This project aims to help resolve controversies on the length of life above age 65, the separability of chronic conditions and age, the impact of health at younger ages on subsequent wealth formation, morbidity, an mortality, the extent of displacement of private savings by public transfers, and the impact of public transfers and private savings on labor force participation rates of older men. Resolution of these issues has direct relevance to such urgent policy issues as the size of the elderly population eligible for Social Security, the wealth generating ability of future generations during their working years, and the future cost of health care and of retirement benefits. Recent forecasts have, for the most part, been based upon data that begins only in the late 1960s, and which may reflect short-term fluctuations rather than a long-term trend. Forecasts that reflect the long- term trend will be more soundly based. The project will provide data that can help adjust forecasts for underlying trends. A public-use tape suitable for a study of the impact of early childhood socio-economic factors and exposure to disease during developmental ages on health at young adult ages, occupational mobility, wealth formation, and morbidity and mortality at older ages will be produced as part of this project. The sample will consist of 22,818 men, both black and white, who served in the Union Army and for whom detailed health information, as proxied by height, weight for height, central body fat, including waist-hip ratio, the ratio of chest circumference to height, and the ratio of chest circumference to shoulder diameter, and vital capacity is available. The data will provide the earliest known information for the United States on most of these anthropometric measures and contain a richness of anthropometric variables that is rare even in recent data sets. Detailed socio-economic information, including education, is available as well. The level of detail on education is unique for this time period. A subsample of men will be linked to information in pension, census, and probate records on older age mortality, morbidity, and wealth holdings. Few data sources on either recent or past populations provide such a rich array of variables for the study of the impact of health over the life cycle.
