RAND Family Life Surveys (FLS)

The Family Life Surveys (FLS) are a set of detailed household and community surveys of developing countries conducted by the RAND Corporation, in collaboration with research institutions in the given countries. The currently available country surveys cover Malaysia (1976-77, 1988-89), Indonesia (1993, 1997, 2000), Guatemala (1995), and Bangladesh (1996).

Program surveys include:

• Malaysian Family Life Surveys (MFLS)

  Surveys collected detailed current and retrospective information on family structure, fertility, economic status, education/training, transfers, migration, and many other topics. Each survey also collected community-level data.

• Indonesia Family Life Survey (IFLS)

  Survey collected information at the individual and household levels, including multiple indicators of economic well-being (consumption, income, and assets); education, migration, and labor market outcomes; marriage, fertility, and contraceptive use; health status, use of health care, and health insurance; relationships among coresident and non-coresident family members; processes underlying household decision-making; transfers among family members and inter-generational mobility; and participation in community activities.

• Guatemalan Survey of Family Health (EGSF)

  Survey examined the way in which rural Guatemalan families and individuals cope with childhood illness and pregnancy, and the role of ethnicity, poverty, social support, and health beliefs in this process.

• Matlab Health and Socio-Economic Survey (MHSS)

  Survey examined the following broad areas of concern to the rural adults and the elderly: the effect of socio-economic and behavioral factors on adult and elderly health status, and health care utilization; the linkages between adult/elderly well-being, social and kin network characteristics and resource flows; and the impact of community services and infrastructure on adult/elderly health and other human capital acquisition.