Cost of Living in the United States, 1917-1919 (ICPSR 8299)

Principal Investigator(s): United States Department of Labor. Bureau of Labor Statistics

Summary: This collection contains data obtained from families of wage earners or salaried workers in industrial locales scattered throughout the United States. The purpose of the survey was to estimate the cost of living of a "typical" American family. The completed questionnaires contain information about income sources and family expenditures including specific quantities and costs of food, housing, clothing, fuel, furniture, and miscellaneous household items for the calendar ye... (more info)

Series: Cost of Living Survey Series

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United States Department of Labor. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Cost of Living in the United States, 1917-1919. ICPSR08299-v5. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 1986. doi:10.3886/ICPSR08299.v5

Persistent URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR08299.v5

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This survey was funded by:

• National Endowment for the Humanities (RT-20344-83, and RT-20576-85)

Summary:   This collection contains data obtained from families of wage earners or salaried workers in industrial locales scattered throughout the United States. The purpose of the survey was to estimate the cost of living of a "typical" American family. The completed questionnaires contain information about income sources and family expenditures including specific quantities and costs of food, housing, clothing, fuel, furniture, and miscellaneous household items for the calendar year. Demographic characteristics recorded for each household member include relationship to head, age, sex, occupation, weeks spent in the household and employed, wage rate, and total earnings.

Subject Terms:   consumers, cost of living, economic indicators, expenses, families, households, income, urban population, working class

Geographic Coverage:   United States

Time Period:  

• 1917--1919

Date of Collection:  

• 1918-07--1919-02

Universe:   Industrial workers and their families in 99 cities in the United States.

Data Types:   survey data

Data Source:

interview schedules of the Bureau of Labor Statistics

Original ICPSR Release:  1985-01-11

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