Cost of living in German towns

Bibliographic data

Monograph

Identifikator:: 866449027

URN:: urn:nbn:de:zbw-retromon-93831

Document type:: Monograph

Title:: Cost of living in German towns

Place of publication:: London

Publisher:: Stat. Off.

Year of publication:: 1908

Scope:: 1 Online-Ressource (LXI, 548 Seiten)

Collection:: Economics Books

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xlviii less than in the United Kingdom for the families with incomes of 25s. and under 305., and 5 per cent, less in the case of families with incomes of 35s. and under 405., in spite of the higher expenditure in each case. The comparison of meat consumptions is, however, rendered somewhat doubtful by the fact that meat is generally sold in Germany free from bone and fat ; if a deduction were made from the English consumption on this account, the net amounts consumed in the two countries by families with the same incomes would be more nearly equal. The result is, of course, somewhat affected by the smaller number of children in the German family. The consumption of eggs appears from these budgets to be relatively higher in Germany than in England for the lower-waged classes and smaller for the higher-waged classes. The German consumption of milk exceeds the consumption in English families of the same income by 30 to 59 per cent., though owing to the lower cost of milk in Germany the expenditure only exceeds the English by 10 to 32 per cent. The English consumption in the three income groups rises with the scale of family income, from 7*7 pints to 10 3 pints, whilst the German consumption is as high as 12*3 pints for families with incomes of 25a. but under 30s., and rises only to 14 5 for families with incomes of 35s. and under 40s. In the case of cheese the consumption in the three German income groups is much lower than in the corresponding English groups (being only 66 to 78 per cent.), but of the animal fats such as butter, margarine, lard, suet, and dripping the consumption is markedly higher than in England. Potatoes form a very important item in the budget of the German working man, the consumption in the three income groups being from 48 to 55 per cent, greater in Germany than in England, income for income, although, the price being lower in Germany, the expenditure in the central income class is the same in the two countries, and for the other two classes the difference of expenditures is only 5 to 15 per cent. The relative consumptions of vegetables and fruit can only be judged from expenditures : judging from this, the German consumption is higher than the English in the case of the families with lower incomes and lower in the case of those that are better off. On the same basis of expenditure, it would appear that the German consumption of farinaceous foods other than bread and flour (rice, oatmeal, &c.) is substantially less than the English. On tea, coffee, and cocoa the German expenditure is about 35 per cent, lower than the English, the differences between the three income groups being in this respect very slight. The expenditure on sugar is less than half that of the English households, the consumption being little more than 40 per cent, of the English. When it is remembered that the English working-man also consumes a considerable amount of sugar in the form of cheap jams, &c., the contrast as regards this item is worthy of note. On “ other items ” the average weekly expenditure in the three English income groups ranges from Is. 4\d. to Is. 10^cl. ; the German groups show an average expenditure of only 8Jd. to 9fd., which suggests a somewhat greater variety in the English dietary. When allowance is made for the smaller number of children in the German families, the German dietary would appear to provide almost the same amount of nutrition as the English. The difference, if any, must be extremely slight. Certain items might seem to suggest that the living is on a somewhat lower scale, notably the much larger expenditure shown by the United Kingdom budgets on “other items,” the free use of “coffee substitutes” in Germany, on which comment is made in several of the reports, and the use of grey (wheat and rye) bread in lieu of white bread. But the difference in nutritive value between the two kinds is not great, and the use of rye bread is probably in part a national habit, like the use of oatmeal in Scotland, rather than a deliberate resort to a cheaper though less appreciated food. If the latter were the case, we should expect to find a higher consumption of white bread among the families with higher incomes, and a consequent increase in the average price paid for bread.-

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