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%.