125 
1916-17.] Labouring Class Dietaries in War Time. 
purchasers does not vary very much. Three have a value of over 400 
Calories per Id., viz. 459, 415, and 413 Calories. These get 75 per cent, of 
their protein from vegetable sources. Four get less than 300 Calories per 
Id. — viz. 245, 280, 287, and 297 Calories per Id., — and this is due to the 
use of eggs, a great deal of milk, and other more expensive animal foods. 
( b ) Of the seventeen studies made in November-December 1915, the 
average value for Id. is 380 Calories. Here again the value received 
is wonderfully constant. Five are above 400 — viz. 474, 436, 425’5, 419, 
and 418'5 Calories — and two under 350. Three of the families which 
were buying over 400 Calories per Id. were nevertheless spending too little 
on food, as the energy value per man per day was under 3000 Calories in 
two of the diets, and the protein and fat, the more expensive items, each 
are under 80 grams in all three. The high energy value purchased per 
Id. by these three women raises the average of this group somewhat, 
but there is no doubt that the cost of living fell somewhat during the 
Autumn of 1915, only to rise again in the Spring of 1916. 
( c ) Only five diets have been studied in the Spring of 1916. The 
average value purchased is SOS Calories per Id. 
Although the number of families in this group is too small to eliminate 
the factor of individual marketing in determining the cost of living, those 
five diets are interesting. In two of them the energy value was 350 
Calories per Id., and in the other three about 270 Calories. One of the 
two cheaper diets is that obtained by a family of six — father, mother, and 
four children — on an income of 16s. for the week of the study. The father 
was a discharged, time-expired soldier, who had just obtained work on a 
railway and had not yet had a full pay. This diet consisted chiefly of bread, 
sugar, tea, and the cheapest of margarine. The last two days there was 
not even margarine, and the last three no meat. Potatoes, being 2s. 2d. a 
stone, were beyond their means. Oatmeal would have given a better 
energy value, but apart from that a good value was got. The other diet 
where an energy value of over 300 Calories was obtained is that of a 
very well cared-for family. The mother was in the habit of going long 
distances to secure bargains, buying, for example, the “ end loaves ” from the 
bakery at a farthing per pound below the usual price. 
Thus we see that it is not possible at the present prices to get a varied 
diet with a higher value than 300 Calories per Id. without the expenditure 
of a great deal of time and thought. 
The value received in this group (305 Calories per Id.) represents a 
rise of price of 48'5 per cent, since 1911-12. The following tables of prices 
bear out the results of the foregoing paragraph : — 
