FAMILY LIVING IN FARM HOMES. 25 
TABLE 10.—Average expenditures per cost-consumption unit for the year ending September 
1, 1921, among 402 farm families in Livingston County, N. Y., arranged according to 
number of children. 
3s Expenditures per cost-consumption unit. 
>| Sia 
Ss Pn . 
a 2g 3 | 8 
Number of children per family.| o ; ga 4 : S 2 
a a oer Os | 3 Zh ps 
2 , | 4 : ele | at Se by sie ees 
3S VS ~ | 7 a 3 > a 1S) Ps 
Beell Six eee ate 3 |f0/ S$ |oHl & |] ala 
Pe Mee ey eee ee PP OF OE | XA | P |. 
Dolls .|Dolis .| Dolls .|Dolls .| Dolls .| Dolls .| Dolls .| Dolls .| Dolls .| Dolls . 
“Dios J sei eae epee Tapert sie 75 | 193 105 66 26 23 | 121 a 3 609 
iis scp NES Eel gage See poe. CALE 97 | 180 74 | 104 66 33 6] 134 6 2 625 
bile ip Se eee 99 | 169 74 Vl 66 30 22) 113 fj 6 598 
oe AS ee) Baie oS Ra ee eee eee 58 | 166 70 89 56 21 16 97 6 3 524 
1 ote ee en eee ees 33 | 164 80 98 66 24 19 | 120 10 2 583 
Doe seisetaes Sa eae See 19} 160 60 87 60 17 11 91 is est 491 
5 TP DR ee eee 21 | 145 71 87 55 22 10 70 6.) se 22) 466 
Average of all families. .--..}....-. 173 71)" LOY 64 27 21) 115 7 3 582 
In studying the expenditures for food per cost-consumption unit, 
the sum is seen to decrease more or less regularly as the size of the 
family increases. Apparently the present scale gives too great 
weight to additional members of the family. The data now avail- 
able are not sufficient for judging whether this means that insufficient 
allowance was made for adults or that more allowance should be made 
for the fact that food can be purchased and utilized to better advan- 
tage when the number of persons is larger. The figures for clothing 
show about as wide a variation as those for food, but the variation 
is less regular. Records of expenditure for persons of various ages 
must evidently be studied more in detail before a reliable scale can 
be set up. In the matter of rent also the variation is about as wide 
asin food. There is a tendency for the figure to decrease as the size 
of the family mcreases, but this decrease is not so regular as in the 
case of food. Expenditures for other items also show more or less 
variation. It is hoped that as more records become available and 
more families are included in the averages such variations will tend 
to disappear. 
It is realized that the present scales are based on too little infor- 
mation to be considered more than tentative.” All that is hoped 
from their use here is that they may lead to more acceptable scales 
and thus ultimately provide a satisfactory means of comparing the 
cost of the different goods among various families. 
EXPENDITURES PER COST-CONSUMPTION UNIT AND FACTORS INDICA- 
TIVE OF THE STANDARD OF LIVING. 
The figures showing expenditures per cost-consumption unit, 
though still far from accurate, give a better idea of the cost of the 
various goods used to meet the needs of the family than do expend- 
itures per family, because they make allowance for the variations 
in the make-up of families. The computation of the expenditures 
22 After the preceding tables were worked out on the basis of the various cost-consumption units devised 
for the study, it was thought best to test the validity of the various units by the method of ‘‘least squares” 
to see which sets of unit contained the largest degree of error. It was found that the most unsatisfactory 
units were in connection with food, health, and personal; in food for the older boy and girl, in health for 
the child from 6 to 14 years of age, in personal for the adult female. The results were satisfactory for the 
clothing, fuel, rent, operating, advancement, and unclassified units. In future studies it is hoped that, by 
employing the several statistical methods of checking out erroneous weighted scales, a much closer 
approximation to facts may be made, 
