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Title: The Well-Being and Basic Needs Survey: A New Data Source for Monitoring the Health and Well-Being of Individuals and Families
Citation Type: Miscellaneous
Publication Year: 2018
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Abstract: The social safety net faces a period of transition as policymakers seek significant changes to an array of programs that help low-income families pay for food, health care, housing, and other basic needs. These changes are being considered in an economic environment that exposes many families to financial insecurity even as the economy approaches full employment in 2018. As new program rules and budgets are established, policymakers and the public need timely information to understand how these policies will affect people who rely on public assistance. In December 2017, 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. This new annual survey is a key component of Urban's From Safety Net to Solid Ground project supported by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and other foundations. The project offers insights into the implications of proposed changes to programs such as Medicaid, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, and housing assistance for the well-being of people striving to cover their basic needs. The WBNS builds on the sampling strategy and survey design employed by the Urban Institute for its Health Reform Monitoring Survey (HRMS). Launched in 2013, the HRMS is a survey of the nonelderly population that explores the value of cutting-edge internet-based survey methods to monitor the Affordable Care Act before data from federal surveys are available. The WBNS draws from the same internet panel as the HRMS and similarly provides data well ahead of federal surveys, which have longer time lags between data collection and the release of estimates. Further, the WBNS is unique in the comprehensive nature of its content, which covers a broad cross-section of topics relevant to health and material hardship, including health insurance, housing, food security, employment, family income, program participation, and family financial security. No single federal survey covers the same breadth of issues addressed in the WBNS. These features of the WBNS will provide policymakers and
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Authors: Karpman, Michael; Zuckerman, Stephen; Gonzalez, Dulce
Publisher: Urban Institute
Data Collections: IPUMS USA
Topics: Population Health and Health Systems
Countries: United Kingdom