Background

Data are lacking on the health, social support, and economic security of India’s growing elderly population, and concern is for the wellbeing of this expanding group is mounting. By assembling a research team of demographers, economists, medical doctors, sociologists, and public health and policy experts, LASI aims to supply the data needed to understand the situation of India’s elderly population.  This evidence base will contribute to cross-national studies of aging and will inform the design of policies that can protect and support the growing elderly community.

Source: United Nations Population Division, World Population Prospects: The 2010 Revision (New York: United Nations, 2011)

LASI aims to bolster policy development around aging issues in India by providing data on several key areas, including:

• Demographics
• Health status
• Health care utilization, Insurance
• Income and consumption
• Debt and assets
• Work, employment and pension 

The Longitudinal Aging Study in India (LASI) follows a nationally represen­tative sample of roughly 50,000 Indians aged 45 years and older over time. LASI is modeled after the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) in the United States and is comparable to simi­lar studies in Asia, including the Chinese Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS), the Japanese Study of Aging and Retirement (JSTAR), and the Korean Longitudinal Study of Aging (KLoSA).