§ Mr. Ellis Smithasked the Minister of Food if he will give in tabular form the average cost of maintaining in food the average working class family in 1938 and 1947; and the cost for the same periods of the six principal foods consumed in industrial areas.
§ Mr. StracheyAccording to the budgetary inquiry conducted by the Ministry of Labour in 1937–38 (H.M.S.O. 1945), average weekly expenditure by households of industrial workers was 34s. 1d. For the average urban working-class family the food survey conducted for my Department shows that for the first nine months of 1947 the average weekly expenditure on food was 43s. These figures represent actual expenditure on foods available in the two periods and I regret that there is no information on the cost of maintaining a family on a given diet. The cost per lb. of the six principal foods at 31st March was:
— 1938. 1947. s. d. s. d. Bread (4-lb.) 9½ 10¼ Meat: Beef — Home-killed — Ribs (lb.). 1 2½ 1 3¾ Mutton — Home-killed — Legs. 1 4 1 5½ Milk (quart) 6¾ 9 Butter: Fresh (lb.) 1 4¼ 1 6 Salt (lb.) 1 3 Bacon (streaky) 1 3¼ 1 10½ Eggs 1¼ each 2 each 1¾