The Washington herald., 1920-01-09
nx q. w. AxELsoN.

Living cost" having no, recog-
nized standard. investigators have
been compelled to. adopt arbitrary
ratings. Thus we have the figures,
already given, for the unattached
man and woman and the family of
hve. husband. wife and three chill
dren under IA. A certain allowance
OF food. clothing. rooming or hous-
ing and miscellaneous items. has
been made for each Individual. the
total in the family making up the
household budget.
A price has been put on every
thing that figures in household ex-
penses. 1t is over these that ex-
perts and consumers have split.
The figures which will be used are
in the main. taken from the Bureau
of Labor Statistics as complied last
summer in Washington.
In the selection Of food for a fam
lily the amount and quality have been
based on $500 calories per day for a
man doing moderately hard muscular
work. The amount purchased will
represent about 800 to 1900 calories
actually consumed. which Is consid-
cred fair amount for the average
office man or woman.
SASS per Week for Food.
For the family Of five, already des-
ignated. II would require 9.59 pounds
of meat and fish each week at a
cost OF $40 IN August. The milk.
cream, butter and cheese would
amount to S3.7s in value, while cere-
ais. bread, vegetables. Coffee sugar
and miscellany would bring the to-
tai to s14.55. Here Is where the clash
with the housewife comes as eggs.
for instance. are priced at 30 cents
a dozen and sugar at approximately
II cents pound. 1t may also be
pointed out that only two cents worth
OF cream Is allowed a week and this
is presumably to be used in Il cents
worth of coffee. At the present price
of sugar this is not likely to be
sweetened much on an allowance of
81 cents.
Inis budget. economical as It is,
foots up to S77sS. including SIS worth
of ice.
Clothing is a big item. 1t amounts
to s12l16 for the husband. 1866 for
the wife. $500 for the 11-year-old boy.
80 for the 5-year-old girl and sf7
for the 2-year-old boy. a total Of
s5l3.72
Half Hat per Year.
The husband is allowed one-half of
a "a felt hat year, one whole 81
straw hat, one-half each of a $40 win
ter and summer suit: one-quarter of
a $40 overcoat and one-sixth of SIS
rain coat. In other words the suits
must last two years. the overcoat
four and the rain coat six.
On this budget the man may sport
five 81 cotton shirts. three $50
summer union suits. one pair OF ,
pajamas at $3.50 and one winter union
suit (part WOOD at $50 1t is pre-
sumed that he remains in bed while
the latter Is on the clothes line. A
total of s17.25 is considered enough
for shoes. including repairs and he Is
expected to get along on twelve Is
cent collars, eight 25-cent handker-
chiefs and one-third of a belt.
suppose He Tipped!
The cleaning and pressing can
not come to more than Sc for the
year without shooting the budget
full of holes. Should he need an
extra collar button. a shine or1
should he suffer mental alteration
and give anyone a tip. it would
have to come out, of the So as
signed for miscellaneous items.
The wife's clothing is naturally
more complicated both in variety
and as to seasons, but 1t does not
approach the figure of s199 al
lowed working girls by the Dis
trict Minimum Wage Board. She
is given one $3.50 hat in the sum
mer and half of a SO hat in the
winter. The summer wardrobe in
cludes one-half of a IS wash skirt,
three cotton waists, half of a $3.50
dress waist, two homemade IS
cotton dresses. three 81 union
suits, one So cotton or muslin pet
ticoat and one pair of $3.50 shoes.
Winter calls for one-half of a s53
wooden suit. one-half of a $25 wool
serge dress. one SO petticoat. one
SO part wool union suit and $3.50
worth of shoes.
shoes to worry About.
In year-round clothing two house
dresses come to s6. one Kitchen apron
to go cents, one corset to s6, two night
dresses to Sc, one-half kimono at $2 Is.
while eight pair of stockings at $50
will have. to do for the year. There
is $40 allowed for shoe repairing. A
So umbrella is expected to last for
three years. There are other minor
items and also IS for miscellaneous.
In the 11-year-old boys budget the
principal items are: $3.50 for clothing,
including head coverings, and s32 for
shoes. Footwear are also an expen-
siye item for the girl of S. amounting
to s21. Even the boy of 2, wears out
Sl3 worth of shoes.
Housing, fuel and light will consume
s42S. Upkeep of house and furniture
Is expected to take SO and laundry
work S104. There is allowed $50 for
of health and insurance
calls for $11150. The amount of S45
was set aside for street car fares. but
with these raised. the total has been
swelled to $56. 25 since the figures were
originally published.
The family Is expected to have a
good time in the way of amusements
and recreation on $40 and its intel
lectual treats will have to be con-
fined to $40 worth of newspapers as
no other reading matter is provided.
Thirteen dollars Is donated to the
church and so to labor organizations.
leaving $50 for incidentals.
Investigator Guessed.
Here in brief. then. has been out
lined living budget" Who will
maintain that il Is too high? The in
vestigator apparently guessed that
someone would and he guarded
against the contingency by looping
on s246.H through extreme thrift,
te~t. Int