Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1883-04-30
Family Expenses.
lNeY York Sun.


An interesting computation as to the ex-
penditdre by families of working people
in France has recently been made by NJ.
Armangaud. His statistics were obtained
from only sixteen families in the town of
Mulhouse, in Alsace, but their expenses
may be accepted as a fair average for
France. These families represented diff
erent classes of workmen, and their OK
penditure varied from 1, 100 francs to 5000
francs a year; that is, from 1920 to 5000.
Of their total annual expenditure, house
| accommodation, as rule, swallowed up Is
per cent, per cent. being reserved for
miscellaneous expenses. In the matter of
food the highest expenditure registered
was ~ per cent, thus described: For bread,
80 per cent; for meat IA per cent; milk,
Ii per cent; groceries, "a per cent; mis-
cellaneous, Is per cent. The average ex-
penditure for bread was little over one
fifth of their total expenditure.
1t will be seen, therefore, that the bread
bill is not by any means the chief item of
expense in French working family. Yet
the French are great consumers of bread,
as compared with US, for instance; and
hence the cost of bread must be in even
smaller proportion here, while that of
butchers meat undoubtedly consumes a
much larger share of the expenses of liv-
ing.
Last winter when the tariff bill was I'M
der discussion in the senate table was
presented to show that the sugar and mo-
lasses of a family of working people cost
more than the bread. The statistics were
obtained from the large boarding houses
for operatives in Maine manufacturing
town, and of course they would have a
wide application. Sugar is consumed not
only directly, but is used for so many
sweetening purposes in cooking that it
has become one of the principal items of
food expenditure in an ordinary family in
this country.
The 10 per cent. of his annual expendi-
ture the French workingman spends for
house accommodation seems small here.
In all classes of European society house
rent consumes much less proportion of
the outgoes of family than here. There
it is not regarded as prudent to let it ex-
coed a sixth, perhaps even tenth of the
income of family. With US it is common
enough to pay third of the income for
house room alone, and sometimes the pro-
portion is larger than that. A family
which keeps its rent down to a fifth is
rather exceptional in New York, though
formerly that was the common proportion,
or at least the highest which was deemed
safe.
4 mechanic living in tenement house
may have to pay as high as S18 month
for four room apartment in crowded
district. That is $216 year. To get
decently comfortable place he has to give
that, or nearly that, though if he goes into
smaller, poorer and meaner quarters he
may hi ian apartment for good deal
less.
At any rate, the house rent 81 the work
ingman. be he mechanic or daily laborer,
draws so heavily on his purse that he must
not only economic closely in his living to
meet that first necessary expense, but also
be able to get steady work to sustain the
burden. 1t takes too large ashare of his in
come, and the rent is extravagantly high
in proportion to that charged for whole
houses occupied by families in better Cir
cumstances. His department is made up
of small rooms, with comparatively low
ceilings, and the house in which it is may
contain twenty families and more, and be
IN a part of the city where landed property
would yieia Il fair interest on its value at
much lower rent
In proportion 10 their incomes, the peo-
pie OF New York generally pay too much
for house accomod atoms; but the poorer
among them are the worst sufferers in that
respect. Lhe weil-to-do burden them
selves with too much rent of ,entimes for
the sake OF appearances and to make
show, but the Others arg forced to give it
even for mean quarters. They have no
choice,