CHANGES IN THE COST OF LIVING 131
of house rents is dependent almost entirely on local condi-
tions. Without legal regulation, the play of the forces of
supply and demand is much more direct and immediate in the
adjustment of house rents than in the prices of any other
major item of family expenditure. Whether houses are
relatively plentiful or relatively scarce depends not only on
the growth or decline of the local population, which in turn
is directly related to the prosperity or depression of local
industries, but also upon circumstances connected with
building construction. In this, the local tax rate and local
building trade wages as well as the supply and cost of build-
ing materials are the most important considerations.
The local character of the course of rents is clearly seen
from examination of the figures in Table D.! In some cities
che influence of the growth of population due to war indus-
cries showed itself early in large increases; in others it was
not until the post-war industrial activity brought an unusual
demand for housing that rents moved to high levels. In
some cities the industrial depression of 1921 brought a
decline, others were not so affected and rents continued to
mount upward. Still another type of locality felt no special
offect of war or post-war conditions, beyond the fact that
during the war period there was little building construction,
and that with the normal obsolescence from year to year
and a normal increase in population the supply of houses
fell behind the demand, while taxes were increasing and the
cost of repairs and new building mounted. In some places,
population had declined and rents had receded even from
their pre-war level. In December, 1925, the average increase
in rents of houses or apartments of four or five rooms with
bath, such as are occupied by wage earners, was 77%, above
July, 1914.
CLOTHING
Clothing required slightly more than one-eighth of the
average family’s expenditures for the cost of living, accord-
ing to pre-war standards. With the shifting of price in-
creases, however, at the peak of the rise in the cost of living
in July, 1920, more than one-sixth was necessary. This was
1See pp. 186-193.
