66 COST OF LIVING IN THE UNITED STATES 
TasLE 4: Cuances iN THE CosT oF LivING IN THE 
(United States Bureau 
Per Cent of Increase 
i Uec., | Dec., | June, | Dec., | June, Dec., | May, Sepc, | Dec., 
014 1915 56 | i 1918 | 1919 | 1910 | 1920 | 1920 | 1921 , onl 1921 
. 26.0) 57.0 87.01 84.01 97.0{119.0 78.0} 44.7] 53.1 49.9 
: aw 110.1 [105.3(114.5|168.7|187.5|158.5{122.6; 92.11 84.4 
N11 9.2] 14.2] 25.3] 34.9] 51.1} 59.0} 60.0 61.4 
) 47.9] 45.0 56.8} 71.91 94.9) 81.6| 80.7 81.1 
:13.6{125.1{163.5|192.7(185.4{147.7] 124.7 | 118.0 
65.8] 73.2 90.2/101.4|108.2{108.8| 107.8 | 106.8 
raids at 744] 77.30 99.3}116.5(100.4) 80.4 73 74.3 
| 7 6.2] 741 74 0 40 49] 49 
Item of expenditure 
F000. ovine 
Clothing. ............ 
Tousing. .............] 
‘vel and light......... 
Jouse-furnishing goods? 
Vliscellaneous. ........} 
Allitems.........0 2" | 
——————————— - = 
Electricity®........ 
* No change. 
b In some statements by the Bureau of Labor Statistics this item is called “Furniture and 
© This line shows the per cent of decrease in the price of electricity on the dates named, as 
»f consumption at the various rates charged. 
for all combined, as published regularly by the Bureau of 
Labor Statistics in the Monthly Labor Review, is reproduced 
:n Table 4.! The method of constructing this series is de- 
scribed in succeeding sections of the present volume. 
Basic BuDGeT 
Although these figures are designed to measure changes 
n the cost of living since 1913, the standard of living on 
which they are based is that of a later period? From 1913 
:0 1917, when the series was constructed from prices in the 
18 shipbuilding centers, the budget was based on studies 
made in these cities in 1917 and 1918; from that time on, 
budgets collected in 92 localities in 1918 and 1919 were used.? 
Thus the index numbers of the United States Bureau of La- 
sor Statistics measure changes in the cost of maintaining 
{The Bureau of Labor Statistics prints its figures showing changes in the cost 
»f living as percentages of increase above 1913, or whatever other date may be 
the base, not as index numbers, and they have not been changed to an index number 
basis in this table. 
* See Chapter V of this volume for analysis of the effect of this on the index number. 
4 A noteworthy circumstance is that for the original 18 cities in the series the 
standard through 1917 was a 1917 budget; after that, the new standard was adopted. 
[f the present budget weightings for the separate items are multiplied by the 
increases in cost of these respective items, the increase in the cost of living 1s not 
the same as the figure given in the present series. For example, in New York and 
Shiladelphia the difference was about one point in December, 1917. 
BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS INDEX 67 
Unite States, 1913 To DECEMBER, 1925, INncLUSIVE 
of Labor Statistics) 
oe 10°" 1 Average) to— 
Mar ye - 
dec, 
Te 
ar., 
June, 
1012 
Sept., 
1022 
Jec., 
nd 
wlar., 
1074 
June, 
1924 
Sent. | Dec., June, | Dec., 
1924 | 1924 1925 | 1925 
46.8] 51.5 55.01 65.5 
7.3 | 713 70.6) 69.4 
“90 68.21 674 67.1 
. 80.5| 76.71 86.9 
_16.0(114.3 , 114.3 
«oo. ™M71102.7 103.5 
me TIE Tip 
9° 99 
he 
AL Z 
- a 
-y 
ra 
: 
I 
¥ 
660 
9] 
ouse furnishings.” 
“ompared with the price in December, 1913. These figures are based on the weighted averages 
unchanged a war-time standard of living rather than a pre- 
war standard. The basic budget investigations all covered 
wage earners and salaried persons of small means! Every 
item of major importance in the budgets of these families 
is represented in the index numbers by articles selected so 
as to indicate the trend of all; an absolutely complete bud- 
get is not priced but 156 items and rents are listed. Food. 
stuffs, for example, represent somewhat more than two- 
thirds of the total food consumed by an average family;? 
fuel and light includes coal, wood, gas, electricity and kero- 
sene; housing includes rent; clothing, furniture, furnishings 
and miscellaneous items are not complete but are represented 
by generous samples. To the extent that the samples are 
properly chosen and retain their identity from one period to 
another, the results should be as accurate as any reasonably 
possible system. An absolutely complete budget comparison 
from period to period is an almost impossible refinement of 
accuracy and probably defeats its own ends by its cost and 
clumsiness. 
The basic investigation by the United States Bureau of 
! This should not be confused with the Bureau's quantity and cost budget for a 
Standard of health and decency. For the price index series, no standard of living 
18 specified beyond “wage earners.” 
*The 43 articles listed since 1921 represented approximately 70%; the 15 
articles originally priced in 1913 represented 649%.