Part 2

Method of Compiling Cost of Living Figures.

In every country in which cost of living figures have been obtained the same method, as far as broad lines are concerned, has been followed. The method adopted is to ascertain the average retail prices for a number of representative commodities for the dates to be compared and then to combine these retail prices in a single figure representing the change in retail prices as a whole. This combination is not effected by a plain average, but the individual price changes are "weighted" according to a comparison of the amounts spent on each of the commodities concerned (e.g., a change in the price of a commodity such as bread, must obviously be given more "weight" than a change in the price of such commodities as cheese or soap) and in order to determine the proper "weight" to attach to the retail price changes, representative family budgets are obtained showing the details of the actual expenditure of a large number of households. By combining these budgets it is possible to discover the relationship between the consumption of the various items; for instance, 12s. may be spent on meat for every 5s. 6d. spent on butter, and so on. The retail price changes can then be "weighted" according to the results given by the budgets and the final figure arrived at by combining them on these lines.

Stages of our Inquiry.

Our inquiry can, therefore, be divided into four main stages:

=(A)= The collection of retail prices for July, 1914, and March and June, 1922.

=(B)= The collection and analysis of representative family budgets by means of which to determine the "weighting" of the retail price changes.

=(C)= The combination of the retail price changes by means of the "weights" so obtained into one final figure.

=(D)= The results of applying different methods of "weighting."

(A) Collection of Retail Prices.

We found that as regards articles of food much of the information we required had already been collected by the Ministry of Economic Affairs who had obtained returns for July, 1914, and March, 1922, from 420 sources in towns of 500 persons and upwards; and also that retail prices of a certain number of articles of food had been collected in 1914, in Ireland by the Labour Statistics Branch of the Board of Trade.

Our first task was, therefore, to collect returns of the retail prices in June, 1922, of all the commodities selected, and of the corresponding prices in July, 1914, and March, 1922, where these were not already at our disposal.

Forms were accordingly drawn up on which this information could be collected and specimens of these forms are shown in the Appendix to the Report.

(1) Food, Clothing, Fuel and Light, and Sundries.

These forms for food, clothing, fuel and light and sundries, were sent out for completion through the channels used by the Ministry for Economic Affairs in its inquiry (viz.:--officials of the Post Office, of the Ministry of Labour, and of the Local Government Board, and in the Six-County area through other sources), and to the same towns as in that inquiry (viz.:--towns with populations of 500 and over). In the case of the larger towns more than one report was asked for, graduating from two returns to twenty returns according to their population as shown in the Census of 1911.

The following table summarises essential particulars regarding the forms:--

---------------------------+-----------+----------+--------------------- | | Number | | Number | of | Returns Form. | of Forms | Towns | collected |dealt with.|from which| by | | received.| ---------------------------+-----------+----------+--------------------- Prices (Food) A | 450 | 250 } | Prices (Food, Fuel and | | } |Post Office, Ministry Light and Sundries) B 2| 436 | 220 } | of Labour, and Prices (Meat) B 3| 434 | 227 } | Local Government Prices (Clothing) B 4| 436 | 216 } | Board Officials. Rents B 5| 91 | 71 |Rate Collectors and | | | Town Clerks. ---------------------------+-----------+----------+---------------------

(2) Rents.--The forms for rents were issued through the Local Government Board, and in the Six-County area through other sources, and filled in for the most part by Rate Collectors in the several districts and towns in Ireland. They were asked to state the rents in July, 1914, and in March, and June, 1922, of about 20 houses in their districts showing the number of rooms and the Poor Law Valuation, the latter figures enabling us to ensure that the same classes of houses of wage earners were being compared. Enquiry was also made in connection with the rents of tenements, and due allowance was made for this in the final figures. The rent figures include rates in every case.

(3) Compilation of prices for individual commodities.--The next step was to calculate from these returns the average retail prices of the individual commodities selected, and this was done as follows:--

* * * * *

One set of average retail prices was compiled from the returns of the Post Office officials, and another from those of the other officials, and a division of the forms was made on this basis.

The retail prices of food, etc. (on Forms A, B2 and B3), and of clothing (Form B4) were then separately summarised in the two groups, viz.--those received from the Post Office officials and those received from the officials of the other Departments for July, 1914, and March and June, 1922.

(4) Compilation of Rent Returns.

The rent returns were treated in precisely the same manner, except that there was no division, since the returns were received through the Local Government Board only.

On pages 7 and 8 is the list of average retail prices so compiled:--

(5) LIST OF PRICES.

THE FOLLOWING TABLE SHEWS RETAIL PRICES IN IRISH TOWNS OF 500 INHABITANTS AND UPWARDS; AS AVERAGED FROM RETURNS COLLECTED BY OFFICERS OF THE POST OFFICE, MINISTRY OF LABOUR AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT BOARD.

-----------------------------------+-----------+-------------+------------- | Mid July, | Mid March, | Mid June, | 1914. | 1922. | 1922. -----------------------------------+-----------+-------------+------------- | | M.L.| | M.L.| | M.L. | P.O.| and | P.O.| and | P.O. | and | | L.G.| | L.G.| | L.G. -----------------------------------+-----+-----+------+------+------+------ FOOD. per| d. | d. | d. | d. | d. | d. Beef lb.| 8.0| 7.8| 13.5| 13.4| 13.4| 13.2 Mutton lb.| 8.6| 8.3| 16.0| 15.5| 16.0| 15.5 Pork Chops lb.| 8.9| 9.2| 17.5| 17.7| 20.1| 20.0 Pork Sausages lb.| 8.7| 8.6| 16.8| 16.4| 16.3| 16.1 Bacon lb.| 9.2| 9.5| 19.7| 17.9| 20.7| 19.0 Butter, Irish Creamery lb.| 13.9| 12.8| 23.9| 22.3| 23.2| 22.6 Butter, Irish Farmers lb.| 12.6| 10.6| 24.4| 20.0| 19.9| 18.9 Cheese lb.| 9.8| 9.8| 17.8| 17.0| 17.4| 16.8 Margarine, 1st grade lb.| 7.6| 7.7| 11.7| 12.1| 11.8| 11.2 Margarine, 2nd grade lb.| 6.2| 6.1| 9.1| 9.6| 8.8| 8.4 Lard lb.| 7.1| 7.3| 13.6| 11.5| 12.0| 11.6 Milk, Fresh quart| 2.5| 2.6| 6.8| 6.4| 5.4| 4.9 Condensed Milk, Irish lb. tin| 6.8| 5.6| 13.1| 12.8| 11.9| 11.6 Condensed Milk, | | | | | | Imported lb. tin| 7.2| 6.2| 13.8| 13.4| 12.8| 11.8 Eggs, 1st Grade dozen| 9.6| 11.2| 19.5| 19.2| 19.0| 17.3 Bread 2 lb. loaf| 3.2| 3.0| 5.8| 5.6| 5.6| 5.6 Flour, household 14 lb.| 19.8| 22.1| 36.6| 33.3| 35.7| 35.8 Oatmeal 14 lb.| 21.1| 23.7| 38.1| 41.6| 41.1| 41.3 Rice lb.| 2.8| 2.7| 5.8| 5.6| 5.5| 5.4 Potatoes, old 14 lb.| 5.5| 7.3| 12.8| 13.7| 16.6| 16.5 Tea, Best lb.| 30.3| 30.5| 44.2| 45.4| 42.6| 42.7 Tea, Cheapest lb.| 18.1| 18.3| 31.4| 29.1| 27.1| 26.4 Sugar, white | | | | | | granulated lb.| 2.2| 2.1| 5.9| 5.8| 5.9| 6.0 Jam lb.| 6.6| 6.7| 16.2| 16.3| 15.4| 15.5 -----------------------------------+-----+-----+------+------+------+------ | | | | | | CLOTHING. | | | | | | | | | | | | WOMEN'S. | s.d.| s.d.| s.d.| s.d.| s.d.| s.d. | | | | | | Light Coats | 8 10|25 7| 53 0| 47 0| 51 8| 46 0 Heavy Coats |30 10|31 7| 58 2| 57 11| 56 5| 56 4 Costumes |44 2|41 7| 79 9| 77 11| 77 7| 76 4 Blouses | 5 3| 4 8| 10 3| 9 5| 9 9| 9 1 Skirts | 8 1| 5 10| 14 7| 11 2| 13 7| 10 10 Stockings | 1 4| 1 5| 3 0| 2 9| 2 9| 2 8 Combinations | 5 8| 5 0| 11 1| 10 0| 10 8| 9 9 Corsets | 4 2| 3 8| 8 2| 6 10| 7 10| 6 8 Underskirts | 4 1| 3 2| 7 8| 5 10| 7 4| 5 9 Chemises | 2 5| 2 5| 4 10| 4 6| 4 9| 4 4 Boots |11 2| 8 7| 22 9| 16 0| 21 11| 15 9 -----------------------------------+-----+-----+------+------+------+------ | | | | | | GIRLS (OVER 6). | | | | | | | | | | | | Coats |14 1|11 8| 25 9| 21 0| 25 1| 20 9 Dresses |13 11| 9 7| 27 3| 17 7| 26 3| 17 3 Stockings | 1 4| 1 2| 2 8| 2 2| 2 5| 2 1 Combinations | 4 5| 3 10| 8 0| 6 9| 7 9| 6 8 Stays | 2 9| 2 5| 5 10| 4 9| 5 6| 4 8 Petticoats | 2 7| 2 2| 4 11| 4 1| 4 8| 4 0 Chemises | 2 1| 1 11| 3 9| 3 3| 3 7| 3 2 Boots | 8 4| 7 9| 16 6| 14 2| 15 10| 14 0 | | | | | | -----------------------------------+-----+-----+------+------+------+------ | | | | | | MEN'S. | | | | | | | | | | | | Overcoats (Readymade) |34 3|33 7| 69 1| 64 3| 66 5| 63 4 Overcoats (Tailormade) |53 6|48 10|100 11| 93 3| 98 7| 91 8 Suits (Readymade) |31 5|35 0| 67 9| 70 0| 66 2| 68 6 Suits (Tailormade) |58 10|54 5|119 6|113 10|116 4|112 7 Trousers (Readymade) | 8 6| 8 1| 17 0| 15 5| 16 6| 15 0 Trousers (Tailormade) |15 7|13 9| 32 2| 29 8| 31 7| 29 0 Singlets | 3 6| 2 8| 7 5| 5 2| 7 0| 5 0 Drawers | 3 9| 2 10| 7 7| 5 3| 7 2| 5 2 Shirts | 3 8| 3 1| 7 2| 6 5| 6 11| 6 4 Socks | 1 2| 1 2| 2 5| 2 3| 2 3| 2 2 Boots |12 5|11 11| 24 6| 23 3| 23 9| 22 9 | | | | | | -----------------------------------+-----+-----+------+------+------+------ | | | | | | BOYS (OVER 6). | | | | | | | | | | | | Overcoats |16 8|14 11| 33 1| 29 0| 32 1| 27 9 Suits |15 9|15 7| 31 7| 31 1| 30 5| 30 0 Shirts | 2 1| 2 0| 4 2| 3 9| 3 11| 3 8 Stockings | 1 3| 1 4| 2 6| 2 7| 2 3| 2 6 Boots | 8 9| 7 8| 16 9| 13 11| 16 0| 13 6 | | | | | | -----------------------------------+-----+-----+------+------+------+------ | | | | | | OTHER COMMODITIES. | | | | | | | d.| d.| d.| d.| d.| d. Coal 112 lb.| 17.4| 17.1| 38.9| 37.0| 37.2| 35.0 Turf 112 lb.| 13.7| 11.1| 29.9| 26.2| 30.1| 25.1 Gas for Lighting 1,000 c. ft| 50.6| 51.5| 101.9 98.9| 101.0| 98.2 Gas for Cooking 1,000 c. ft| 49.1| 48.7| 101.7| 97.1| 101.1| 96.6 Electricity for unit| 5.3| 5.3| 10.4| 9.7| 10.3| 9.4 Lighting | | | | | | Electricity for unit| 3.0| 2.4| 5.7| 5.0| 5.7| 5.0 Cooking | | | | | | Candles lb.| 3.5| 3.8| 7.1| 6.8| 6.5| 6.3 Paraffin Oil gallon| 8.3| 8.9| 20.4| 19.9| 19.8| 19.9 Soap (Household) lb.| 3.6| 3.6| 7.8| 7.3| 7.4| 6.9 Pipe Tobacco 2 ozs.| 7.0| 7.0| 17.0| 17.0| 17.0| 17.0 Cigarettes pkt. of 10| 3.0| 3.0| 6.0| 6.0| 6.0| 6.0

THE FOLLOWING TABLE shows Retail Prices in March and June, 1922, in respect of certain Commodities for which corresponding prices in 1914 were not collected.