Abstract
THE Engineers' Study Group on Economics, which was formed towards the end of 1933 to investigate the economic and social problems presented by the co-existence of poverty and actual or potential plenty has now published its investigations on family budgets in a pamphlet entitled “Food and the Family Budget” (Engineers' Study Group, Hazlitt House, Southampton Buildings, W.C.2. Is. 6d.). This investigation has been confined to conditions as they exist in Great Britain to-day. The problem is treated quantitatively, and an attempt is made to deduce some general minimum standard of living which would be both desirable and practicable. The method used was that of analysing and comparing published data on family budgets, at the same time taking into consideration modern trends in consumption and requirements indicated by scientific research. The total budget required to provide the minimum standard desirable was found for a “statistical average family” of 3-72 persons to be about £6 per week (equivalent to about 635. per week for each wage earner) and of this sum about 37s. a week would be required for expenditure on food. The suggested food budget is shown to be compatible with (a) the dietetic requirements laid down by the British Medical Association Committee on Nutrition; (b) actual national consumption; and (c) the increased consumption of home-grown foodstuffs that would raise the dietetic standard to a level adumbrated by Sir John Orr. There is little doubt, it is stated, that a large part of the population is suffering from lack of nutritious foodstuffs, particularly fresh ‘dairy produce, fruit and vegetables.
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Food and the Family Budget. Nature 138, 753 (1936). https://doi.org/10.1038/138753b0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/138753b0