FAMILY LIVING IN FARM HOMES. 15 
The prevalence of labor-saving equipment is sometimes considered 
a gauge of the standard of living, because it is believed to represent 
the importance placed on lessening the physical labor of the women 
of the ate Eo aaine machines were chosen in the present 
study as perhaps the most significant article of this kind. They 
were found in 16.9 per cent of the homes of owners and 17.7 per cent 
of those of tenants. 
OPERATION. 
The annual cost of fuel has already been discussed (p. 9). The 
other items included under operation were expenditures for furnishings, 
miscellaneous household supplies, power for household uses, laundry 
done out of the home, antl’ corainatd labor. All of these together 
represented $124, or 6.2 per cent of the total expenditures. If the 
cost of fuel is added to these, the total operating cost averages $268, 
or 13.3 per cent. 
In 22, or 5.5 per cent, of the families the laundry was done outside 
the home and represented part of the operating expenses. 
Household labor, which here includes such work as caring for poultry 
or working in the home vegetable garden, is the only item among 
‘Other operating expenses” that was tabulated separately. Its value 
was determined by adding together the cost of paid labor and the esti- 
mated value of the unpaid labor furnished by any adult member of 
the household, except the home maker, and by subtracting from the 
sum of these the value of the unpaid labor furnished by the women 
and adult girls of the family to such farm activities as plowing, haying, 
and milking. 
HEALTH. 
The amount spent for the maintenance of health averaged $83 per 
family, or 4.1 per cent of the total average annual expenditure. 
Guides to the health of the households might be found in the sanitary 
condition of the house and the extent of physical defects and illness 
among the members. ‘The only one of these on which statistics are 
here included is the extent of illness. 
Among members of families about 11,000 working days were lost 
by illness, or about 6 days per person per year. Of these days 27.5 
per cent were lost because of minor illness, and 72.5 per cent on ac- 
count of serious illness. Minor illness signifies that which, while it 
athe a person from going about his regular business, does not call 
or much special care from others; serious illness includes cases that 
require constant attention, whether from a member of the family or a 
special nurse and whether at home or in a hospital. 
ADVANCEMENT. 
Tn the present study it was not feasible to include expenditures for 
all of the items grouped under advancement in the list on p. 8. 
Figures were collected for formal education, reading matter, contribu- 
tions to church organizations, entertainments, cost of automobile 
attributable to household use, and cost of other travel. Hxpendi- 
tures for formal education (Table 5) include primarily money spent 
for books and supplies in elementary schools and tuition and miscel- 
laneous expenses at high schools and colleges. School taxes are not 
included. 
