§ 2. Mr. HANNONasked the Minister of Labour whether figures are available showing the drop in the cost of living of industrial wage-earners in this country, the United States, France, and Germany from the close of the year 1929 till the latest convenient date in the present
§ The following Table gives the official index numbers relating to (a) working-class cost of living, and (b) working-class rents, in these four countries, at or near the end of December, 1929, and at the most recent date for which figures are available, together with the percentage changes shown by these figures. It should be noted, as regards any comparisons which may be made of the figures for the different countries, that the index numbers are based in each case on prices and rents as expressed in the currencies of the countries concerned at the dates to which the figures relate.
| Country. | Cost of Living (1913 or 1914=100). | Bents* (1913 or 1914=100). | Percentage decrease (-) or increase (+)Since end of 1929. | |||
| At or near end of 1929.† | At latest date available.‡ | At or near end of 1929.† | At latest date available.‡ | Cost of Living. | Rents.* | |
| Great Britain and Northern Ireland. | 166 | 136 | 152 | 155 | - 18.1 | + 2.0 |
| United States of America | 171.4 | 132.1 | 151.9 | 118.0 | - 22.9 | - 22.3 |
| France (Paris) | 565 | 523 | 350 | 375 | - 7.4 | + 7.1 |
| Germany | 152.6 | 116.6 | 126.7 | 121.3 | - 23.6 | - 4.3 |
| * The figures for rents for Great Britain include local rates; it is not known to what extent local taxation is included in the figures on which the index numbers for other countries are based. | ||||||
| † Great Britain. 1st January, 1930: U.S.A., December, 1929: France (Paris), 4th quarter of 1929: Germany, December, 1929. | ||||||
| ‡ Great Britain, 1st May, 1933: U.S.A., December, 1932: France (Paris), 1st quarter of 1933, for cost of living, and 4th quarter of 1932, for rents: Germany, March, 1933. |