Memoranda presented to the Royal Commission.

  • Great Britain. Royal Commission on Population.
Date:
1950
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Memoranda presented to the Royal Commission. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    21/128 (page 15)
    remains constant. In other words, a family with children is able to devote a smaller proportion of its expenditure on food to the purchase of “ luxury foods ”, i.e., on the whole, it buys cheaper food than a childless family. 46. Housing is another example of the larger family’s meeting its greater need by buying more cheaply. As has been seen above, expenditure on rent is in general reduced, as the size of the family grows. Examination of the number of rooms occupied by families with different numbers of children shows that the larger families manage by spending less money per room, i.e., by buying cheaper accommodation, and having the same number of rooms as childless families. 47. If we investigate more closely what items of expenditure are reduced to pay for the increased cost of children, we find that some items of expendi- ture which may be considered as luxuries nevertheless do not appear to be readily reduced as the size of the family increases ; tobacco is an outstanding example. Table XIV shows the weekly expenditure on tobacco for families with different numbers of children. TABLE XIV Expenditure (Pence per Week) on Tobacco and Cigarettes Total Total Total Total Expenditure | Expenditure | Expenditure | Expenditure 50/— to 60/— | 60/— to 70/— | 70/— to 80/— | 80/- to 90/— Roger 6 teen 4 oem ee ee, os One child... re ae we 25 30 Oy) 36 Two children es mh = pH Eee 31 7 36 48. It may be seen that on average the parents of children spend no less on tobacco than the childless couples, and parents with two children hardly less than those with one child. 49. The budgets on which the above figures are based are not very suitable for studying the behaviour of surplus expenditure (i.e. the disposal of income on non-essential items) for in these budget collections no information was obtained on total income or on total savings, and the sums spent on drink and tobacco are certainly under-stated. A collection of budgets made during the war in various towns by Mr. Charles Madge is not subject to some of the defects just mentioned ; in particular it is possible to trace the disposal of the total income, including savings. Tables XV and XVI based on this material show two aspects of the effects of adding children on family expenditure. Table XV shows the proportion of his income which the husband handed over to his wife, in the families investigated in Glasgow. TABLE XV Percentage of Earnings given by Husbands to Wives in Families of Different Sizes Husband’s earnings (shillings per week) Number of children in family 100/- and All Under 70/- | 70/- — 100/- over families