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 :—

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.