Food Health and Income: Appendix 2 Family Budgets Examined

Twelve surveys comprising 2,640 family budgets were examined, ranging from very poor families spending less than 2s. per head weekly on food, up to families with an income of £2,000 per annum spending 15s. or more per head weekly on food. Rather more than half of these budgets had to be rejected when compiling Table I, Appendix VI. They were used, however, to a more limited extent as an indication of the food habits of the country. None of those rejected differed materially from the budgets used in the information they supplied, the rejection being solely on the grounds either of insufficiency of data on family income, or total food expenditure, or of relating to years prior to 1932. In all 1,152 budgets were used. The total number examined in each survey, the final number used, the areas covered by the surveys and the years in which the enquiries were made :—

Total Number of Budgets Number Used Area to which Budgets refer Year
700 538 England and Wales (Women’s Co-operative Guild). 1935
105 102 Newcastle 1933-34
50 49 Manchester and District 1933
85 82 Stockton-on-Tees 1932
300 243 Merseyside 1932
200 138 Great Britain (Middle-class) 1932
100 Peterhead and Aberdeen 1932
60 London 1931
100 Reading and Cardiff 1928
180 St. Andrews 1927
600 Scotland (larger eastern towns) 1926-7
160 England and Wales (Middle-class) 1926
2640 1152

Grateful acknowledgment is due to those responsible for collecting the budgets ; for their kindness in permitting the original data to be used, and particularly to the Women’s Co-operative Guild for carrying out a special enquiry on our behalf.