— 1327 — 
included in the budget. Account must also be taken : (1) of dif- 
ferences in the period considered — the available enquiries for 
a given period not being always strictly contemporaneous; (2) of 
the very important fact that in the post-war period an essential 
item of the budget, namely, rent, is subject to conditions which 
differ widely in different countries, the effect of ‘tenants’ pro- 
tection ’’ regulations being to reduce the actual expenditure 
on rent to perhaps a mere fraction of what it would be on 
the free market*; (3) for the enquiries carried out during 
the years immediately after the war, of the fact that in certain 
countries the consumption of various articles of food was 
rationed. 
Even subject to all the reserves called for by these consider- 
ations, it may be interesting to compare the average composi- 
tion of workers’ family budgets in different countries at approxi- 
mately the same period during the years after the war. It 
will be found that, generally speaking, when the countries are 
arranged in decreasing order of the proportion of total expen- 
diture devoted to foodstuffs, the result is substantially the 
same as when they are arranged in increasing order of 
average real wages, as shown by the table and diagram given 
above 3. 
The points noted above justify the adoption of certain con- 
clusions regarding the comparative standard of living of the 
workers. Apart from their social value, these conclusions have 
a definite interest in relation to the economic -problems with 
which the Conference may have to deal. While expenditure 
on foodstuffs corresponds to a great extent with agricultural 
production, expenditure on clothing (including hosiery, under- 
wear, footwear, hats, etc.), and a considerable part of the ex- 
penditure classified as “sundries ”’, is associated with various 
branches of the manufacturing industries. It follows that the 
problem of the standard of living of the workers and of the 
movement of real wages is closely connected with the problem 
of markets for manufactured goods. 
* With regard to this point, it is important to distinguish between, for instance, 
predominantly agricultural and predominantly industrial countries. 
. * See on this point INTERNATIONAL LABOUR OFFICE: European Housing Problems 
since the War (1924), and The Housing Problem in the United States (1925). Studies and 
Reports, Series G, Nos. 1 and 2. 
* Section II: “ Real Wages.”