Well-Being and Basic Needs Survey, United States, 2024 (ICPSR 39691)
Version Date: Jun 4, 2026 View help for published
Principal Investigator(s): View help for Principal Investigator(s)
Michael Karpman, Urban Institute;
Elaine Waxman, Urban Institute
Series:
https://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR39691.v1
Version V1
Summary View help for Summary
In December 2017, the Urban Institute launched the Well-Being and Basic Needs Survey (WBNS), a nationally representative, internet-based survey of non-elderly adults designed to monitor changes in individual and family well-being during a time when policymakers were considering significant changes to federal safety net programs serving low-income families. The 2024 round of the survey collected information on a broad array of topics related to health, material hardship, and the safety net, including health insurance, housing, food security, employment, family income, charitable food, program participation, family financial security, disability, experiences with health care providers, attitudes toward discussing social needs in health care settings, experiences of discrimination, tax filing, experiences with SNAP, awareness of and interest in Food is Medicine programs, impact of criminal legal fines and fees, and immigration.
Citation View help for Citation
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Funding View help for Funding
Subject Terms View help for Subject Terms
Geographic Coverage View help for Geographic Coverage
Smallest Geographic Unit View help for Smallest Geographic Unit
Census region
Distributor(s) View help for Distributor(s)
Time Period(s) View help for Time Period(s)
Date of Collection View help for Date of Collection
Data Collection Notes View help for Data Collection Notes
- For additional information on the Well-Being and Basic Needs Survey (WBNS), please visit the WBNS website.
Study Purpose View help for Study Purpose
The Urban Institute launched the Well-Being and Basic Needs Survey (WBNS) to monitor changes in individual and family health and well-being as policymakers make changes to federal safety net programs and the labor market continues to evolve.
Study Design View help for Study Design
Current recruitment into the KnowledgePanel is based on an address-based sampling frame that covers nearly all residential addresses in the United States. In earlier periods, recruitment was carried out by telephone based on random-digit dialing sampling techniques. Approximately 60,000 individuals participate in the panel, including those with and without internet access. Web-enabled devices and internet access are provided to panel members if needed, and respondents can complete the online surveys in English or Spanish.
Sample View help for Sample
For each round, a stratified random sample of approximately 7,500 adults ages 18 to 64 is drawn from the KnowledgePanel, a probability-based, nationally representative internet panel maintained by Ipsos. The WBNS includes an oversample of adults with household incomes under 150 percent of the federal poverty level (FPL) to improve the precision of estimates for this group. The December 2024 round also included an oversample of Black adults with household incomes between 150 and 250 percent of FPL.
Time Method View help for Time Method
Universe View help for Universe
Household population aged 18-64 years old
Unit(s) of Observation View help for Unit(s) of Observation
Data Type(s) View help for Data Type(s)
Mode of Data Collection View help for Mode of Data Collection
Response Rates View help for Response Rates
The WBNS cumulative response rate is roughly three to four percent each round.
HideOriginal Release Date View help for Original Release Date
2026-06-04
Version History View help for Version History
2026-06-04 ICPSR data undergo a confidentiality review and are altered when necessary to limit the risk of disclosure. ICPSR also routinely creates ready-to-go data files along with setups in the major statistical software formats as well as standard codebooks to accompany the data. In addition to these procedures, ICPSR performed the following processing steps for this data collection:
- Checked for undocumented or out-of-range codes.
Weight View help for Weight
The WBNS weights reflect the probability of sample selection from the KnowledgePanel and post-stratification to the characteristics of nonelderly adults in the United States based on benchmarks from the Current Population Survey and American Community Survey for the following measures: age by gender; race and ethnicity; educational attainment; presence of children in the household; census region; residence in a metropolitan area; homeownership status; family income as a percentage of the federal poverty level; family composition (married or living with a partner by presence of children in the family); primary language; and internet access by age.
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The public-use data files in this collection are available for access by the general public. Access does not require affiliation with an ICPSR member institution.
ICPSR usually offers files in multiple formats for researchers to be able to access data and documentation in formats that work well within their needs. If you have questions about the accessibility of materials distributed by ICPSR or require further assistance, please visit ICPSR’s Accessibility Center.