Multidisciplinary and cross-national data base of micro data on health, socio-economic status and social and family networks of 22,000 Continental European individuals over the age of 50. SHARE is co-ordinated centrally at the Mannheim Research Institute for the Economics of Aging.

Eleven countries have contributed micro data to the 2004 SHARE baseline study. They are a balanced representation of the various regions in Europe, ranging from Scandinavia (Denmark and Sweden) through Central Europe (Austria, France, Germany, Switzerland, Belgium, and the Netherlands) to the Mediterranean (Spain, Italy and Greece). Further data is currently being collected in Israel.