24 BULLETIN 1214, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, 
APPLICATION OF COST-CONSUMPTION UNIT. 
The average expenditures per cost-consumption unit were cal- 
culated in the present study by the use of the household-size index 
scales just described. The percentages of total expenditures for 
various purposes were based upon the average totals for the 402 
families. For example, in the case of food the average amount 
spent for this purpose per cost-consumption unit, $173, was divided 
by the average total expenditure for all purposes, $582, to obtain — 
the proportion spent for food, 29.7 per cent. This method is the 
one followed in calculating the average expenditures per family. 
’ The results are shown in Table 9, together with those showing the 
average expenditures per family. 
TABLE 9.—Average expenditures for various purposes in 402 farm families, Livingston 
‘ounty, N. Y., for the year ending September 1, 1921, as measured per cost-consump- 
tion unit and per family. 
Per cost-consump- 
tionmunit, Per family. 
Group of expenditures. 
Propor- Propor- 
Amount.}| tion of | Amount.| tion of 
total. total. 
Dollars. | Per cent.| Dollars. | Per cent. 
WOW re oan aalans mhcta cap -sotn nc cc atest Pet Seee eee 173 29. 7 794 39.5 
“CHG Ube OSE an et Se Be ae eae ep Bees eat/ gti es Vale Gm 71 12. 2 | PW 13.8 * 
1 pets Pee eee ee Ad ee TER PU ee 101 17.4 234 11.6 
Ree ey a nS, oc eee det aS oe ee ae 64 11.0 144 70 
All other purposes: 
Other operating expensesst’: =... eel See ee a 27 4.6 124 6.2 
Maintenance OL heaithijce <7 sc eee aes ee ee 21 3.6 83 4.1 
HA GVANORINONG saat sot seed 2 ins hate See a ne ites aoe tt oe 115 19.8 320 15.9 
12S V R10) 117 | Lg eh pale Med - tesn bate) ened Sod 5 a aegis & Tu! 1.2 24 IZ 
nclassined sa. skeet Se ee es Se 3 ats) 12 .6 
Total.all other'purposes.-...-8tG 42h Fae eas 173 29. 7 563 28. 0 
Gronditatall 2.2 guceriss Looe exeer 5, 2 582| 100.0 | 2,012 | 100. 0 
The average household-size index for the various groups of expendi- 
tures may be calculated by dividing the expenditure per family by 
the expenditure per cost-consumption unit, and thus obtained are: 
Food, 4.6; clothing, 3.9; rent, 2.3; fuel, 2.3; all other purposes, 
3.3; other operating expenses, 4.6; maintenance of health, 4; 
advancement, 2.8; personal, 3.4; unclassified, 4. The average for 
all groups of expenditures was 3.5. The average number of persons 
per family (p. 6) was 4 individuals, about one-seventh larger than 
the average of household-size indexes for all groups of expendi- 
tures. The average size of households (p. 6) was 4.9 individuals, a 
figure larger than any household-size index. 
As a rough test of the accuracy of the scales, the families were 
grouped according to the number of children in the family, and the 
expenditures per cost-consumption unit were worked out for the 
various items. An accurate scale would correct variations due to 
the size and make-up of the individual families and would give 
uniform figures. How nearly the present seale meets this test will 
be seen in Table 10. 
