Survey of Consumer Finances, 1959

This data collection is one in a series of financial
surveys of consumers conducted annually since 1946. In a nationally
representative sample, the head of each spending unit (usually the
husband, the main earner, or the owner of the home) was interviewed.
The basic unit of reference in the study was the spending unit, but
some family data are also available. The questions in the 1959 survey
covered the respondent's attitudes toward national economic conditions
and price activity, as well as the respondent's own financial situation.
Other questions examined the spending unit head's occupation, and the
nature and amount of the spending unit's income, debts, liquid assets,
changes in liquid assets, savings, investment preferences, and actual
and expected purchases of cars and other major durables. In addition,
the survey explored in detail the subject of housing, e.g., previous
and present home ownership, value of respondent's dwelling, and
mortgage information. Respondents also were asked for the details of
the head's unemployment experience and for any changes in the
composition of the spending unit. Personal data include number of
people in the spending unit, age, sex, and education of the head, and
the race and sex of the respondent.