Transcriber's Note: The original publication contained 35 blank, unnumbered pages between the last page of the Conclusion and the page entitled Publications of the National Industrial Conference Board.

National Industrial Conference Board

15 BEACON STREET, BOSTON, MASS.

BRANCH OFFICE

724 SOUTHERN BUILDING, WASHINGTON, D.C.

THE National Industrial Conference Board is a co-operative body composed of representatives of national and state industrial associations, and closely allied engineering societies of a national character, and is organized to provide a clearing house of information, a forum for constructive discussion, and machinery for co-operative action on matters that vitally affect the industrial development of the nation.

Frederick P. Fish Chairman
Magnus W. Alexander Managing Director

MEMBERSHIP

ASSOCIATE MEMBERSHIP

THE COST OF LIVING AMONG
WAGE-EARNERS

FALL RIVER, MASSACHUSETTS
OCTOBER, 1919

Research Report Number 22
November, 1919

Copyright 1919

National Industrial Conference Board
15 Beacon Street
Boston, Mass.

CONTENTS

PAGE
Foreword [ vii]
Purpose of the Investigation [ 1]
Method [ 1]
Fall River and Its People [ 2]
Cost of Living in October, 1919 [ 3]
Food [ 3]
Shelter [ 6]
Clothing [ 6]
Fuel, Heat and Light [ 8]
Sundries [ 9]
The Complete Budget [ 11]
Increase in the Cost of Living Since 1914 [ 13]
Food [ 13]
Shelter [ 13]
Clothing [ 14]
Fuel, Heat and Light [ 14]
Sundries [ 15]
The Complete Budget [ 15]
Conclusion [ 17]

LIST OF TABLES

PAGE
Table 1: Minimum Food Budget for a Week for a Man, Wife and Three Children under Fourteen Years of Age, Fall River, Massachusetts, October, 1919 [ 4]
Table 2: More Liberal Weekly Food Budget for a Man, Wife and Three Children under Fourteen Years of Age in Fall River, Massachusetts, October, 1919 [ 5]
Table 3: Cost of a Liberal Allowance of Clothing for a Year for a Man, Wife and Three Children under Fourteen Years of Age in Fall River, Massachusetts, at Prices Prevailing in October, 1919 [ 7]
Table 4: Average Cost of Sundries in Fall River, Massachusetts, October, 1919 [ 11]
Table 5: Average Cost of Living for a Man, Wife and Three Children under Fourteen Years of Age in Fall River, Massachusetts, October, 1919 [ 12]
Table 6: Average Increase between October, 1914, and October, 1919, in the Cost of Living for a Man, Wife and Three Children under Fourteen Years of Age in Fall River, Massachusetts [ 15]
Table 7: Comparison of Distribution of Expenditures for the Separate Budget Items in Fall River, Massachusetts, in 1914 and 1919, with the Average Distribution in the Country as a Whole in 1914 [ 16]

[ ]

Foreword

THE accompanying study of the cost of living among wage-earners in Fall River, Massachusetts, aims to establish the cost of maintaining a wage-earner's family at a minimum but reasonable standard of living in this textile manufacturing center; also the cost of maintaining such a family at a somewhat better standard.

The Board has already made several broad surveys of changes in the cost of living in American wage-earning communities since the outbreak of the World War in July, 1914. These cover the entire country and are designed to bring out the extent of change during the periods studied, not the actual cost of living. The results of the present investigation in Fall River, made independently of these broader surveys, throw an interesting sidelight on the wider studies and also permit of a valuable check on them.

It is intended to make similar intensive studies from time to time in other representative industrial communities.