This site provides access to the dataset and documentation from the Wisconsin Basic Needs Study. Originally called the Wisconsin Income and Spending Survey, this study is a longitudinal survey of 2,000 Wisconsin families, conducted in the early 1980's for the Wisconsin Department of Health and Social Services. The objectives of the study were to describe the basic needs of families, to observe the variation in needs as a function of household size and composition, region, and season, and to determine the behavioral and psychological responses to changes in the ability of families to satisfy their consumption requirements.

The survey measured consumer expenditures, and collected extensive retrospective life history, and behavioral and attitudinal measures. The sample consists of a cross-section of households throughout the state, supplemented by special oversampling of households in which the Department of Health and Social Services had a particular policy interest including low-income families, AFDC households, female headed households with children, and households with an elderly head. For more information, please read the Study Description and consult the Online Codebook.