The Washington herald., 1920-01-25

Some interesting figures on living
cost changes are contained in a re-
port recently issued by the National
Industrial Conference Board. The
changes cited are between July. 1914,
and the same month of last year.
Among other things. the report
shows Washington to be one of forty
five cities where rchts have increased
from p to 60 per cent.
These costs are itemized under
five heads. namely. food. shelter
clothing, fuel. light and heat and
sundries. OF these five classes. the
increase in cost of shelter. or rent
has been less than half that of any
of the other class. The increases
given are as follows: Food. 80 per
cent: shelter. 2S per cent: clothing
100 per cent: fuel. heat and light
81 per cent: sundries, SO per cent
Giving to each of these items its
relative Importance in the total
family budget. the position of rents
is still further improved.
Average Expenditures.
Thus. the average ALLEGATION of
expenditures for the separate
budget items, based on the expert
ences of more than 1900 families,
as determined by the United States
Bureau of Labor Statistics A as
follows:
Food, 4S.1 per cent; shelter, III per
cent; clothing, 1872 per cent; fuel, light
and heat. &c per cent; sundries, 81 4
per cent
The total increase in the family ex-
penditures during the five years has
been - per cent. To this. the increase
in food contributed 3s.S per cent ii. O.,
80 per cent of 43.D; shelter, ) per cent
(@S per cent of I'D: clothing. 1872:
fuel, light and heat. 80; sundries, 12S
The above conclusions relate to u55
cities. of which 122 are among the l29
cities in the United Stafes having a
population of $1,000 or more. and thir-
tythree smaller cities. The informa =
tion upon which the reports are based
was obtained from real estate boards.
chombers of commerce. charitable and
civic associations and real estate
brokers.
Rent Increases Given.
The report of the Conference Board
gives the percentage of rent increase
for each city.
Eleven cities show rent increase
of more than 50 per cent during the
five-year period. namely. Akron,
Ohio; Bayonne, N. j.: Canton, Ohio;
Chester. Pa; Flint, Mich; Jackson
vile, Fla; Oklahoma City: Port
land. Ore; Saginaw. Mich. and
Waterbury. Conn.
E,laVan nitinc Shnur inn a
of from II to so per cent, namely,
Appleton. Wis: Atlantic City, n. j.;
Berkeley, Cal; Binghamton. n. Y;
Cleveland; Danville. ILL.,; Denver:
Fort Worth: Johnstown, Pa: Ke-
nosha, Wis. and st. Joseph, Mo-
Twenty-eight cities show rent in
creases from 81 to 40 per cent: AL
banv. Buffalo. Camden, Charleston,
S. g: Columbia. s. c.; Des Moines.
Detroit. Duluth. Elizabeth. N. j.;
Erie. Hoboken. Lincoln. Neb.; Lo-
well. Mass; Newark. N. J.; Oak
land, Ca; Omaha, Paterson, N j.;
Port Huron. Racine. Reading. Sc
attic, Sioux City. South Bend. spo-
kane, Syracuse. Tacoma. Toledo and
Worcester.
Fl to 30 Per Cent Here.
Forty-five cities show rent increases
from q to 30 per cent. namely n Allen
town. Pa: Ann Arbor. Atlanta. Au-
gusta. Ca; Baltimore. Rattle Creek,
Bay City. Bellingham. Wasfr; Birm-
ingham, Bridgeport, Chattanooga. Chi
cago, Columbus. Davenport. Dayton.
East st. Louis. Elkhart. Fort Wayne.
Gary. Hartford, Jersey City. Kansas
City. Kan: Kansas City. Mo-; Knox
vile. Lancaster, Milwaukee. New Bed
ford. New Britain, New York. Niagara
Fails. Norfolk. Passaic. Pawtuckct.