Estimates in this report for 1979 and 1980 are based on adjustment of weighted sample results to independent estimates of the civilian noninstitutional population derived from the 1980 Census of Population. The data shown in this report for 1979 may differ slightly from those published in the Series P-23, No. 110 report, because of modifications to data processing procedures.

This report contains data on selected characteristics of households and persons receiving noncash benefits in 1979 and 1980. These data were obtained from the March Current Population Survey (CPS) conducted in 1980 and 1981 by the Bureau of the Census. Noncash benefits can be defined as benefits received in a form other than money which serve to enhance or improve the economic well-being of the recipient. The Census Bureau began to collect noncash benefit data in March 1980 by supplementing the collection of annual money income data with questions designed to obtain information on a selected group of these benefits.

The data collection in March 1980 and 1981 concentrated on two major categories of noncash benefits: those which could be defined as public transfers and those which could be categorized as employer- or union-provided benefits to employees. In the area of public noncash transfers, the survey covered the following programs: Food Stamp Program; National School Lunch Program; public and other subsidized housing; Medicare health insurance; Medicaid health insurance; and CHAMPUS, VA, or military health insurance. Data were collected for two types of employer- or union-provided noncash benefits: pension plans and group health insurance plans.

This report contains the most comprehensive information on noncash benefits published by the Bureau. The detailed tables cover both 1979 and 1980, and except for minor differences, the tables are identical for both years. They are grouped together by year with the tables for 1979 following those for 1980. The highlights section which follows presents some general findings concerning noncash benefit recipiency households and changes in recipiency between 1979 and 1980. These findings were released previously in an advance report (Current Population Reports, Series P-60, No. 128). Because this report contains much more information than that shown in the advance report, the highlights section is followed by a summary of the data shown in the detailed tables.