9 —

The wages payable for a normal 48-hour week ! are calculated
on the basis of the data supplied by Governments. The figures
taken for this purpose are generally those corresponding to
the ordinary time rates for adult workers. In determining the
purchasing power of the weekly wage so calculated, account is
taken of the articles of food ordinarily consumed by a wageearner’s
 family, and of the retail prices of these articles. In
order to allow, at least partially, for the differences in the
food consumption of the workers in the various countries
under review, a series of typical food budgets has been
prepared, one for each of the following groups: Belgium
and France; central European countries; Great Britain; southern
 European countries; Scandinavian countries; oversea
countries.

The sum total of the quantities in each budget may be
regarded as a basketful of provisions, the cost of which is determined
 by the prices current in the city considered. The
cost of the basket constitutes the unit of measure in which the
purchasing power of the nominal wage is calculated. The
number of times this basket can be purchased by the nominal
wage for a 48-hour week, determined as already stated, is then
found. By taking as basis of the calculations for each occupation
 and in each city the cost of the basket of provisions corresponding
 to a given type of consumption, we get the real
weekly wages, in terms of foodstuffs and on the basis of the
type of consumption considered, of the workers in the specified
occupations and cities.
Making the calculations for all occupations, we get a series
of averages. The relations between these averages can be
more clearly shown by expressing them as index numbers;
these are ‘calculated by taking as base the average real wages
(=100) in one of the cities considered. In the statistical
tables published regularly in the Infernational Labour Review
average real wages in London at each date ( =100) are taken as
the base. In addition, in order to secure a fixed basis for the
monthly comparisons, average index numbers for the various
cities are also calculated with average wages in London at
1 July 1924 as base. Finally, in order to facilitate certain

ER

* Data published monthly in the International Labour Review,