131 
1916-17.] Labouring Class Dietaries in War Time. 
According to figures supplied by the Board of Trade Department of 
Labour Statistics to the above Committee, the weighted cost of food has 
risen by 6 per cent, since June, when the last group of the present dietary 
studies was carried out. This is equivalent to a further advance of 4 per 
cent, in the cost of living, or an increase of 41 per cent, since the outbreak 
of war, according to the present calculations. The difference between this 
figure and that estimated by the Board of Trade Committee may be due to 
the following causes : — 
1. That the character and quantity of the commodities purchased by 
the housekeeper has altered somewhat in the direction of economy. The 
use of less meat in some families, the substitution of cheap for the dear 
cuts of meat in others, and the increased consumption of margarine are 
instances of this. 
2. That the “ weighting ” from which the Board of Trade figures are 
calculated does not exactly correspond with the proportionate use made of 
the various commodities by the labouring classes in Glasgow. As above 
stated, an average of 40 per cent, of the total energy in the food of the 
forty families studied came from bread, which had only advanced from 3d. 
to 4jd. for the 2 lb. loaf (or 42 per cent.) by June 1916. 
Conclusions. 
If the results of these studies can be applied to the labouring classes in 
industrial centres generally, they show to June 1916 — 
1. That on an average the food supply was not less adequate than in 
pre-war times, although there was a tendency to a decreased consumption 
of protein in meat and an increased consumption of fat. 
2. That the cost of energy in food had risen about 50 per cent. 
3. That the total cost of living had probably increased by 37 per cent. 
4. That the increase in the cost of living, resulting in a diminished 
supply of the necessaries of life, is being chiefly felt by the families of 
labouring men with a fixed wage, say from 20s. to 30s. weekly. Among 
the men who were irregularly employed before the war, or are now doing 
Government work, or are otherwise having a good deal of overtime work, 
the surplus of income over the necessary expenditure has materially 
increased. 
In conclusion, I should like to express my indebtedness to the house- 
mothers for their kindly consent and co-operation, without which the 
studies could not have been made. 
