Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-4rdpn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-09T07:32:37.712Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Patterns of Household Expenditure

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 November 2016

Freda Conway*
Affiliation:
The University, Freda Conway Salford

Extract

The way in which people spend their money is a matter of considerable interest. It is a topic which can be studied from many points of view and with varying degrees of sophistication, but it is well worth considering with the aid of a few graphs or Engel curves. Ernst Engels published his first account of Belgian working class family budgets in 1857 and his name is still associated with this study, though many of his conclusions concerning expenditure patterns have been falsified by subsequent changes in economic and social conditions.

These curves are used to illustrate the way in which expenditure on particular goods and services changes as household income increases. Data for their construction is obtained from household budget inquiries and is usually given in the form of average expenditure per household on a wide range of commodities for a limited number of income groups.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Mathematical Association 1968

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)