Albuquerque citizen. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1907-1909, 1907-09-06
Bureau of Statistics Gives
Figures For Family
of Six Taken
From Life.
NO PLEASURES ON
FATHERS S12 WAGES
Typical Case. One of Millions In
Similar Circumstances. Shown
in Detail dS Evidence of
Increased Prices of
Necessities.

Washington, D. c., Sept. 6-The
United States bureau of statistics has
recently compiled facts on the cost of
living as compared with wages and
the following figures are taken from
the record of a family of six who
live on the salary of the father, a dry
goods clerk in Washington, who
makes $12 a week.
The names and the address are
withheld for obvious reasons, but the
facts are actual and may be verified
by application to the bureau of la
bor by whose experts the data was
collected.
These are times of great prosper
ity, and remember, 40 per cent high
er prices which fall hard upon this
little household.
The family consists of the hus-
band, the wife and four children of
the following ages: 10, s, 6 and 3
years The husband is of middle
age. The food-consuming power of
this couple. with their children, is
equivalent to about four adults.
The family occupies a two-story
brick dwelling, fairly well located.
The house has five rooms, water in
| the kitchen. no bath tub-but is sani-
tary. Gas is supplied to the house,
| but Is regulated by a slot-machine
meter. a quarter of a dollar is drop
ped in the slot. and certain amount
| of gas is metered out, when 1t Is
| automatically shut off. The rent of
| this house is $14 month.
Daily Expenses.
1t should be noted here that this
rent is considerably more than
quarter of a mans salary; which, for
| the poor is a ruinous proportion. But,
although the mans income is about
that of a good ditch-digger, he is a
clerk, and he wants to live decently.
Fourteen dollars IS about as well as
he can do. But he is behind on his
rent
How does this family fare in the
| way of food? A glance at the item
/ lied account of a weeks expenses
| viii help to show.
Take the accounts for the second
week in October. The first item is
bakers bread-a loaf a day-with
an extra supply on Saturday, amount
| ing for the week to SO cents.
The next item is meat. The fam
| lily ate no meat all the week, but
on Saturday bought so cents worth
| of beef for stewing, and 10 cents
worth of sausage. Total for meat,
| so cents.
There is a baby in the family, so
| the next item is milk cents a day
| Except Friday when it was 4 cents)
making a total of SO cents week
| for milk.
On Monday there was an item of
As cents for baby food.
For coffee s cents went on Mon
! day and Is cents on Tuesday Total,
tai, 26 cents.
on Thursday cents went for
| doughnuts, 10 cents for syrup, and
| 25 cents for sugar.
That was all the money spent dur
| ing the week for food.
| On Saturday 1 cents was spent
| for necktie, and 10 cents for stock
| ings
Not an Exceptional Case.
For fuel and lighting during the
week 25 cents went for a basket of
! coal, 20 cents into the gas meter
! and IL cents for kerosene.
On Saturday 25 cents went to the
man collecting on the rug which
had been bought on the installment
| plan. Also S1.02 TO the man collect
! ing on the Insurance policies.
Four times during the week ice
was bought cents worth at a time.
| Total, 20 cents.
! Under miscellaneous expenses were
/ medicine 10 cents. nipple for the
! baby's bottle cents, polish 10 cents,
I laundry 70 cents and washing soda l
| cent. Total expenses for the week,
! S6.43-Of which $492 was for food.
And this was not an eXceptOna!
! week for this family.
| rake the Item or meat and see
! how it looks in other weeks. The
/ week before the one recorded above
/ IL came to S5 cents: the week fol-
! lowing 1t came TO GA cents; the next
week it was 40 cents, the next SO and
] 50 on. Not very much nOurishment
/ in that,
For this poor clerks family the
! bread bill was actually larger than
| the meat bill, the former amounting
in five weeks to $3.0S and the latter
| To S2.9l
! In five weeks the family spent but
/ SO cents for Vege tables and fruit
! Their milk and butter cost them
! SAIL Cmostly for the baby and the
/ bill for groceries was $3.50.
Every Cent Necessary.
| During the same five weeks cloth
! ing cost this family $40; fuel ana
! lights S4.6l. furniture and utensils
! $2.57, insurance $3.50, and miscel-
| laueous items $6.66 grand total
! for the five weeks of S3S.g5, not in
/ Guiding rent.
! The five weeks rent amounts %
! $3.50. This, added 10 the foregoing,
| makes the living expenses for the five
| weeks S56.45.
! On a salary of $12 a week the in
/ come is SEQ. leaving margin OF
/ 1855 70 cover everything else-sck-
] ness, clothing (fOr there Is nothing
| I'm the above for renewal OF cloth
| ing). papers, books. education, pleas
ures.