RELATION BETWEEN PAY AND STANDARD OF LIVING 7 
and recreational, provided of course, that the needs for food, cloth- 
ing, shelter, and other material goods have been met. The results 
of a general study of the cost and standard of living among approxi- 
mately 12,000 working men's families of 92 localities throughout the 
United States, in about 1918, 3 show that as the family income, and 
consequently the total expenditure for family living, increases, a 
larger proportion goes for purposes other than food, rent, fuel, and 
light. On the other hand, as the income rises, the proportion of the 
total expenditure going for the so-called necessities falls noticeably. 
Results of a similar study of the cost of living among 11,000 working- 
men's families of the principal industrial centers of 33 States about 
1902, 4 show the same trend, except that the proportion for rent re- 
mains almost constant as the income rises. In an earlier study made 
by Engel among workingmen's families of Belgium and reviewed by 
Chapin, the proportion spent for clothing did not increase, 3 but re- 
mained about the same, as did the proportion going for rent, fuel 
and light, regardless of size of the expenditure for all purposes. 
Results of the present study show about the same general trend as 
do the results of the studies of workingmen's families, especially of 
the study made in 1902. The percentage of the total expenditures for 
food decreases markedly, and the percentages for rent and for fuel 
and light remain almost constant with the rise in total expenditures. 
Thus, as the total expenditure increases, a larger proportion of the 
expenditure, as well as more actual money, is available for goods 
filling the nonmaterial uses. This being true, some further measure 
or index of expenditure for the nonmaterial goods seems desirable. 
This index is sought in the proportion or the percentage that the 
value of advancement goods is of the total value of all goods used 
during a year's time. 
Advancement goods are accepted as being the least material in 
nature and as covering a wider distribution of uses than any other 
one group of goods. They include educational and recreational 
facilities, reading matter, provision for travel, participation in clubs 
and organizations, benevolences, religions, and all other interests 
of a social or a spiritual nature. In the present study and in simi- 
lar studies made among farmers of several localities of the United 
States, 6 the proportion of the total expenditures for advancement 
increases more noticeably than do the proportions for the other 
groups of economic goods filling the more material uses, with in- 
creased total expenditures. Since there is a tendency for the per- 
centage of the total expenditure for advancement to rise as the 
total expenditure for all purposes increases, the percentage or pro- 
portion going for this purpose is considered as significant as total 
expenditures of the prevailing standard of living. The percentage 
of all expenditures for advancement, being less affected than the 
total cost of goods by varying prices, is worthy of further consider- 
ation as a means of comparing standards of living among families 
of different periods, different localities and different occupations. 
s Cost of Living in the United States, Monthly Labor Review, Bureau of Labor Sta- 
tistics, D. S. Lept. Labor, August, 1919, p. 119. 
4 Cost of Living and Retail Prices of Food, ISth Annual Report of the Commissioner 
of Labor. 1903. 
s Chapin, Robert C. The Standard of Living Among Workingmen's Families in. New- 
York City, 1909. 
6 Cost of Living and Living Conditions Among Farm Families of Selected Localities. 
Preliminarv Reports, Bureau of Agricultural Economics. I. S. Department of Agriculture. 
1924-25. 
