and support for ageing in England.
We want to hear from you because each person chosen to take part is unique. You can’t be replaced by anyone else, as this would bias the results, and we need to speak to as many people as possible in order to have enough information to make the survey meaningful.
We want to hear from people from all walks of life
It’s really important to us and our funders and collaborators that our research represents the views of everyone aged 50 and over living in England.
We want to speak to people from all walks of life. You might be retired, unemployed or still working nine to five. You could live alone or have a large family. You might be struggling financially or comfortably off. You could be feeling fit and healthy or dealing with health problems.
Whatever your situation is, your experiences are important to us.
How ELSA has made a difference: Latest findings
Click here to discover the latest findings.
Publications analysing ELSA data are published on the ELSA project website. The data is also used by other researchers and academics to write journal articles, which you can also find on the ELSA project website.
Privacy
In this privacy notice, we explain the legal basis for data processing, who will have access to your personal data, how your data will be used, stored and deleted and who you can contact with a query or a complaint.
Read more about our privacy policy.
Linking data
ELSA sub-studies
ELSA 50+ Health Visit
The ELSA 50+ health visit is a vital part of ELSA 50+ Health and Life. Every few years we will ask if you’d like to be interviewed by one of our biomedical fieldworkers. They will take some measurements, like your height, weight and blood pressure.
Health visits will return in 2027 and will still be done face-to-face by a trained biomedical fieldworker.
ELSA 50+ Life History Interview
This study is an additional part of ELSA 50+ Health and Life, looking at respondent’s life events prior to joining ELSA.
Read more about ELSA 50+ Life History Interview.
ELSA 50+ Memory and Thinking
ELSA 50+ Memory and Thinking is a special additional part of ELSA 50+ Health and Life, looking at how people’s memory and thinking changes as they get older. This sub-study of ELSA is run every five years.
Read more about ELSA 50+ Memory and Thinking.
ELSA 50+ CHIP
The ELSA 50+ CHIP substudy is an additional part of ELSA 50+ Health and Life looking at will research Clonal Haematopoiesis of Indeterminate Potential (CHIP), a common age-related condition.
Read more about ELSA 50+ CHIP sub-study.
ELSA participant consultation
Prior to this phase of ELSA, NatCen completed a consultation with some of our ELSA participants.
Read more about the consultation process here.
What if I need support?
If you have been affected by any of the topics covered in this research study, you can find a list of helplines and support agencies that may help you here.
Contact us
If you have any questions, please contact the ELSA research team:
- Phone: Freephone 0800 652 4574
- Email: elsa@natcen.ac.uk
Our Freephone service is available Monday to Thursday, 9:00 AM to 8:00 PM, Friday 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM, and Saturday 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM.
If you have changed your contact details recently, please contact us using the details above.