SEP 1 6 1935 RESEARCH BULLETIN SUF or Me NATIONAL EDUCATION VOL. XIll - No. 4 SEPTEMBER - 1935 ASSOCIATION The Teacher's Economic Position Published by the RESEARCH DIVISION of the NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION 1201 Sixteenth Street, N. W., Washington, D. C. - DiS MOMS ear 2. RESEARCH BULLETIN o 14 Published five times each year in January, March, May, September, and November President, AGNES SAMUELSON The payment of the $5 membership fee of the National Education Association entitles one to receive for one year the Research Bulletin, the Journal, the An- nual Volume of Addresses and Proceed- ings, and certain other publications of the Association. One dollar of each $5 mem- bership fee is for a year’s subscription to NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION Secretary, WILLARD E. GIVEN the Research Bulletin. The Research Bulletin may be subscribed for separately) at $1 per year. 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Address communications to the Research Division, National Education As- sociation, 1201 Sixteenth Street, N. W.., Washington, D. C. ich tel; ur Ty e ked ce, ( CONTENTS hapter FOREWORD .......... LINO, «iv deck cede ncceecacvesinvwas Importance of the Teacher’s Economic Status Contributions of the National Education Association Purposes of this Survey...... Il. GENERAL SCOPE AND PROCEDURE OF THE SURVEY. Sources of Information................... Nature of Report Forms Sent to Teachers. . Selection of Localities ................. Attitudes toward the Survey............. Distribution and Use of Report Forms....... Checking and Following Up the Monthly Reports A CN oe bc ne aac cade camden else Sh i a ois 5 Hed a's de ore bs 6S ows Odes III. Basic Facts CoNCERNING THE Group OF CoopERATING TEACHERS. Distribution of Teachers by Cities pe ee re Sex and Marital Status.............. Living Conditions.............. Number of Dependents. . . a ne ee sctict Relation between Income and Number of Dependents. Types of School Position.................... Length oF Gemeal Serwiee. 6 ois. sdk ens I Acad pido ns eae ik dey Gea enks and aioe IV. Sources AND Users oF Treacners’ INCOMES..... 8 ee re Borrowing and Reduction of Debt....... Current Expenditures and Surplus......... The Reporting Group as a Whole.................. — Comparison of Men and Women..... Carpsarod r as ae Comparison of Teachers in Different Living Conditions Comparison of Teachers at Different Income Levels....... Comparison of Teachers with Different Numbers of Dependents Comparison of Teachers in Ten Cities.............. Expenditures of ‘Teachers and Other Occupational Groups. . Summa » Peer ea ee ee eae a ee ee V. FinanciAt Assets AND LiaBiLities oF TEACHERS. Types of Information Collected......... Comparative Status of Men and Women................. Assets in Relation to Length of Service................. aE 4 a Stand Mis 64 164 iY sole ‘ula 6 ") Q9 Chapter VI. Case Reports or TEAcHers’ Economic STaATuS............. Teacher A Teacher B Teacher C Teacher D Teacher E Teacher F Teacher G ‘Teacher H Teacher | VII. CHaAnces in Cost or Livinc With REFERENCE TO TEACHERS’ SALARIES...... Definition and Measurement of Changes in Cost of Living Nature and Trend of Current Cost-of-Living Indexes................... 223 Earlier Methods of Constructing Cost-of-Living Indexes for Teachers A Modified Index Utilizing Data from the 1932-33 Survey Types of Commodities and Measures of Price Changes Used in the Inde Weighting the Eight Component Indexes...................000005. The Teachers’ Cost-of-Living Index from 1928-29 thru 1933-34 Trends in Living Costs during the Depression as Measured by Various Methods Limitations of the Teachers’ Index Recent Trends in the Purchasing Power of Teachers’ Salaries Summary VIII. INcomes or TEACHERS AND OTHER OccuPATIONAL Groups Ne ee un ahanea re ane geek awaeess a awe ep eee sas urenceranaveecs 24 Summary 4 IX. IMprovING THE Economic Stratus oF TEACHERS Suggestions for the Management of Income Suggestions for Determining Appropriate Salary Levels.................. Summary X. GENERAL SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS APPENDIX Tables Showing Average Distributions of Income for All Specific Groups of Teachers ... a8 Complete List of Commodities Priced in Constructing the Cost-of-Living Index of the U. S. Bureau of Labor Statistics...............0.00000 eee List oF TABLES List or Figures FOREWORD HE economic status of any body of workers essential to the welfare of society cannot be a matter of indifference to citizens. ‘The American people are committed to universal education at public expense. They furnish the money which supports it and the children who receive its benefits. They have fostered it by legal enactments for nearly three hundred years. They have protected it in the courts. And they have rebuked self-seeking interests which would hamper, belittle, or distort it. ‘Mhey must, therefore, be keenly sensitive to the welfare of teachers. It is the Committee’s intention in this report to inform the public concern ing one important aspect of the welfare of teachers, namely, their financial position. Little is known about this topic in spite of many reports on teachers’ salaries. Salaries do not cover the whole ground. Whether or not a given salary is sufficient may be a matter of endless dispute. What do we mean by sufficient ? Do we mean sufficient to secure enough candidates to recruit the teaching staff ? That way lies disaster. Too long have the schools of many communities operated with salaries just large enough to secure teachers of minimum legal qualifications. Such schools fail to keep their teachers. ‘Vhe turnover is rapid. And the pupils rarely receive the benefit of experienced instruction. Do we mean a sufficient salary to maintain an appropriate standard of living? But what is an appropriate standard of living? And standard of living for whom? For the teacher alone? How about dependents? What about the male teacher who normally will marry and maintain a home and family ? The female teacher also has dependents. By the way, how many dependents has she ? The idea of a “sufficient” salary bristles with questions. Perhaps we can | I approach the problem of the economic status of the teacher more fundamentally. Let us take the salaries as we find them. Let us find out what other incomes teachers have. Let us relate total income, however acquired, to cost of living, te number of dependents, and even to the skill with which teachers manage thei money. Let us find out whether they are better off financially at the end of the year and by how much. Let us note something about their scheme of values how much, for example, they spend for necessities and more particularly what they do with the rest of their incomes. Do they “give unto others” according to their ability? Do they spend a reasonable amount for the enrichment of their own lives? Let us find out how much they save from year to year. Let us see whether their capital is adequate at retirement to provide for their old age. In short, from a financial point of view and accepting conditions as they are, let us find out something about teaching as a career. These efforts have been made in the report which follows. The Committee is keenly aware that it has not succeeded at every point in this program. Essen tial information is difficult and expensive to obtain. Moreover, such information { 167 ] sometimes permits different interpretations. ‘The Committee believes, however, that it has made considerably more than a start in dealing with the problem and that its findings ought to be reported without further delay. ‘The Committee acknowledges with gratitude its indebtedness to the teachers, upwards of 2500 in number, who in addition to answering a series of pre- liminary and final questions made out twelve monthly reports of detailed receipts and expenditures. ‘Theirs was a task of such unusual magnitude that the Committee takes this occasion to express on its own behalf and on behalf of the National Education Association a genuine sense of obligation. The Committee is also deeply indebted to the Research Division of the National Education Association and in particular to Dr. Richard R. Foster, Assistant Director of the Division. Without the work of Dr. Foster and the Research Division this report could not even have been contemplated. COMMITTEE ON THE ECONOMIC STATUS OF THE TEACHER B. R. BuCKINGHAM, Chairman FLORENCE BARNARD WARREN W. COXE Frank W. BALLou J. R. McGauGHy [ 168 } CHAPTER I Introduction Importance of the Teacher’s Economic Status The economic status of any teacher is nat irally of major personal concern to that eacher. ‘The economic status of teachers as a roup is, or should be, a matter of funda- mental professional concern to all educators ind to parents and citizens generally. From the purely personal point of view, a satisfactory eco- nomic status is important because it means hav- ing the necessities of life in sufficient amounts for one’s self and dependents; a reasonable amount for giving to worthy causes outside one’s own household; ample opportunity for wholesome recreation and for cultural and pro- fessional growth; and a chance to make ade- quate provision for future emergencies and for retirement. From the strictly professional point of view, these things are important because they help to maintain the morale of teachers and to improve generally the efficiency of our schools. he profession of education may well give even more careful consideration than in the past, to the economic conditions and problems of its members and to ways of getting other citizens to do the same. This is essential to the well- being of one of society’s most potentially valu- able groups, and hence essential to the effective- ness of the work which society expects this group to do. Contributions of the National Education Association For many years the National Education As- sociation has interested itself in the economic problems of teachers. Thru its committees on 1 For example: Report of the Committee on Salaries, Tenure, and Pensions of Public School Teachers in the Washington, D. C.: the Association, 1905. 466 p. { Evenden 1918-19, (Prepared for the Commission on the Emergency in Education, National Education the Association, 1919. 169 p 2 For example: Committee on Retirement Allowances (Anna Laura Force, chairman) 1932. (Mimeographed) 80 p.; and Report Washington, D. C.: the Association, 1934. (Mimeographed) 29 p * For example: Committee on Tenure (Fred M. Hunter, chairman). Repert. Washington, D. C. Recent Court Decisions on Teacher Tenure. Washington, D. ¢ in Operation. Washington, D. C.: the Association { Committee on Tenure (Donald DuShane, chairman). Report the Association, 1935. 61 p. * For example: ‘Salaries of School Employees, 1934-35.”’ Research Bulletin 13: 1-3 The Retention, Promotion, and Improvement of Teachers.’ tises Affecting Classroom Teachers—Part IT March, 1932. 7 Buckingham, B. R., chairman. Report United States. Washington, D. C.: Bulletin of the National Education Association.) f “Current Issues in Teacher Retirement.” Research Bulletin 8 Teachers’ Salaries.’’ Research Bulletin 5: 129-92; May, 1927. Washington, D. C. 5 “The Economic Welfare of Teachers.’ Sixth Yearbook. Washington, D. C.: the ® See: ‘‘Teacher Personnel.” Review of Educational Research 4: 253-352; June Teacher Demand and Supply in the Public Elementary and Secondary Schools of the the Association, 1931. 99 p. (Published also as the November, salaries,’ retirement allowances,” and tenure, the knowledge and public opinion in these fields. The Research Division has collected essential data and published significant findings in its bulletins.* The Journal of the Association has devoted considerable space to the topic of teach Association has contributed to factual ers’ economic welfare, while in 1931 the De partment of Classroom ‘Teachers published an entire yearbook on this subject.° Another de partment, the American Educational Research Association, periodically summarizes the re search on this and other problems of teacher personnel in an issue of its Review of Educa tional Research.® In 1927 the Association’s Representative As sembly authorized the appointment of a Com mittee on the Economic Status of the Teache: to replace the existing committee on teachers’ salaries. As its name implies, the new commit tee’s function was to survey the field of teachers’ economic problems and to make studies of those problems which were most in need of attention. For its first study the Committee selected the problem of teacher supply and demand in the United States. With the cooperation of the Re search Division a survey was made and the re sults published in 1931.7 In the following year, the Committee decided that the time was ripe for a frontal attack upon its central problem: What is the economic status of teachers, and what suggestions can be made for its improve ment ? Again the facilities of the Research Divi sion were utilized, and a careful survey was carried on for a period of more than two years. The results of this second investigation are presented in this report. United States S. Teachers’ Salaries and Salary Schedules in the United States Association.) Washington, D. C Report: Teacher Retirement Systems Retirement Systems in the Depression. : the Association, 1924. 59 p 1935. “Administrative Prac Research Bulletin 10: 33-76 1930; § ‘The Scheduling of 2; March, 221-88; November, : the Association Association, 1931. 244 p. 1934 Washington, D. C.: the Association Research 1931, issue of the [ 169 ] Purposes of This Survey indebtedness accumulated by these teachers relation to the length of their service in tea The specific purposes of this investigation ing; (5) to measure the changes in teach: were as follows: (1) to determine how teachers cost of living and in the purchasing powe: at different income levels and under various teachers’ average salaries during the curren circumstances with respect to sex, marital economic depression; (6) to compare the ay: status, living conditions, and number of depend- age salaries of teachers with the average i: ents, actually used their incomes during a pe- comes of other occupational groups during the riod of twelve months; (2) to shed light, thru depression; and (7) to make suggestions f. an analysis of expenditures and related condi- the improvement of teachers’ economic statu tions, on the adequacy of the incomes received with reference both to the management of px by the cooperating teachers; (3) to show the sonal income and to the determination of a; sources and amounts of income received by propriate salary levels. ‘The sources of data ani these teachers in addition to their salaries; methods of study used to achieve these purpose: are described in the following chapter. (+) to reveal the amounts of property and of gs FIRST GREAT BENEFIT of financial independence is its contribution to the individual’s self-respect, personal morale, or whatever one wishes to call this factor which is so important in making life worthwhile to the individual. The person who through incompetence, unforeseen emergencies, an inadequate basic income, or lack of education, is unable to maintain a reasonable standard of living for himself and his dependents is also likely to lack the zest and inspiration which life is capable of affording. The second benefit of financial independence, closely related to the first, is its effect upon vocational efficiency. The person whose present needs are cared for, and who is free from worry as to what hardships the future may bring, is usually in the proper mental state for hard and effective work. On the other hand, the individual with a burden of financial worries on his mind cannot be expected to give his best to his daily tasks —The Economic Welfare of Teachers, Sixth Year- book, Department of Classroom Teachers, National Education Association, 1931, p. 13. " . | [170] ee Sin EEE ig the is fe tatus, f pe yf al a and ‘pOses CHAPTER II General Scope ard Procedure of the Survey Sources of Information In pursuing the purposes mentioned in the preceding chapter, the Committee obtained in- formation from a variety of sources. Data on sources and uses of teachers’ incomes, and on their accumulated assets and liabilities, were collected directly from teachers in city school systems. Changes in commodity prices were secured from reports of the United States Bu- reau of Labor Statistics, the National Indus trial Conference Board, and certain other agencies. Trends in teachers’ salaries were ob tained from surveys by the National Education Association and the United States Office of Education, and the incomes of other occupa tional groups from the recent studies of na- tional income by the United States Department of Commerce. The Committee has also had occasion to refer to a number of earlier studies bearing upon the economic status and needs of teachers.’ These earlier investigations have not only revealed significant problems for treat- ment in this report, but have suggested appro priate methods and possible pitfalls in the col lection and interpretation of data. An effort has been made to profit from these suggestions, and to extend or improve upon them insofar as possible. Most of these sources and the methods used in connection with them are described suff 1 Boothe, Viva. Salaries and the Cost of Living in Twenty-seve ‘ “Trends in the Purchasing Power of Teachers’ Salaries {merican Sci State University Press, 1932. 158 p. J Butsch, R. L. C. Board Journal 87: 18-20; October, 1933. § Cooke, Dennis H 11: 145-52; January, 1934. {| Eells, Walter Crosby. Salary and Cost Study of Fresno Adequacy of Teachers’ Salaries.’’ Peabody Journal of Edu ciently in later chapters. The remainder of this chapter describes the general procedure fol lowed in collecting financial information from teachers, this being the most novel and elabo rate phase of the survey from the standpoint of method. This description will interest research workers conducting similar studies, and othe readers who wish to judge for themselves as to the reliability of the data obtained. Nature of Report Forms Sent to Teachers Information was obtained from teachers by means of an individual record booklet of thirty two pages. ‘This booklet consisted of twelve monthly record sheets designed to provide in formation for a full year concerning savings and investments, current expenditures, Income from all sources and borrowing or reduction of debt The booklet also contained general directions for reporting the data; a sheet for such pet sonal items as name and address, sex, marital status, living conditions, number of dependents, length of school serv ice, and ty pe of school posi tion held ; and a sheet for general items of finan cial status at the end of the year, together with changes in living conditions which had occurred during the year. Each sheet was detachable, and all sheets in each booklet bore an identical serial number for convenience in re-assembling each teacher’s reports.” n State Universities and Colleges, 1913-193 Columbu Ot / Schools. Fresno, Calif.: Fresno City ¢ / of Education, May, 1932. 190 p. Eells, Walter Crosby, Teachers’ Salaries and the Cost of Living. Stanford University Stanford University Press, 1933. 94 p. §' Harry, David P. Cost of Living of Teachers in the State of New » York. Contribut Education, No. 320. New York: Teachers College, Columbia University, 1928. 184 p. 1 Hart, F. W., and Peterson, L. H. Tec Salaries in San Francisco. San Francisco, Calif Teachers Consolidated Salary Research Monographs, No. 16. Columbus: Ohio State Unive Academic Incomes and Planes of Living director. Cleveland Teachers’ Salaries. Bureau of Educational Press. 1932, 196 p. Hoyt, Elizabeth E., and Meints, Viola C Review 22. 78-81; March, 1932. 1 McGaughy, James R., director. Teachers’ Salaries in Teachers College, Columbia University, 1927. 256 p. 1 McKay, Ma Citizens’ Committee on Teachers’ Salaries. New York: K., and Warne, Colston E. Survey of the Salaries of Teachers in the Public Schools « Pittsburgh, Pa.: Pittsburgh Teachers Association, June, 1927. 98 p f Minneapolis Teachers in Relation to Their Salaries. Minneapolis, 1926, 39 p. 1 Morton, Grace Margaret, and Clark, Ruth Marjorie 22 653-56 August, 1930. 9 Oakland Public Schools Department of University of Nebraska.”’ Journal of Home Economics Research, and Heller Committee for Research in Social Economics of the University of California State Department of Education, June 1, 1932 Oakland School Teachers. Bulletin No. 11. Sacramento, Calif Jessica B. Getting and Spending at the Professional Standard of Living. New York: Macmillan Economics for the Teacher.”’ Common Ground (Official organ of the Massachusetts Teachers Federation) 9 Study Committee, 1929. 148 p. {§ Holy imerican Economi New York City. Final Report of the Lam f Pittsburgh in Relation to Cost of Livin {1 Meeker, Roval i Study of Costs and Standards of Livin Minn.: Central Coimmittee of Teachers Associations, September “Income and Expenditures of Women Faculty Members in the {dé quacy of Salaries Paid to 24 p. I Peixotte Co 1927. 307 p. 9 ‘Personal 341-57: May, |! { Strayer, George D., and Elsbree, Willard S., directors. Teachers’ Salaries in Yonkers. Report made by the Division of Field Stud Institute of Educational Research. New York: Teachers College 2 Copies of the report booklet, together with form letters and explanatory bulletins used in the survey, ar Columbia University, 1929. 49 p Research Division of the National Education Association for the information of any who wish to examine them [171] Selection of Localities The localities originally selected for study were the fifty-one cities in which the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics regularly collects food prices, and for thirty-two of which the Bureau computes indexes of the total cost of living for wage-earners and small salaried workers. The selection was limited to these fifty-one cities for three reasons: (1) Financial limitations made it possible to include only a few representative localities; (2) the Commit- tee believed that teachers in cities of consider- able size would make a better response to such an inquiry than would teachers from small towns and rural areas; and (3) the selection of these cities enhanced the value of government figures on commodity prices in connection with this survey. In May 1932 the chairman of the Committee wrote to the superintendent of schools in each of the fifty-one cities, enclosing a copy of the monthly record sheet, and requesting the super- intendent to seek the cooperation of teachers in his school system for the following year. Fol- low-up letters were mailed to those superintend- ents who did not answer the first letter. Of the fifty-one superintendents, five did not reply at all; nine were unable or unwilling to have the teachers cooperate; and thirty-seven took ac- tion or made suggestions which resulted in the participation of at least a small number of teachers. The thirty-seven cooperating cities are listed here: 1. Atlanta, Ga. 20. Milwaukee, Wis. 2. Baltimore, Md. 21. Minneapolis, Minn. 3. Birmingham, Ala. 22. Newark, N. J. 4. Bridgeport, Conn. 23. New Orleans, La. 5. Butte, Mont. 24. New York, N. Y. 6. Charleston, S. C. 25. Peoria, Ill. 7. Chicago, III. 26. Pittsburgh, Pa. 8. Cincinnati, Ohio 27. Portland, Ore. 9. Cleveland, Ohio 28. Providence, R. I. 10. Dallas, Texas 29. Richmond, Va. 11. Denver, Colo. 30. Rochester, N. Y. 12. Detroit, Mich. 31. Saint Louis, Mo. 13. Houston, Texas 32. Saint Paul, Minn. 14. Indianapolis, Ind. 33. Salt Lake City, Utah 15. Kansas City, Mo. 34. San Francisco, Calif. 16. Little Rock, Ark. 35. Seattle, Wash. 17. Los Angeles, Calif. 36. Springfield, III. 18. Louisville, Ky. 37. Washington, D. C. 19. Manchester, N. H. Attitudes toward the Survey Significant differences in the attitudes of superintendents toward the project were evi- dent in their responses to the Committee's quest for assistance. Most of them were ea to cooperate. Of the nine superintendents \ replied but declined to cooperate, some pressed sympathy with the Committee's pur; but felt that the time and labor involved too much to ask of the teachers, while one su; intendent frankly condemned the project as duly inquisitorial. Following are excerpts from the replies two superintendents and the authorized re; sentative of a third who agreed to cooperate 1. We shall be glad to have ten blanks or hundred blanks as may seem best to you. If prefer to make it one thousand or two thousa please arrange it that way. 2. In accordance with your request of May 18 submitted to our faculty your plan for investi; ing the economic status of the teacher. I am pleas to advise that 318 teachers have agreed to part pate in your study. . . . The monthly record s! for October was mimeographed together with entire statement submitted by the committee in ex; nation of the proposed investigation, and copies wer placed in the hands of each teacher agreeing | cooperate. 3. I have submitted the copy of the monthly re: sheet to a committee of three members who h had considerable experience in dealing with financial affairs of our teachers, and they agree t! the investigation is very important and that should participate. . . . During the summer | s! try to perfect an organization for securing und standing and cooperation among the teachers. In contrast are the following statements frc superintendents who felt that they could : help: 1.... 1 have talked this matter over with o: or two school officials, and also with officers of th: teachers association. We do not think it feasibl: this time to fill out the questionnaires. I appre the splendid work which your committee is attem) ing to do and the objective which it has in mind 2. I regret very much that, after consideration two meetings of our Board of Superintendents was decided not to participate. While members of this board regarded the subject as 0: worthy of study, they thought that the amount data and continuous effort required would be a lit'|: too much to ask of our teachers in these times overloaded classes, crowded buildings, and extended programs. 3. Acknowledging your letter of May 18, I do not care to ask any of our teachers to keep such a monthly record of expenditures as the suggested quiry blank enclosed in your letter purposes to + cure. I think the questions include a gr: many that are of such an intimate, personal nat: that teachers would feel resentful at being asked | furnish such information. [172] great ature ed t } . | forwarded your letter with the question e to the president of our teachers club, with the gestion that she present the matter to her govern- board. . . . It was finally voted by the govern board that since no one on the board would care keep for a year such a récord as you proposed, would not wish to ask the members of the club 10 sO. No criticism of anyone is implied in repro ducing the foregoing responses. These state ments represent honest differences of opinion as to the value or the propriety of asking teach- ers for such information. In any study of this kind, considerable objection is likely to be en- countered unless the purpose and value of the project are fully explained and unless all con cerned are assured that their reports will be kept strictly confidential. The present Com mittee took what it considered to be adequate steps in these directions, but in the light of its experience recommends that future investiga tors make even more careful preparations for launching surveys of this nature. Distribution and Use of Report Forms Each superintendent was asked to obtain the cooperation of five hundred teachers, if pos- sible, who were either single women or mar- ried men. Single men and married women were excluded because they constitute a relatively small proportion of the teaching staff in most cities, and it seemed unlikely that enough of them would cooperate to make separate analy ses of their reports worthwhile. In September 1932, most of the superintendents as to the number of booklets they would need, the number called for was shipped to each city. The letter accom- panying the booklets contained the following after estimates had been received from directions: 1. For the present, the Committee is interested in obtaining reports from members of the white race only. The inclusion of a few teachers of other races will not be objectionable, but no attempt should be made to include them as a representative group. 2. The cooperating group should be strictly limited to single women and married men. If possible, we should like to have the teachers divided about equally between these two groups. If this is out of the ques- tion in your system, please obtain as many of each group as possible, up to a total of (number re- quested) for the two groups combined. If you should discover that additional teachers are willing to par- ticipate, please write at once and the required num- ver of extra booklets will be sent you. 3. The cooperating group should include teachers with a wide range in annual salaries received from the board\of education. The teachers should be dis tributed as well as possible over the entire salary scale. 4. The report booklets should, if possible, be dis tributed to the teachers not later than October 1 and preferably about a week or ten days earlier The teachers should have an opportunity to study the booklet carefully before October 1, so that they will understand from the beginning what is ex pected of them 5. The task of reporting is not a small one. There fore, it will help greatly if you or your representa tive will explain to the cooperating teachers the purpose and scope of the study, emphasize its im portance to them and to the profession generally review briefly the procedure for reporting, and urge their continuous cooperation thruout the year. If con venient, such an inauguration of the project might best be accomplished at a meeting of the participat ing teachers. Or it might be done in a lette1 6. Complete directions for filling out and mailing the report forms are included in the booklet itself Most of the items can be answered by writing figures or check marks. 7. The teachers may be assured that every item of information reported by them will be kept strictly confidential. We are not interested in the status of any individual, and will use the information only in preparing tabulations for the group. Special precau tions will be taken to prevent identification of the participating teachers, except in case it becomes nev essary for the Research Division to correspond with a teacher concerning the accuracy o1 completeness of the information reported. 8. From now on, the detailed work of administer ing the entire survey will be in the hands of Dr Richard R. Foster, Assistant Director, Research Division of the N. E. A., 1201 Sixteenth Street, N. W.., Washington, D. C. You should, therefore, address all further communications concerning details of the project to him. Acting for the Committee on the Economic Status of the Teacher, he will answer all questions and assist those cooperating in every way possible. A similar set of directions was sent to a selected list of school principals in one city whose superintendent had requested that the entire project be administered directly thru the individual schools. More than ten thousand booklets were sent to the thirty-seven cities listed above. More than half of these were not used, however, partly because some of the superintendents had over-estimated the number of teachers who would cooperate, and partly because many teachers who had tentatively agreed to par- ticipate were unwilling or unable to do so when they discovered how much time and effort would be required. If no report had been re- ceived from a particular booklet after the first two months of the survey, the Research Divi [173] sion sent the serial number of that booklet to the person in charge of distribution in the ap- propriate city with a request that he use all reasonable means to secure the cooperation of the teacher holding the booklet. This procedure brought some additional responses from the teachers. More than four thousand teachers submitted reports at the end of the first month of the sur- vey (October 1932). At the conclusion of the project, 2566 had sent in twelve monthly rec- ords and the supplementary information in usable form. While this was not as high a per- cent of response as has been obtained in many questionnaire studies, the Committee considers it a remarkable return in view of the arduous and time-consuming nature of the task and the fact that most of the teachers were far removed from the source of the inquiry. Checking and Following up the Monthly Reports A special effort was made to maintain the interest of each teacher, to obtain his reports promptly, to check each report carefully as it was received, and to correct errors or misunder- standings by further correspondence. Usually the cooperating teachers mailed their reports directly to the Research Division, as requested. After a teacher had sent his records for the first month, including his name and address, any communications concerning his reports were addressed to him personally. No further follow-up thru the superintendent of schools was attempted. Within a few weeks after each month’s re- port was due, a postcard reminder was sent to the teachers who had not yet reported for that month. In addition, the chairman of the Com- mittee sent two postcard messages (in Janu- ary and May 1933) to all of the teachers who were not more than three months behind with their reports, expressing personal appreciation of their cooperation and urging them to con- tinue reporting thruout the year. The major task in collecting these data con- sisted of checking each individual report as it was received, and corresponding with teachers in regard to doubtful points. Many evidences of misunderstanding were found on the re- ports, and hundreds of requests were received for further explanation of certain items. All such matters were given careful attention. |p quiries from teachers answered sonally by a responsible member of the Resea Division staff. The items causing greatest diff. culty were explained also in a series of form letters. Few of those participating failed to ceive at least one such letter, and many received several of them. The response of the teachers +, these letters was, on the whole, very satisfa tory. Had such correspondence not been ca ried on, the number of usable reports available at the end of the year would probably have been only a minor fraction of the number actual! received. In addition to the form letters and the pe: sonal answers to individual requests for guid ance, the Research Division sent out two brief mimeographed bulletins to clarify certain points in the record forms. One of these indicated the proper classification of expenditures for certain types of goods and services not enumerated on the record sheets themselves. The other bulletin attempted to define more clearly the nature of the figures desired under the headings of “In come,” “Savings and Investments,” and “Bo: rowing and Reduction of Debt.’’ Each of these bulletins was sent to the key people in the co operating cities, with the request that it bh. brought to the attention of the participating teachers. Copies of both bulletins were also enclosed in many of the personal letters ad dressed to individual teachers. Shortly before the close of the year covered by the survey, a one-page multigraphed sheet headed “Supplementary Inquiry” was sent to each teacher who was not more than two or three months behind with his reports. This sheet asked for certain additional information which, because of reduced incomes and other factors not clearly foreseen, might be needed for proper interpretation of the data submitted on the monthly reports. This information in- cluded the amount of unpaid bills at the begin- ning and at the end of the year, salary due but unpaid at the end of the year because of in- sufficient school funds, and the amount of money lost or tied up in closed banks. were Tabulation ot Data As soon as the record sheets for the last month of the year (September 1933) began to come in, the Research Division began to summarize [174] le 7 been tually e per- guid- brief 0Ints d the *rtain ed on lletin ‘Bor these vered sheet nt to 7O or This ation yther eded itted n in- egin- e but f in- it of onth -ome arize the reports of each teacher for the year. ‘The orresponding figures for all twelve months were added and their totals recorded on master sheets. Considerable follow-up work was neces -ary in obtaining the teachers’ final reports, and the last of them were not received until about january 1, 1934. The task of summarizing the 35,000 separate record sheets was completed bout April 1. When the reports had been summarized, the data were punched on Hollerith cards—two §0-column cards for each teacher. These cards were then used in sorting and tabulating the data for various groups of teachers by means of electrical machines. While a great deal of clerical work was required also, most of the basic analyses were made on the Hollerith machines. Summary 1 The Committee believes that the methods employed in this survey were such as to vield unusually accurate results. The collection of financial reports from teachers each month in stead of only once at the end of the year; the pains taken to correct mistakes and misunder- standings thruout the course of the survey ; and the use of mechanical equipment as well as high- grade clerical service in summarizing and tabulating the data—these factors of procedurt may properly inspire confidence in the figures presented in the following chapters. A file of the record forms, explanatory bulletins, and form letters used in the survey is available in the Research Division of the National Educa tion Association for the information of any who wish to examine it. I EISURE, itself a by-product of money, is absolutely essential to mental and physical vigor. The teacher must have time for reading and study, time for recreation and diversion, time for cultural interests, and time for travel. If the teacher's salary is so low that she must either devote her out-of-school hours to making her own clothes, doing her own laundry, cooking, and cleaning, or else tak: on odd jobs to help defray expenses, she will have little time and less energy for those outside interests which would contribute to her effectiveness in the class room. Teachers whose nerves are worn to a fine edge by mental and physical ex haustion, by too much routine and too little diversion, cannot have the patience, the tolerance, and the infinite sympathy which are essential to successful work with children.—Elsbree, Willard S., Teachers’ Salaries, Teachers College, Columbia University, 1931, p. 4. CHAPTER III Basic Facts Concerning the Group of Cooperating Teachers This chapter presents a number of facts clude the distribution of teachers by cities, ty, concerning the group of participating teach- of reporting, sex and marital status, living « ers which have bearing upon the expenditures — ditions, number of dependents, net incomes and other aspects of economic status considered ceived, types of school position, and length in subsequent chapters. These basic facts in- schcol service. . TABLE 1.—NUMBER OF TEACHERS IN EACH CITY SUBMITTING COMPLETE REPORTS FOR THE YEAR Single women Married men Both sexes City ané state Individual Communal Individual Communal Individual Communal reporting reporting* reporting reporting* reporting reporting* 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 North Atlantic Section: . Bridgeport, Conn . Manchester, N. H 3. Newark, N. J.... . New York, N. Y. . Pittsburgh, Pa. . Providence, R. I. . Rochester, N. Y. South Atlantic Section: . Atlanta, Ga . Baltimore, Md. . Charleston, S. C. . Richmond, Va. . Washington, D. C. North Central Section: . Chicago, Il. . Cincinnati, Ohio . Cleveland, Ohio . Detroit, Mich... . Indianapolis, Ind. . Kansas City, Mo.. . Milwaukee, Wis. . Minneapolis, Minn. . Peoria, Ill. . Springfield, Il. . St. Louis, Mo. . St. Paul, Minn. South Central Section: 25. Birmingham, Ala. . Dallas, Texas . Houston, Texas . Little Rock, Ark . Louisville, Ky. . New Orleans, La. Western Section: pI I so 0 nese aoatien 20 . Denver, Colo. eetieds a 104 3. Los Angeles, Calif : 43 i, GMB: 5.ca-05 8s xa 39 . Salt Lake City, Utah....... 26 . San Francisco, Calif........ 25 ee ee 13 Total number. .......... 1955 129 Am Com oo 11 30 58 49 -ococceo Q 209 100 58 47 CMe BN NORkK Wen = 79 49 5 SOYw’SoK OK OK Ces 62 28 185 86 3 120 8 coceunsd onaceao 20 121 50 43 28 26 14 2358 2566 a) Pi sctpies S| ©loocceane ~~ S on Read table thus: Of the 3 teachers submitting complete reports from Bridgeport, Conn., all were single women and were cas of “individual reporting’; of the 40 teachers submitting complete reports from Newark, N. J., 30 were single women and repr: sented ‘‘individual reporting,”’ 3 were women representing “communal reporting,” 6 were married men representing ‘‘individua reporting,”’ and 1 was a man representing ‘communal reporting.” Similarly read figures for other cities and for all cities combined * Cases of “communal reporting’ are those in which the reporting teacher recorded the expenditure of money earned by « received from another person or persons and spent in behalf of such person or persons. For more detailed definition. see text accom panying this table, page 177. [ 176] case repre ridua ined yO com Distribution of Teachers by Cities Table 1 shows the number of teachers in h city who submitted complete reports of me and expenditures for the entire year. (he numbers varied from only one teacher in \lanchester, New Hampshire, to 228 in Cin nnati, Ohio. The following ten cities fur- nished at least one hundred complete reports: Louisville, Ky. Minneapolis, Minn. Pittsburgh, Pa. Rochester, N. Y. Saint Louis, Mo. Cincinnati, Ohio Cleveland, Ohio Dallas, Texas Denver, Colo. Kansas City, Mo. Types of Reporting Because of differences in living conditions and in ways of handiing personal and family finances, not all of the reports submitted were strictly comparable. This difficulty was met by classifying the reports into two principal types: |) those representing “individual reporting,” and (2) those representing ‘communal report ing. Individual reporting was defined as the usual type in which the teacher reported only expend- itures for himself and his dependents from his own personal income. A small number of cases which did not quite meet this definition were nevertheless placed in this group. The nature of such special cases is implied in the follow- ing definition of “communal reporting.” Communal reporting was defined as the rela- tively infrequent type in which the teacher in- cluded the expenditure of money which was earned by or received from another person or persons and which was spent partly or wholly TABLE 2.—TYPES OF REPORTING in behalt of that other person or persons, except that teachers who reported less than $50 of such receipts and expenditures under certain headings were arbitrarily classed as cases of in dividual reporting rather than communal re porting. Four specific types of communal re porting were distinguished as follows: 1. Teachers reporting the expenditure of at least $50 received from boarders, irrespective of whether the boarders were dependents or non-dependents, relatives or non-relatives. 2. Teachers reporting the expenditure of at least $50 earned or received by spouse from outside sources, * 3. Teachers reporting the expenditure of at least $50 received from members of their households other than spouse. 4. Teachers reporting the expenditure of money received from non-dependents who were sharing expenses equally with them. Table 2 indicates how the teachers were clas sified according to types of reporting. Among both men and women the cases of individual reporting were greatly in the majority, con stituting 91.9 percent of the two sexes com- bined. About 12 percent of the men were classed as cases of communal reporting because they included the expenditure of income re ceived by their wives, but otherwise no type of communal reporting Was represented by more than + percent of the teachers of either sex. As shown in Table 1, the cases of communal re porting were distributed among the thirty-seven cities roughly in proportion to the total num ber of teachers cooperating in each city. The number of cases of communal report- ing among all women was 129, while among all men it was 79, making a total of 208 for BY THE COOPERATING TEACHERS Single women Types of reporting* Number 1 2 1955 2. Communal reporting: a. Receipts from boarders...... 47 b. Separate income of spouse c. Receipts from other members of house- hold...... gases d. Receipts from non-dependents sharing expenses. Total... a ee 2084 Married men Both sexes Percent Number Percent Number Percent 5 0.1 100 0 482 100.0 2566 100.0 Read table thus: Of the 2084 single women reporting, 1955 or 93.8 percent represented cases of ind v dual reportir 17 or 2.3 percent reported receipts from and expenditures for boarders; 79 or 3.8 percent reported receipts from and expenditures for other members of the household; and 3 or 0.1 percent reported receipts from and expenditures for non-dependents who were sharing expenses. Similarly read figures for married men and for both sexes combined. * For detailed statement of the distinct’on between ‘individual reporting’’ and ‘‘communal reporting ee page 177 [177] both sexes combined. These groups were so small as to make it impracticable to analyze the data on income and expenditures for them in detail, in view of the further sub-groupings required if important influencing factors were to be taken into account. Consequently, the remaining tables dealing with the reports of teachers include only cases of individual report- ing as defined above. Sex and Marital Status ‘Table 3 shows the distribution of the 2358 cooperating teachers (excluding cases of com- munal reporting) by sex and marital status, in- cluding a classification of single women accord- ing to whether they were (1) unmarried, (2) married but separated, or (3) widowed. About 96 percent of the 1955 women were unmarried. Of the entire group combining both sexes, 1880 or 80 percent were unmarried women, while 403 or 17 percent were married men. The num- ber of women and the number of men sepa- rately for each city are shown in Table 1. Living Conditions ‘Table 4+ contains a classification of the 2358 teachers according to six general types of living conditions defined as follows: 1. Owning and maintaining a home—The teacher owned or was purchasing the house in which he lived and in which most of his meals were prepared. He was administering the home himself and bearing all or most of the expense of operating it. He lived in this home for at least eight months of the year. 2. Renting and maintaining a home—The teacher was renting a house or apartment, and most of his meals were prepared therein. He was administering the home himself and bearing all or most of the operating expense. He lived in this home for at least eight months of the year. 3. Rooming and boarding—The teacher was | ing for food and shelter at commercial estab! ments, or at a private home not operated by r 3 tives. He lived under these conditions for at i eight months of the year. 4. Living at the home of parents or other relatives—The home was owned or rented usually administered by the relatives, while teacher contributed anywhere from nothing to th: entire expense of operation. The teacher lived und these conditions for at least eight months of the yea 5. Living with others (not near relatives) sharing expenses—The teacher owned or rented 4 house or apartment jointly with others who not near relatives, paying approximately his { share of the operating expense. He lived under thes: conditions for at least eight months of the year 6. Combination of types—The teacher lived un two or more of the above types of conditions at different times during the year, but under no type for as long as eight months. The first five of these types are relativ: distinct from one another with respect to ce tain factors which are likely to affect a pe: son’s distribution of expenditures, except Number 4, “Living at the home of parents o other near relatives.” This category may in clude teachers whose living conditions are fundamentally similar to Type 1, 2, 3, or 5 For example, altho a teacher may live in a hom: owned by his parents, he may pay practicall\ the entire cost of operating and maintaining it In such a case his expenditures would not be expected to differ greatly from what they would be if he owned his own house, paid all operat ing expenses, and had his parents living with him. Or a teacher may live at his parents’ home but pay the same amount for board and room that he would have to pay at some other pri- vate home. The reason for classifying these cases (as well as those in which the teache: obviously lived more inexpensively with his TABLE 3.—TYPES OF MARITAL STATUS AMONG THE COOPERATING TEACHERS Women Men Both sexes Types of marital status SEER - -——--- Number Percent Number Percent Number Percent 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Single: Unmarried ee Oe 1880 96.2 1880 79.7 Separated... ence a ale tds ‘ees ee 10 0.5 10 0.4 Widowed.... . Siatetin tg sina 6M e 65 3.3 ees! pease 65 2.8 Married and living with spouse. ....... relatives than he could have done elsewhere ) under Ty pe 4, is that they represent situations in which teachers are popularly supposed to e at extremely low cost to themselves, ese cially with respect to food and lodging. By grouping all such cases together, it is possible to check this popular notion with reference to members of the group.’ ‘Table + shows that of the 1955 women, about one-third were living at the homes of parents or other near relatives, while only about 6 per- cent were living with non-relatives and shat ing expenses. Slightly fewer than one-fourth were renting homes, while about the same num ber were rooming and boarding. Only 14 per- cent owned or were buying their homes. In sharp contrast to these figures are the per centages for the men teachers. More than half of the men owned or were buying their homes, while all but a few of the remainder were rent- ing homes. In the following chapters the data on incomes and expenditures of the women are presented separately for each of the first five types of liv- ing conditions, while those of the men are given separately for only the first two types. The data for other types are omitted because the numbers of teachers so classified were too small to have significance. Number of Dependents Facts regarding the number of dependents per teacher appear in Tables 5 and 6. Table 5 194 and 195 ‘For data on this point, see Chapter IV. p shows, for the teachers of each sex, the average number of persons in each of four categories who were dependent upon the cooperating teachers. In reporting dependents, the teachers were asked to count themselves among the pet sons who were wholly dependent upon thei: (the teachers’) incomes. This procedure was followed because it seemed simpler and more significant to measure the teacher's economic responsibility in terms of the total number of persons dependent upon his income. TABLE 5.—AVERAGE NUMBER OF PER.- SONS DEPENDENT UPON INCOMES OF TEACHERS * Single Married Both Cc fd , women men sexes lasses of dependents 1955 403 2358 teachers) teachers) teachers 1 2 3 + Wholly depender over 21 years 2.2 1 1.4 under 21 vears 0.1 ‘3 0 Partly dependent over 21 years 0.8 0.3 ) under 21 years 0.3 0.1 ( All classes ».4 3 Read table thus: The single women were supportin the average, 1 wholly dependent persons over 21 year Age rting teacher herself); 0.1 wholly dependent person under 21 making an 2.4 persons dependent upon the teacher’s income to some de and for both sexe (including the rep« years of age, etc average tota gree. Similarly read figures for married men combined * Excluding cases of » Includes the reporting teacher communal reporting in each case Changes in the number of a teacher's de pendents during the year were taken account of by means of fractions. For example, if a TABLE 4.—NUMBER OF TEACHERS OF EACH SEX IN VARIOUS TYPES OF LIVING CONDITIONS" Single women Married men Both sexes Types of living conditions Number Percent Number Percent Number Percent 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Owning and maintaining a home , 277 14.2 213 52.9 490 20.8 Renting and maintaining a home 452 23.1 178 44.2 630 26.7 Rooming and boarding msaie 430 22.0 1 0.2 431 18 Living at home of parents or other relatives 655 33.5 8 2.0 663 28,1 Living with others (not relatives) and sharing expenses. . angele 127 6.5 1 0.2 128 7.4 Combination of types 14 0.7 2 0.5 16 0.7 7wetal..... 1955 100.0 403 100.0 2358 100.0 Read table thus: Of the 1955 single women reporting, 277 or 14.2 percent were owning and maintaining a home 7 percent were renting and maintaining a home: 430 or 22.0 married men and for both sexes combined. * Excluding cases of “communal reporting.” pe recent were rooming and be varding etc. Similarly read figures $52 or 23.1 [179] teacher reported two dependents for six months of the year but only one for the remaining six months, his number of dependents was counted as 1.5. Dependency units—For convenience in clas- sifying the data on expenditures, all degrees of dependency were combined in a single figure for each teacher, and this figure is referred to thruout this report as the number of dependency units. A “dependency unit’ was defined as the equivalent of one person wholly dependent or two persons partly dependent upon the teach- er’s income, the teacher himself being counted as one whole unit. Each partly dependent per- son was counted as one-half unit, on the as- sumption that the amount of dependency in a group of partial dependents would average about one-half as much as that of a total de- pendent. Table 6 contains a distribution of teachers according to the number of dependency units for which they were responsible. The average number for women was 1.9, while for men it was 3.5. A comparison of Tables 5 and 6 shows TABLE 6.—NUMBER OF DEPENDENCY UNITS PER TEACHER * Number of Single Married Both dependency units ° women men sexes 1 2 3 4 1.0—1.4 653 0 653 1.5—1.9 395 0 395 2.0—-2.4 430 69 499 2.5—-2.9 151 32 183 3.0—3.4 140 100 240 3.5—3.9 70 29 99 4.0—4.4 58 04 152 4.5—4.9 20 20 40 5.0—5.4 14 28 42 5.5—5.9 9 t 18 6.0—6.4 1 1 16 6.5—6.9 9 2 11 7.0—-7.4 1 3 4 7.5—7.9 2 0 2 8.0—8.4 0 2 2 8.5—8.9 1 0 1 9.0-—-9.4 1 0 1 Number of teachers 1955 403 2358 Average number of dependency units 1.9 3.5 2.2 Read table thus: Of the 1955 single women teachers, 653 were responsible for from 1.0 to 1.4 dependency units; 395 were responsible for from 1.5 to 1.9 units; 430 were responsible for from 2.0 to 2.4 units, etc.; the average for the entire group of single women being 1.9 units. Similarly read figures for married men and for both sexes combined. * Excluding cases of ‘‘communal reporting.”’ » A “dependency unit’’ is the equivalent of one person wholly dependent or two persons partly dependent upon the reporting teacher’s income, each partly dependent person being counted as one-half unit. The teacher himself is counted as one whole unit. that the average number of dependency units was slightly smaller than the average t number of persons dependent upon the teac!y income. In showing the relation between depende: and the financial status of teachers in |a: chapters, the teachers of each sex are grou; into three general levels according to the nu: ber of dependency units which they report For single women these levels are: (a) onl) unit of dependency, (b) 1.1 to 2.9 units, ; (c) 3.0 or more units. For married me: slightly different grouping is used, due to | fact that the figures for the men were larg on the average, and were in no case less t! 2.0. The levels for men are: (a) only 2.0 uni: (b) 2.1 to 3.9 units, and (c) 4.0 or more unit: Total Net Incomes One of the most important factors influe: ing the distribution of teachers’ expenditures the amount of income which they receive. ‘I’ 7 presents a general picture of the total net incomes received during the year by the 1955 women and the 403 men. In both these grou the incomes ranged from less than $1500 ¢ more than $4000. More than one-third of + women received between $1500 and $1900 while about one-third of the men received |. tween $2000 and $2499. The average | women was $1968, and for men it was $24()4 At least five different income levels for e: sex are used, in addition to the factors alread mentioned, in analyzing the data on econon status in subsequent chapters. TABLE 7.— TOTAL INCOMES RE CEIVED BY TEACHERS OF EACH SEX ' Total income Single Married Both women men sexes 1 2 3 4 Under $1500. ... hel 416 22 438 $1500 to 1999..... aan ea 752 94 840 $2000 to 2499......... = 468 137 605 $2500 to 2999..... ee. 214 82 296 $3000 to 3499........... 55 41 96 $3500 to 3999........... 27 15 4 $4000 and over.......... 23 12 35 OS IR co o's k.vdswss 1955 403 2358 Average income........... $1968 $2404 $2043 Read table thus: Of the 1955 single women reporting received incomes under $1500; 752 received incomes of $15 to $1999; 468 received incomes of $2000 to $2499, etc. Si: larly read figures for married men and for both sexes combin« ® Excluding cases of ‘“‘communal reporting.”’ [ 180] ' ' e tot sachs ndet n lat rouped e nut porte nly 1.0 ts, al men to larg s than units unit EX * »th res 13 BLS ine: Relation between Income and Number of i Dependents lable 8 shows the relation between size of me and number of dependents among the operating teachers. It indicates a very slight id perhaps insignificant increase in the aver » number of dependency units with increases income among the single women, from 1.8 nits in the group receiving less than $1500 to | units in the group receiving $3500 or more. the opportunity for real differences in standards of living. If the number of dependents had in creased in proportion to increases in income, no marked difference in living standards would have been possible. Types of School Position The general types of school position held by the cooperating teachers are shown in Table 9. Of the women, slightly more than three-fifths \mong the married men the relation was some- were elementary or kindergarten teachers, what closer for the first three income levels, while most of the remainder were divided he average number of dependency units in creasing from 2.8 in the group receiving less than $1500 to 3.8 in the group receiving be- tween $2000 and $2499. The number of units among the men did not increase, on the aver- age, with increases in income beyond the latter level. These facts are significant because they indicate that, in general, the higher paid teach- ers had considerably more income per unit of dependency than did the lower paid teachers. In other words, differences in income among these teachers appear, insofar as the factor of dependency alone is concerned, to have provided rather evenly between junior high- and senior high-school teaching. In contrast, more than half of the men were teaching in senior high schools, about one-fourth in junior high schools, and only 10 percent in elementary schools. At the outset of the survey, it was intended to limit the participating group to classroom teachers only. However, eighty-seven usable reports from principals, supervisors, depart ment heads, etc., were included on the ground that difference in type of school position prob ably was not a major factor in determining how incomes were spent. Positions other than that TABLE 8.—AVERAGE NUMBER OF DEPENDENCY UNITS AMONG TEACHERS AT VARIOUS INCOME LEVELS" Sex and marita! status of teachers Groups according to net income Under $1509 $1500-1999 $2000-2499 $2500-2999 $3000-3499 $3500 and over 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Single women 1.8 1.9 2.0 2.0 1.8 Married men... 2.8 3.2 3.8 3.6 3 Both sexes i. 2.0 2.4 » 4 6 > « Read table thus was 1.8; among those receiving $1500 to $1999 it was 1.9, etc. * Excluding cases of ‘‘communal reporting.” Among the single women receiving incomes of less than $1500 Similarly read figures for married men and for both sexes « the average number of dependency units nbined TABLE 9.—NUMBER OF COOPERATING TEACHERS IN EACH TYPE OF SCHOOL POSITION" Single women School positions - Married men Both sexes Number Percent Number Percent Number Percent 1 2 4 5 6 7 Elementary or kindergarten teacher 1225 62.6 39 9.7 1264 53.6 Junior high-school teacher 313 16.0 108 26.8 421 17.9 Senior high-school teacher 358 18.3 228 56.6 586 24.8 Other positions>..... 59 3.1 28 6.9 87 3 re 1955 100.0 403 100.0 2358 100.0 Read table thus: Of the 1955 single women reporting, 1225 or 62.6 percent were elementary or kindergarten teachers; 313 w 16.0 percent were junior high-school teachers; for married men and for both sexes combined. ® Excluding cases of ‘‘communal reporting.” b Including elementary- and high-school principals, supervisors, and department 358 or 18.3 percent were senior high-school teachers, et¢ heads Similarly read figures [181] of classroom teacher, however, were held by only 3 percent of the women and by only 7 per- cent of the men reporting. Length of School Service ‘Table 10 shows a rather wide spread among the participating teachers of both sexes with respect to the number of years they had spent in school service. Such service varied from fewer than six to more than forty vears. The average TABLE 10.—LENGTH OF SCHOOL SERV- ICE AMONG TEACHERS OF EACH SEX * Both sexes Single Married 4 Fewer than 6 318 6-10 482 11-15 ‘ 448 16-20 414 21-25 . 259 26-30 31-35 36-40 41 and over Total number 16.5 15.9 Average years Read table thus: Of the 1924 single women reporting the number of years they had been in active school service, 256 reported fewer than 6 years, 357 reported from 6 to 10 years, 358 reported from 11 to 15 years, etc., while the average for all single women was 16.4 years. Similarly read figures for married men and for both sexes combined. ® Excluding cases of ‘‘communal reporting.” number of years among the women was 16.5, while among the men it was 13.2. The facts given in this table are used later in showing the relationship between length of time in the teaching profession and certain aspects of the teachers’ economic status. Summary 1. The 2566 teachers submitting complete reports of incomes and expenditures were lo- cated in thirty-seven different cities, the num- ber in a single city varying from | to 228. Ten of the larger cities furnished more than three- fifths of the entire group. 2. Of the 2566 complete reports, 2358 or 92 percent were cases of “individual reporting,” while 208 or about 8 percent were cases of “communal reporting.” The latter grou omitted from the subsequent tables of report. 3. Of the 2358 teachers whose reports included in later tabulations, 1955 were sin women and 403 were married men living their wives. 4. The teachers of each sex were group according to five principal types of living con ditions. Most of the women were living at ¢! homes of parents or other near relatives, ren: ing homes, or rooming and boarding. Mor than half of the men owned or were buying homes, while most of the others were renting homes. 5. The average total number of persons de pendent upon the teacher’s income (including the teacher himself) was 2.4 for women, 3.7 for men, and 2.6 for both sexes combined. ‘lhe average number of “dependency units’ fo: women was 1.9; for men, 3.5; and for both sexes combined, 2.2. 6. The net incomes of both sexes ranged from less than $1500 to more than $4000. ‘Th: average for women was $1968, while for men it was $2404. 7. Among the women there appeared to only a very slight relation between size of in come and number of dependency units. Amon, the men a marked increase in dependency units accompanied increases in income up to about $2500, but not beyond that level. These facts indicate that, on the average, the higher paid teachers had considerably more income per unit of dependency than did the lower paid teachers. 8. The great majority of both men and women were classroom teachers. Three-fifths of the women were elementary-school teachers while more than half of the men were teaching in senior high schools. 9. Teachers of widely varying amounts of previous school experience were included in the survey. The average for women was 106.5 years, and for men 13.2 years. Most of the factors just referred to have an important bearing upon various aspects of teachers’ economic status, and the facts con cerning them will be used in presenting and interpreting the data of later chapters. CHAPTER IV Sources and Uses of Teachers’ Incomes [his chapter presents the essential facts con cerning the sources of teachers’ incomes and the wavs in which these incomes were used dut ing the year beginning October 1, 1932, and ending September 30, 1933. These facts are shown in relation to such important condi tioning factors as sex and marital status, general living conditions, amount of income received, and number of dependents. Sources of Income As stated in Chapter II, each of the twelve monthly record sheets furnished to the co- operating teachers called for a detailed state- ment of income actually received during the month by the teacher and by his spouse if the latter was living with him. In reporting income from the sale of property or from commercial enterprises, the teacher was asked to include only the net profit or loss, rather than the gross receipts, from such enterprises. he nine sepa- rate items requested, and the total net income to be reported, were defined as follows: 1. The teacher’s own salary for all services ren dered to the board of education, including amounts which were deducted from his check and paid into a retirement system, but excluding any amounts which were deducted or withheld to help balance the school budget. Scrip or tax warrants received were to be included at face value. any 2. The loss, if any, from the teacher's own salary, from cashing at less than face value any scrip tax warrants received since October 1, 1932 in out 3. ‘The teacher's own earnings (or losses side occupations, including wages, commissions, roy alties, and profit or loss from commercial ent: 4. Profit (o1 real or personal property, rprises loss) from sale of the teacher's own including securities 5. Income from the teacher’s own investments including interest, dividends, rent, ete. 6. Total teacher and receiving a separate income income of spouse, if living with the Contributions from a spouse not living with the teacher, and from any other persons whether living with him or not than the teacher or his spouse were to be included Earnings of family members other here if such earnings were actually contributed for general family use and were accounted for in the report of expenditures. 8. All other income 9. Total ported source to be specifi d net income (gains minus losses as re above In tabulating and presenting the data ob tained for these items, certain arbitrary pro cedures were followed which should be borne in mind by the reader: (a) the school salary (as defined in thru shown is the amount received Item 1 above), minus any amount lost cashing scrip or tax warrants at less than face value (as defined in Item 2 above) ; (b) the fig ures for income from outside occupations are net averages computed by subtractine average TABLE 11.—AVERAGE AMOUNTS OF INCOME RECEIVED FROM VARIOUS SOURCES BY SINGLE WOMEN TEACHERS Under $1500 (416 teachers) All women Items of income (1955 teachers) Per- wont Amount Amount 752 teachers Groups according to net income $3000 and over 105 teachers $2500-2999 (214 teachers $1500-1999 $2000-2499 468 teachers Per- Per Per- ro ‘ cent 7 cent cent Amount 2 3 School salary® $1849 94 Outside occupations> 12 0 Sale of property¢ 3 0 Investment earnings 82 4 Contributions from others 6 0 Miscellaneous income 16 0.3 $1968 100 $1 Total net income 100.0 Read table thus: The average net income of all single women teachers was $1968 was received as school salary, $12 or 0.6 percent as earnings in outside occupations, $3 or 0.1 property, $82 or 4.2 percent as earnings from investments, etc. * Represents the actual amount of school salary reported, minus any amount lost in cashing scrip or tax $1752 9 97 $2098 04 0 12 0 0.1 } 0.2 1.9 R88 4 0.2 7 0.3 , 0 0.3 10 0 0.7 $3606 100.0 100 100.0 $2219 100 $1849 or as pront tf Of this amount, percent Similarly read figures for the several income groups Warrant everage amount of such losses among these teachers was negligible. > Computed by taking the difference between the average of profits and the average of losses from outside occupation © Represents only profits from sale of property. Losses were not taken into account because they usually represented a re¢ tion in capital rather than a negative factor in income [ 183 ] losses trom average gains; (c) the figures for sale of property represent only the profits from such transactions, any losses being omitted be- cause they really constituted a reduction in capital rather than a negative factor in current income; (d) the omission of “communal re- ports” ' eliminates all amounts of $50 or more reported as income from boarders, from other members of the teacher’s family, or from non- dependents sharing expenses with the teacher ; and (e) the figures for total net income repre- sent the sums of all receipts and gains reported, minus losses from cashing scrip or tax warrants and from outside commercial enterprises. Table 11 shows, for all single women irre- spective of living conditions (but excluding cases of communal reporting), the average amounts and percents of income from six differ- ent sources, at each of five different income levels. The outstanding fact here is the rela- tively small proportion of total income, on the average, which was received from sources other than the public schools. The percent received in the form of school salary declined, however, from 98.5 in the group receiving incomes below $1500 to 79.3 in the group receiving $3000 or ‘See page 177 for complete definition of “communal reporting.”’ more (see Figure |). The next largest iten income at all levels was that of investment e ings which increased from 0.8 percent at lowest income level to 13.5 percent at the h est income level. No other source yielded much as 1.0 percent of total income excep: the group receiving $3000 or more, where percent came from outside occupations and percent came from miscellaneous sources. Table 12 reveals a similar situation with spect to the incomes of married men teach The percent received in the form of school . ary varied from 95.8 in the group receiving incomes below $2000 to 83.7 in the grou ceiving $3500 or more. Investment earni: were somewhat less important than among | women, ranging from 0.8 percent at the lowes: income level to 7.7 percent at the highest le Earnings in outside occupations were sligh: more significant than among the amounting to 2.6 percent of incomes und $2000 and 5.9 percent of those totaling $35\) or more. No other item contributed as much 1.0 percent except at the highest income le where miscellaneous incomes amounted to - percent of the total. FIGURE I wome! AT DIFFERENT PROPORTION OF AVERAGE TOTAL INCOME RECEIVED AS SCHOOL SALARY BY SINGLE WOMEN TEACHERS INCOME LEVELS DOLLARS 4,000 * MN SCHOOL SALARY [__] ALL OTHER SOURCES 3,000 2.000 79.3% 91.3% an 94.5%, aeeet 94, 97.0% 98.5% “ALL INCOME UNDER $1500- $2000- $2500- $3000 GROUPS $1500 1999 2499 2999 AND OVER NATIONAL EDUCATION ASS'N BASED ON DATA IN TABLE 11 item te at ie h ded cept ere |.4 ind +.3 es. vith ach 001 s cel\ Up Irnings yng the lowest t level light yvomen under $3500 uch s e level ) to 2.4 Borrowing and Reduction of Debt \'nder this general heading the teachers » asked to report the following items each nth: Borrowing: money borrowed from any source side the household, including debt incurred in (Obliga- juiring a home or other real estate. ns incurred by purchasing automobiles or other {s on instalments were to be omitted here.) Reduction of debt: payments of principal, (but not interest) on borrowed money, including pay nts on mortgages involving a home or other real estate. (Instalments paid on automobiles or other goods were to be omitted here and included under expenditures.” ) Late in the year covered by the survey a letter was addressed to all teachers who had reported significant amounts under the above items, asking them to specify how much of these amounts represented debt incurred or payments made on a home or other real estate. The lat- ter amounts were then deducted from those originally reported, because it was felt that pay- ments on real estate ought not to be counted both as investments and as reduction of debt. Such payments are included in this report under the heading of “‘surplus,’ which covers savings and investments of all kinds. Data on increases or decreases in charge ac- counts during the year were obtained by means of another special inquiry sent to all cooperat- ing teachers at the end of the year. These data, together with those on the borrowing of money, are shown for certain groups of teachers in Tables 13 to 15, and in Figure I1. The amounts of net increase or decrease in debt include both types of obligations. The chief impression gained from an ex amination of these tables is that changes during 1932-33 in the debt these teachers outstanding the very small in relation to the size of the teach amount oft among were, on average FIGURE II AVERAGE INCREASE IN TEACHERS’ | DEBT DURING THE YEAR | DOLLARS | "| ae | 30 T q | — | BOTH od SEXES 20+ $13 107 $8 $4 of INCREASE IN INCREASE DEBT PER $1000 IN DEBT OF INCOME BASED ON DATAIN TABLE 13. DATIONAL TABLE 12.—AVERAGE AMOUNTS OF INCOME RECEIVED FROM VARIOUS SOURCES BY MARRIED MEN TEACHERS All men Under $2000 Items of income (403 teachers) (116 teachers) $2000-2499 137 teachers) Groups according to net income $3500 and over 27 teachers $2500-2999 (82 teachers $3000-3499 (41 teachers - - - = - Je Amount Per Amount Per Amount Per Amount Per Amount Per Amount Per cent cent cent cent cent cent 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 School salary®......... $2249 93.6 $1611 95.8 $2151 95.8 $2585 95.5 $2882 90.3 $3505 83 Outside occupations>..... 63 2.6 44 2.6 42 1.9 42 1.5 107 3.4 247 5.9 Sale of property*®...... 3 0.1 1 0.1 5 0.2 2 0.1 8 0.2 0 0.0 Investment earnings. .. 64 a7 14 0.8 29 ‘3 60 2.2 161 5.0 321 j Income of wife...... ese 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 ? 0.1 0 0.0 0 0.0 Contributions from others 6 0.2 1 0.2 6 0.3 1 9 0.3 15 0.3 Miscellaneous income... . 19 0.8 x 0.5 12 0.5 16 0.6 24 0.8 101 ».4 Total net income.... $2404 100.0 $1682 100.0 $2245 100.0 $2708 100.0 $3191 100.0 $4189 100.0 Read table thus: The average net income of all married men teachers was $2404. Of this amount, $2249 or 93.6 percent was school salary, $63 or 2.6 percent was from outside occupations, $3 or 0.1 percent was from sale of property, $64 or 2.7 per- cent was from investments, etc. Similarly read figures for the several income groups. * Represents the actual amount of school salary reported, minus any amount lost in cashing scrip or tax warrants. The average amount of such losses among these teachers was negligible » Computed by taking the difference between the average of profits and the average of losses from outside occupations © Represents only profits from sale of property. Losses were not taken into account because they usually represented a reduc- n in capital rather than a negative factor in income 4 Less than 0.1 percent. [ 18 5 ] ers’ incomes. ‘Table 13 shows that while an average of $61 was borrowed by the entire group of 2358 teachers, the average amount repaid was $62, making a net repayment of $1 for the year. This net repayment, however, was more than offset by an average increase of $14 in unpaid bills, leaving a total net increase in debt amounting to $13, or 0.7 percent of in- come, on the average. These figures clearly are not large enough to affect seriously the ac- curacy of the data on expenditures presented later in this chapter.? Moreover, they help to dispel any suspicion that economic conditions in the year 1932-33 were especially unfavorable to the teachers included in this survey. On the other hand, it is important to note that the matter of borrowing and reduction of debt varied considerably among different groups of these teachers. As shown in Table 13, the average net increase in debt among the single women was only $8, while among the married men it was $31 in spite of the higher average income received by the men. This difference may be explained in part by the greater re- sponsibility of the men for dependents in rela- tion to the size of their incomes. The average amount of income per unit of dependency only $687 among the men, as compared $1045 among the women. Table 14 shows, for the men alone, how wit} average income practically constant, a heavy ie; responsibility for dependents was accompa: by greater increase in debt. The group of men having only themselves and their wives to su port (2.0 dependency units) actually decreased their indebtedness by a net average of $I]. while those with 4.0 or more units of depend ency incurred additional debt to the net amount of $58 on the average. Table 15 shows, for women alone, how changes in indebtedness varied with differences in income. At each of the three lower income levels (under $2500) there was an average net increase in debt of from $10 to $21, while among teachers receiving $3000 or more there was a net decrease of $65 on the average. |: should be noted that the women at the higher income levels had very little more responsi bility for dependents than did those at the lower levels.* Consequently, the average amount of income per unit of dependency varied from only $709 in the lowest income 2 Ideally, increases in unpaid bills should be counted as current expenditures, but to reduce the likelihood of duplication in reporting the latter, the teachers were instructed to report expenditures only when bills were actually paid, rather than wher charges were incurred but not paid. *See Table 8, page 181. TABLE 13.—AVERAGE AMOUNTS OF BORROWING AND REDUCTION OF DEBT AMONG TEACHERS OF BOTH SEXES Single women (1955 teachers) Both sexes (2358 teachers Married men (403 teachers) Debt items - a Percent of Percent of Percent of Amount income Amount income Amount baenme ” 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Gross amount of money borrowed and repaid: RI, 0 « Based on only 340 cases in which this item was reported. © Based on only 1972 cases in which this item was reported. @ Less than 0.1 percent. e A “unit of dependency” is one person wholly dependent or two persons partly dependent upon the teacher’s income teacher himself is counted as one unit. [ 186 ] OW Wit! hea npai of men » CO surT ePcrea ed ot $11, depend amount ie, how ferences income rage net , while re there rage. It ; higher espons! at the average endency income lication in han when DEBT s rs rcent of ncome 7 3.0 3.0 is making . thus in e teachers for both ome TABLE 14.—AVERAGE AMOUNTS OF BORROWING AND REDUCTION OF DEBT AMONG MARRIED MEN TEACHERS WITH DIFFERENT AMOUNTS OF DEPENDENCY Amounts of dependency Only 2.0 units 63 teachers 2.1 to 3.9 units 167 teachers 4.0 or more units Debt items 173 teachers Percent of Percent of Percent of Amount Amount Amount income income income 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 N mount of money borrowed or repaid Borrowed s rt 0.2? s Re paid 4 16 0 ease in unpaid bills 5 0.2 1 0.7 . N increase or decrease in debt Increase... 20 0.8 58 Decrease 11 0.5 Total net income $2336 100.0 $2358 100.0 $2472 100 ( Read table thus: The married men teachers having only themselves and their wives to support (2.0 dependency t ace an average net repayment of $16 on borrowed money, but increased their unpaid bills by an average of $5, thus making an averag net reduction of $11 in debt, or 0.5 percent of income, during the year. The average total income of these teachers was $ ¢ Similarly read figures for men teachers with larger amounts of dependency #A “unit of dependency” is one person wholly dependent or two persons partly dependent upon the teacher ( ‘ icher himself is counted as one unit » Based on only 54 cases in which this item was reported © Based on only 139 cases in which this item was reported 4 Based on only 147 cases in which this item was reported TABLE 15.—AVERAGE AMOUNTS OF BORROWING AND REDUCTION OF DEBT AMONG SINGLE WOMEN TEACHERS AT DIFFERENT INCOME LEVELS Levels of income Under $1500 $1500-1999 $2000-2499 $2500-2999 $3000 and over Debt items 416 teachers) (752 teachers (468 teachers (214 teachers) (105 teachers Amount Percent Amount Percent Amount Percent Sean Percent Amount Percent of income of income of income of income of income 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1! Net amount of money bor- rowed or repaid: Borrowed $s 0 0.0 s 3 0.1 Repaid ‘ $s 1 0.1 0 0.0 $ & 0.3 $ 8? Increase in unpaid bills 11s 0.9 12 0.7 18¢ 0.8 9 0.3 1 0 Total net increase or de- crease in debt: Increase , 10 0.8 12 0 21 0.9 1 Decrease : ; 65 1.8 Total net income $1277 100.0 $1752 100.0 $2219 100.0 $2720 100.0 $3606 100.0 Income per unit of de- pendencys sak $709 $922 $1109 $1360 $1898 Read table thus: The single women teachers receiving incomes of less than $1500 made an average net repayment of $1 on borrowed money, but increased their unpaid bills by an average of $11, thus making an average net increase of $10 in debt during the year, or 0.8 percent of total income. The average total income of these teachers was $1277, and their average income pe nit of dependency was $709. Similarly read figures for women at the higher income leve ® Based on only 336 cases in which this item was reported > Based on only 626 cases in which this item was reported © Based on only 390 cases in which this item was reported @ Based on only 181 cases in which this item was reported * Based on only 99 cases in which this item was reported f Less than 0.1 percent * A “unit of dependency” is one person wholly dependent or two persons partly dependent upon the teacher's income. The teacher himself is counted as one unit. [ 187 ] entree group to $1898 in the highest income group. The need for incurring indebtedness during 1932-33 tended to disappear among the women with a total income of about $2700 (or an income of about $1350 per unit of dependency ). The data presented here do not reveal the differences between individual teachers which were naturally much greater than the differ- ences between averages for groups of teachers. Current Expenditures and Surplus On each monthly record sheet the teacher was asked to report all of his current expendi- tures (and those of his spouse if living with him) for himself and all dependents for thir- teen specified items. Such figures were to in- clude living expenses only, and were to exclude the cost of conducting commercial enterprises. All expenditures were to be recorded for the month in which payment was actually made, and not when obligations to pay at some future date were incurred. The thirteen separate items of expenditure were defined as follows: 1. Food: payments for all food supplies and for all meals purchased away from home. 2. Clothing: payments for new clothing and for repairing, laundering, and cleaning of clothing. 3. Housing: payments for rent, if any. (Payments for taxes, interest, and for the purchase of a home or other real estate were to be recorded elsewhere.) 4. House operation: all payments for operating and maintaining the household, such as heat, light, gas, fire insurance, repairs, domestic service, tele- phone, garbage removal, cleaning supplies, house furnishings, furniture and house equipment, laun- dering of household linens, care of grounds, etc. 5. Taxes: personal income, property, and all other taxes, except sales taxes and motor vehicle license fees. 6. Interest: interest paid on money borrowed from any source, including that on a mortgage involving a home. (Financing charges on an automobile or other instalment purchases were to be omitted here. ) 7. Health: all payments to doctors, dentists, opti- cians, nurses, and for hospitalization, medicines, health appliances, and accident or heaith insurance. 8. Transportation: ordinary expenditures for car- fare, railroad and taxi fare, and for purchase and ordinary operation of automobile including auto insurance, license, and other maintenance. (Expefses of long trips for recreation or improvement, whether by automobile or railroad, were to be recorded elsewhere.) 9. Direct financial aid to dependents: all pay- ments made regularly to dependents which « not be reported satisfactorily under any of the o twelve categories of expenditures, regardless whether the dependents were living with the re, ing teacher or not. (In cases of teachers living at home of relatives, some of the amounts origin reported in this category were later transferr« such items as “food,” “housing,” and “house op tion” after further correspondence with the teac! in question. ) 10. Gifts and donations: payments for Christ; wedding, and birthday presents, special gifts money, and all donations to church, charitable i: tutions, relief agencies, and needy persons. 11. Education and recreation: payments for book. magazines, membership in professional and pn professional organizations, music or dancing less musical instruments, professional and non-profe, sional study, social entertainments, theaters, « certs, lectures, sports, and travel for recreation professional improvement. 12. Miscellaneous needs: payments for all nec: not included in other categories, such as barber an‘ beauty parlor service, toothpaste, postage, ete. 13. Miscellaneous luxuries: payments for all lux, ries not included in other categories. (The disti: tion between “needs” and “luxuries” was left lary, to the individual teacher’s judgment. )* The terms “surplus” and “saving” are used synonymously to represent the excess of tota! net income over the sum of all current expendi- tures, as defined above. A number of. ind! vidual teachers showed a deficit rather than « surplus, but for every group of teachers isolated in this study the average income exceeded the average current expenditures. This surplus was handled in various ways by the teacher: deposited or invested in banks, building and loan associations, credit unions, retirement s\; tems, life insurance premiums, stocks and bonds, loans to individuals, homes and othe: real estate, and sometimes it was used to reduce personal indebtedness incurred in some pre vious year. On the monthly record sheet the teache: was not asked to report “surplus” or ‘deficit’ but rather the “amount deposited or invested’ and the “amount withdrawn from savings 0: investments” during the month. The latte: items, altho defined with considerable care, were found to be so ambiguous and so often misinterpreted that the figures obtained from them could not safely be used. For this reason in the following tables the figures for “‘surp! or “saving” were obtained by subtracting tora * The expenditures reported under “Miscellaneous needs” and “Miscellaneous luxuries’ were combined for presentati this report, because there was evidence that many teachers jailed to make a distinction between these two types of items. [ 188 ] ich could current expenditures from total net income.* ‘lable 16. The significance of these figures may —e \lost of the tables in this section are limited be best appreciated if the amounts devoted to rdless ; ie rather general comparisons between men _ all purposes are grouped under just four main i] . Oe a wl . . . ing at the ind women teachers in different living condi- headings as follows: original| tions, at different income levels, etc. More de- “pe ; . > A : Saving } 328 or 16 percent terre toiled wnalyses will be found in the Appendix, (G;;,, $ 250 oF 1% 3 ou g > Zz oO ) reent se ope 964 F aes k le } ‘ listril ° ; ; a ’ . se te es 2.)8-64. For example, the distribution of Necessities $1300 or 65 cent » teac! : : : ’ : rage »xpenditures and surplus for single Betterments $ 126 or 6 percent hristrmas women teachers rooming and boarding, having . ° « ° Average total income $2043 or 100 percent gifts nly themselves to support, and receiving in 5 : ble it Aae ° ° > aS $1500 S “ol 4 rr . ‘ y nes under $1500, is shown in column 3 of [his distribution of income may be compared or books Fable 41, page 260. with a tentative apportionment suggested Ina ind nor recent plan for money management. his “4 less ms . > . . } The Reporting Group as a Whole suggested apportionment is intended by its h-prot . ee author to be a goal toward which eftort may a While the influences of such factors as sex, well be directed. It is recommended bv the living conditions, and size of income are im- (Committee on the Economic Status of the ll needs portant, it will be helpful to consider first of Teacher because of its reasonableness, and ts rbe ; ‘A , . : z all the average expenditures ot the entire group used in this report both as a tentative b SIs TOF etc. ° ‘ » = : Sw all lu ot cooperating teachers shown In column 2 ot est:mating the adequacy ot teachers incomes sAU distin — t largely : ‘ , : . , Strictly speaking, any increase in unpaid bills during the year should be subtracted from the surplus’ as computed here, iuse the teachers were instructed to omit from their reports of expenditures any bills incurred but not paid during the year ire used However, since the average increase in unpaid bills was very small (only $14 or 0.7 percent of income for all cooperating teach¢ | since it was impossible to distribute this amount among the several categories of expenditure, it was not considered worthwl of total t ike any adjustment in the figures for ‘‘surplus.”’ ee Saving” is the same as ‘‘Surplus.’’ “i ~ i‘ “Giving” includes “Aid to dependents’? and “Gifts and donations yt indi ’ “Necessities” includes food, rent, house operation, clothing, taxes, interest, health, transportation. and miscellaneou than Betterments”’ is the same as “Education and recreation 1an a Money Management Method. Book Two. ‘‘Key.’’ Boston (9 Park St.): American Association for Econon Ed isolated 1933. See Chapter IX for a fuller description of this plan led the surplus TABLE 16.—AVERAGE DISTRIBUTIONS OF INCOME AMONG SPECIFIC ITEMS thers OF THE BUDGET BY MEN AND WOMEN TEACHERS ng and 2nt svs Items of budget All men and women Single women Married men , 2358 teachers 1955 teachers 403 teachers cS and ~~ —_ - 1 othe: i z 3 ‘ reduce i Oe ee i co A eee er ca $2965 $266 $440 le pre ae Tree iaeet : 2058 209 198! yuse Operation...... oi 60s exceaw , hind 190s 1594 329° Food, rent and house operation a Prey eee 691 634 96 reache! ee ee ee 2 210 212 194 leficit”’ Cl ear j 53 45 92 “ ee re kh ee 48 34 112 rested MOGs 6 4casi<% nets 103 98 127 a F Transportation...... ‘ 155 143 207 ngs 0 Aid to dependents. .... : 109 118 59 latter Gifts and donations... . . 150 160 109 Education and recreation 126 126 137 > Care, Miscellaneous......... , 70 70 74 often Surplus or saving....... 5 328 328 326 | from Total net income............ eats $2,043 $1 ,968 $2,404 reason, ne OS ae ear ad Read table thus: The average income received by all men and women combined was $2043. Of this amount, an average rplus of $296 was spent for food, $205 for rent, $190 for house operation, etc. Similarly read figures for single women and for married men y tot * Estimated on the basis of only 1791 cases in which this item was reported separately > . > Estimated on the basis of only 1396 cases in which this item was reported separately. © Estimated on the basis of only 1428 cases in which this item was reported separately “ Estimated on the basis of only 1399 cases in which this item was reported separately. ati © Estimated on the basis of only 394 cases in which this item was reported separately. f Estimated on the basis of only 397 cases in which this item was reported separately [ 189 ] and as a basis for the Committee’s suggestions on the budgeting of teachers’ incomes. This apportionment suggests 20 percent of income for saving and investment, 10 percent for giv- ing, 50 percent for necessities, and 20 percent for personal betterments. As explained more fully in Chapter LX, the allotment of 50 per- cent for necessities is adequate only if the in- come is sufficiently large in relation to the num- ber of dependents and other responsibilities of the individual. The 20 percent for saving is the approximate proportion which must be in- vested at compound interest each year during the average person’s earning period in order to yield a retirement income which will provide the standard of living enjoyed during active service. The 20 percent for betterments bal- ances the proportion for saving—a balance which is desirable because it provides equally for enrichment of life in the present and for an appropriate income after retirement. The 10 percent for giving is the Biblical standard, and is undoubtedly a fair proportion for sharing when income is adequate. If this suggested distribution can be accepted as a reasonable goal for teachers in general to attain after fifteen years of service,'' one or both of two conclusions must follow. Either these teachers did not manage their incomes as well as possible, or their incomes on the average were too low to permit the best dis- tribution of money among the major values of life. Too large a proportion was spent for necessities (65 instead of 50 percent), and for giving (13 instead of 10 percent). On the other hand, the proportions used for savings and for betterments were too small and, what is more important, were out of balance (16 and 6 per- cent, respectively, instead of 20 percent for each). The excessive percentage for necessities may have been unavoidable ; the lack of balance between savings and betterments was probably a matter of personal preference. These teachers on the whole were evidently more concerned about providing for their own future and assist- ing those less fortunate than themselves, than they were about enjoying the kinds of educa- tional and recreational activities which cost money. Three questions may be raised as to tly validity of using any percentage distribution of income as a standard for judging the ad quacy of a person’s income. First, should not the management of income be, in some degree a matter of personal choice? Who, other than the individual himself, is to decide how much he should devote to saving, to giving, to neces- sities, and to betterments ? Second, even if some tentative standard be agreed upon as valid in 4 given year, would not this standard be quite inapplicable in another year because of different relative changes in the prices of different types of commodities? Third, even if differences in relative price changes are found to have little practical bearing on the problem, how can we determine whether the failure of a group to attain the accepted standard is due to inade- quacy of income or to unwise management? The Committee believes that there is a satis factory answer to each of these questions. With respect to the first point, it must be admitted that every individual should have considerable freedom in planning his budget. On the other hand, it seems equally reasonable to formulate a tentative goal of income distri- bution for workers as a group. While the goa! suggested above cannot be attained by al! teachers, there is evidence that it can be at- tained on the incomes received by some of the better paid city teachers.'? No more reasonable goal is likely to be devised unless someone can define, to the satisfaction of all concerned, a standard of living for teachers in terms of spe cific articles and services required.*® The second point—that different relative changes in the prices of different commodities would require modification of the standard distribution from year to year—is less impor- tant than it appears on first thought, for three reasons: (1) We are not speaking of a fixed income, but of an income which is to be ad- justed as necessary to meet the criterion of adequacy; (2) the best assumption in regard to amounts for “saving” and “giving” is that they should change in accordance with the general price level of all current commodi- ™ The average length of service reported by the teachers in this survey was 15.9 years. 12 See Table 21, page 199. 218 An attempt to define standards of living for teachers in this manner is described in: Meeker, Royal. A Study of Costs and Standards of Living of Minneapolis Teachers in Relation to Their Salaries. Minneapolis: Central Committee of Teachers Asso- ciations, 1926. p. 24-32. [ 190 | to the ‘ibution he ade uld not degree or than Vy mur h ) NeECEes- if some lid in a e quite fferent t types 1ces in e little ‘an we pup to inade- ment? | Satis ust be have udget. onable distri- e goal ry all be at- of the ynable le can ied, a f spe- lative ities idard npor- three fixed e ad- mn ot gard that . the nodi- ties combined,'* which means that at a given standard of living they would occupy constant proportions of the total budget regardless ot price changes; and (3) the commodities classed as ‘betterments,”’ which tend to change in price much more slowly than do “necessities,” also occupy a smaller proportion of the budget. Thus it can be shown that in 1928-29 only about 52 percent of income would have been required to purchase the necessities which 50 percent would have bought in 1932-33 (assuming the proposed distribution in the latter year), altho the total income required would have been considerably higher in 1928-29 than in 1932-33 because of the generally higher price level. Similarly, the average teacher reporting in this survey would have had to spend only about 66 percent of income in 1928-29 for the necessities which re- quired 65 percent in 1932-33, assuming suffi cient income in the earlier year to maintain the same standard of living as in the latter year. As to the third question—that of determin ing whether failure to attain the standard is due to inadequate income or to unwise manage- ment—a partial answer may be obtained by con- sidering the actual amounts spent for specific types of necessities. As shown in Table 16, the average amount spent for food by the 2358 teachers was $296, or about $25 per month. The average expenditure for rent, taxes, and interest combined was $306, or about $26 pet month. An average of $190 went for house operation, $210 for clothing, $155 for trans- portation, $103 for health, and $70 for mis- cellaneous items. It should be borne in mind that these figures represent married men as well as single women, and that the average member of the group was responsible for the equivalent of 1.2 total dependents in addition to himself. Part of the expense of supporting these dependents was included in the item of “giving” mentioned earlier, of which $109 was given as direct financial aid to dependents. But even if this $109 were distributed among the other main categories of expenditures, none of the latter would be increased by more than fifteen or twenty dollars for the year. With these facts in mind, it is difficult to see how the reporting teachers could reason- ably be accused of extravagance in purchasing the necessities of life, even tho the prices of most commodities reached their lowest depres- 14 See Chapter VII, pages 233 and 234. sion levels during the year of the survey. It will be recalled that the general economic out- look thruout the country in that year was hardly such as to encourage wastefulness or even generous spending, specially among teach ers. The available evidence, then, points toward inadequacy of income as the principal reason for the failure of these teachers, on the aver age, to achieve a better balance in the use of their incomes. ‘That some groups of teachers were at a greater disadvantage in this respect than were certain other groups will be appa ent in the comparisons presented in later sec tions of this chapter. Comparison of Men and Women The average expenditures and surplus of the 1955 single women and of the 403 married men are shown separately in columns 3 and 4 of Table 16, while the percentage distributions of these expenditures are pictured in Figure III. In spite of receiving an average income $436 higher than that of the women, the men spent a significantly larger proportion of their in- comes for food and for house operation than did the women. The smaller percent spent by the men for rent was more than offset by the larger percents which they devoted to taxes and interest, most of which was undoubtedly paid on their own homes. On the other hand, the proportions used for aid to dependents and gifts and donations were considerably smaller among the men than among the women. This differ ence, as well as that with respect to food and house operation, may be partially explained by the tendency for married men to have more dependents within their own households, and fewer outside, than do single women. For all current purposes combined, the men spent 86 percent of their incomes, on the average, as compared with 83 percent among the women. The detailed percents for the two sexes may be summarized according to the fourfold clas- sification used earlier as follows: Women Men Saving 14 Giving Necessities Betterments 73 6 Total income.. [191 ] FIGURE III a AVERAGE PERCENTS OF INCOME USED FOR VARIOUS | | PURPOSES BY ALL MEN AND WOMEN TEACHERS | 14’, SURPLUS OR 16”, 177, SAVINGS os — wrtr---- L geting SHINS MiscELLANEOUS 3%, a ~, ple a RS 8, SI SS ee hina Pea Swan TAXES AND . N 55 QP SX 7 3 N SS : SY cusaneg SSS RS ee TE, 44 ~“ V7 > a) HEALTH Y 57,7 Y BERG Z ALLLE LLLLLLL lS —_ =2, => a> OSS L4-—— ph DEPENDENTS 5% = 5%, 2 yee YY | EDUCATION AND 06, — WT, % a UW | RECREATION GY, Y Y son 4 by: ; = == os - } GIFTS AND aii are ail Pig ¢ Vis /, 8 tit yr Y) DonaTIONs {i 8°, a” Y 9”, | ; Zi | WY ~-~--—~ INN Yl TRANSPORTATION 8% - L4 by eaa|||\\\|\ House il fl Yy- 14%, | OPERATION 9%, II | | Ht Hii a | WN > anna x ° NY AN NY N) Rent NY 10% N hy Ne N NN N 12 _ SSS N Fp en i * pant ‘e . 3°. CLOTHING % RIDSTP ~ _ Pa “a ee ie Ot Fooo ze ALL TEACHERS SINGLE WOMEN MARRIED MEN (AVERAGE INCOME- (AVERAGE INCOME- (AVERAGE INCOME- $2,043) $1,968) $2,404) i NATIONAL EDUCATION Ass'N ’ : BASED ON DATA IN TABLE 16 ee [ 192] et eee From these figures it may be concluded that ‘ the incomes of the women were too low, those { the men were even less adequate, on the aver- e. unless it can be assumed that the women ere better managers of their money than were he men. The men, however, appear to have hieved a somewhat better balance between ving and betterments. Comparison of Teachers in Different Living Conditions In comparing the expenditures of teachers in various types of living conditions, significant differences in the average incomes of the several groups must be taken into account. Average in- come ranged from $1814 among single women ving at the homes of relatives to $2608 among married men owning or buying their homes. In view of these differences, the comparison in lable 17 is limited to the four broad cate vories of saving, giving, necessities, and better ments. A more detailed distribution for each type of living conditions will be found in the Appendix, pages 258-64. Judging by the smallness of the average per- cent required for necessities, it appears from Table 17 teachers who were rooming and boarding, liv- that the average incomes of the ing at homes of relatives, or sharing *xpenses with non-relatives were more adequate than those of the teachers who owned or rented homes, in spite of the fact that the average in- comes received by the latter groups were the larger. he percent used for necessities varied trom 56 in the group of women sharing ex penses with non-relatives to 79 among the men renting homes. Evidently the type of living conditions makes considerable difference in the amount of income needed if a teacher is to keep his expenditures for necessities within any given percent of income and still live in reason able comfort. Further data on this point are presented in the next section which deals di rectly with the relation between use of income and size of income. Table 17 shows also that the two groups of women spending the lowest proportions of in come for necessities actually reached (or closely approximated) the goal of 20 percent for sav ings, while the men renting homes devoted only about 8 percent to savings. The same two groups of women likewise ranked highest in the percent given to dependents and other pei sons or institutions, while the men owning and renting homes ranked lowest. The proportion of income devoted to betterments was uniformly small in all groups, and except in the case of men renting homes, the amount spent for this type of commodities was only one-third to one- half as large as the amount saved. The effects of certain types of living condi tions upon expenditures for specific items are TABLE 17.—PERCENTAGE DISTRIBUTIONS OF INCOME AMONG FOUR MAJOR DIVISIONS OF THE BUDGET BY TEACHERS IN DIFFERENT TYPES OF LIVING CONDITIONS Single wome n Married men Living at Items of budget conine menting Mecmingant = seee of sharing Owning Renting g home*® home* boarding*® lat expenses with homes home* > yeca 277 452 430 si a non-relatives® 213 178 { teachers) teachers teachers oe 127 teachers teachers teachers) teachers 1 2 3 + 5 6 7 8 Savingt 16.5 14.7 19.1 15.8 20.1 17.8 7 Giving* 11.9 12.9 16.1 14.3 17.8 6.8 7.2 Necessities? 66.5 66.5 58.6 62.2 56.3 70.0 9.1 Betterments®... . $.1 5.9 6 5.8 5.4 6.0 Average income $2 ,233 $2 ,089 $1 901 $1 814 $1 994 $2 .608 $2,192 ead table thus: he single women owning homes received an average income of $22 this am cd ne was Read table th TI ] I i Of tl a spent for necess t'es. 16.5 percent was saved, 11.9 percent was given to other persor r institutions, and 5.1 percent was devoted to personal or family betterments “ During at least eight months of the year. > Identical with the item of surplus, shown elsewhere. © Includes the items of aid to dependents and gifts and donations, shown separately elsewhere 4 Includes the items of food, rent, house operation, clothing, are shown separately elsewhere. taxes, interest, } 1ealth, transportation, and miscellaneous, which © Identical with the item of education and recreation, shown elsewhere. shown in Tables 18 and 19, with the factor being limited to teachers receiving incomes $2000 to $2499, and the average income of owners being only $33 more than that of renters. [he average amounts spent by the of income held nearly constant in each compari- son. Table 18 compares men owning or buying homes with men renting homes, both groups TABLE 18.—AVERAGE DISTRIBUTIONS OF INCOME BY MARRIED MEN TEACH ERS OWNING AND RENTING HOMES ON INCOMES OF $2000 TO $2499 Renting home Owning or buying home (56 teachers Items of budget (76 toachom a ‘i Amount Percent Amount Perce 4 5 Food 19.5 Rent 19.3 House operation Food, rent, and house operation Clothing Taxes Interest Health Transportation Aid to dependents Gifts and donations Education and recreation Miscellaneous Surplus or saving Lh de te ee OM ee) _ $2,229 100 ClomePnNaweweoe Total net income ° 100. Read table thus: Among the married men teachers receiving incomes of $2000 to $2499, those who owned or were buying homes spent an average of $442 or 19.6 percent of income for food, while those who were renting homes spent $435 or 19.5 perce for the same item. Similarly read figures for each of the other items in the budget. ® Estimated on basis of only 75 cases in which this item was reported separately. TABLE 19.—AVERAGE DISTRIBUTIONS OF INCOME BY SINGLE WOMEN TEACH. ERS RECEIVING INCOMES OF $1500 TO $1999, IN THREE DIFFERENT TYPES OF LIVING CONDITIONS Renting home Rooming and boarding ~— ba Items of budget B88 tonshers) (188 teachers) (218 teachers) Amount Percent Percent Amount Percent 5 2 3 $2346 13 3248 1328 Food Rent House operation Food, rent, and house operation 690 = nN 212 21 16 112 135 130 146 115 65 76 201 280 Total net income... 100 $1,743 100.0 $1,729 100.0 Read table thus: Among the siagle women teachers receiving incomes of $1500 to $1999, those who were renting homes spen an average of $234 or 13.2 percent of income for food, while those rooming and boarding and those living at homes of relatives spent $276 or 15.8 percent and $279 or 16.1 percent, respectively, for the same item. Similarly read figures for each of the other 212 19 15 90 136 110 125 106 22 14 75 161 91 154 130 72 247 Clothing Taxes Interest Health... Transportation. . Aid to dependents. . Gifts and donations. . Education and recreation Miscellaneous. .. . Surplus or saving. . NUO ew ww Ww Ow ~ So) a a PISCON UH em | Fes eucnon wren be ¢ we ~PORR YER OND _ AkPAeSIAIDAOe ~ ~ -_ ° budget items ® Estimated on the basis of only 171 cases in which this item was reported separately. » Estimated on the basis of only 143 cases in which this item was reported separately. © Estimated on the basis of only 89 cases in which this item was reported separately. 4 Estimated on the basis of only 93 cases in which this item was reported separately. [ 194] spen tives yther croups were strikingly similar in the case of food and clothing, and were identical in the case of health and transportation. ‘The major differences occurred in rent, house operation, taxes, and interest. Since all of these latter items are related to housing, in part at least, they may be combined and compared for the two groups of men as follows: Owners Renters Rent . ; : $ O $429 3 19 0 20 6 299 " 5 Interest .... et ee 1 5 House operation .... ; 3 Torme «os . . $699 $767 The foregoing comparison does not take into account the payment of principal by the home-owners toward the purchase of their homes. Such payments are included in the figures for surplus, and cannot be separated from other amounts in that category. If, as assumed here, the purchase of a home can be considered an investment rather than an item of current expenditure, the men teachers who owned or were buying their homes evidently had some advantage over those who were rent- ing homes. The owners receiving incomes of $2000 to $2499 spent only 75 percent for necessities and had 14 percent available as surplus, while the renters in the same income range spent 80 percent for necessities and had only 6.5 percent as surplus. It must be recog- nized, however, that fluctuations in real estate values may cause home ownership to be more costly than renting. Table 19 compares expenditures in detail for women teachers in the three largest living- condition groups: renting homes, rooming and boarding, and living at the homes of relatives. To equalize the factor of income, only teachers receiving $1500 to $1999 are included. The largest difference between the average incomes of any two of these groups is $40. As might be expected, the women renting homes spent somewhat less for food than did those rooming and boarding, but more than made up for this economy by extra expendi- tures for rent and house operation. The latter two items occupied 26 percent of the home- renters’ average budget, as compared with only 13 percent for those rooming and boarding. For most of the other items the women room- % Engel. Ernst. ‘‘Lebenskosten Belgischer Arbeiterfamillien Statistique IX, 1895. ing and boarding spent more than did the othe: group, but the differences were relatively) small. ‘The renters had only 11 percent avail able as surplus, while those rooming and boarding had 16 percent in that category Of special interest in Table 19 are the figures for women living at the homes of rela tives, because of the opinion often expressed that the necessary living expenses of such teachers are relatively low. The members of this group paid practically the same amounts for food and rent as did the women rooming and boarding, and larger amounts than the other group for house operation, transporta tion, and education and recreation. The pet centages for these two groups of teachers ac cording to the fourfold classification are as follows: Rooming and Living with hoarding relatives Saving 16 i+ Giving 16 14 Necessities 61 65 Betterments Altho the woman teacher who lives with relatives may be able to get along comfortably on a smaller salary than the teacher who main tains her own home, she clearly cannot be expected to live more inexpensively than the teacher who is rooming and boarding away from home. Comparison of Teachers at Different Income Levels Size of income is probably the most im portant single factor determining the distribu tion of personal or family expenditures. In 1857, Engel formulated certain generaliza tions concerning the relation between income and expenditures which have received wide publicity. These “laws of consumption,” based originally upon a study of expenditures of Belgian and Saxon working-class families, were as follows: 1. As the income of a family increases, a smaller percentage is spent for food. 2. As the income of a family increases, the pe centage of expenditure for clothing remains approxi mately the same. 3. With all the incomes investigated, the percent age of expenditure for rent, fuel, and light remains approximately the same. 4. As the income increases in amount, a constantly increasing percentage is expended for education health, recreation, amusement, etc.” Friher und Jetzt Bulletin de UInstitut Internati [ 195 ] Studies of the family expenditures of Amer- for food declined from 16.8 at the lowest |: ican workingmen tend to support these con- to 9.5 at the highest level. The percent clusions with respect to expenditures for food rent and clothing likewise decreased, and sundries, but not with respect to clothing, former from 12.2 to 8.8, and the latter f; shelter, fuel, and light. Data collected in 14.0 to 7.8. House operation, however, America indicate a somewhat larger propor- creased from 5.5 percent to 10.1 percent, tion for clothing at the higher income levels, probably to the larger proportion of won and slightly smaller proportions for shelter, maintaining homes at the higher income le, fuel, and light at the higher income levels.'® This same factor also helps to explain the Table 20, containing detailed distributions creases in the percents devoted to taxes of expenditures for single women teachers at interest. Aid to dependents and gifts and d: five different income levels, reveals trends tions showed no definite trend, while the ; similar in some respects but different in other cent spent for health, transportation, edu respects from those noted above for wage- tion and recreation, and miscellaneous it: earners. As might be expected, the average actually tended to decrease somewhat as amount devoted to each item of the teacher’s comes increased. The most striking trend budget increased substantially from the lowest all was in the average proportion of income income group to the highest. The average ex- classified as surplus, which rose from only .! penditure for food, for example, ranged from percent among incomes under $1500 to 2 215 among women receiving less than $1500 percent among incomes of $3000 or more. | to $344 among those receiving $3000 or more. ure IV summarizes these trends under the heads On the other hand, the average percent spent of saving, giving, necessities, and betterment 5 National Industrial Conference Board. Family Budgets of American Wage-Earners. Research Report No. 41. New \ Century Co., 1921. p. 61-63. = TABLE 20.—AVERAGE DISTRIBUTIONS OF INCOME BY SINGLE WOMEN TEACH. ERS AT DIFFERENT INCOME LEVELS Levels of income Items of budget Under $1500 $1500-1999 $2000-2499 $2500-2999 $3000 and ove: (416 teachers) (752 teachers) (468 teachers) (214 teachers) (105 teachers Amount Percent Amount Percent Amount Perce:t Amount Percent Amount Percent 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 re Signs ce eenewen’s $2156 16.8 $2564 14.6 $2936 13.2 $3315 32.2 $344) 9.5 Rent...... were y eee 156> 12.2 2)4e 11.6 2318 10.4 243: 8.9 316* 8&8 House operation. .............. 70¢ 5.5 1254 7.2 187! 8.4 245> 9.0 364 10 Food, rent,and house operation 441 34.5 586 33.4 711 32.0 820 30.1 1024 28.4 PD, 6 so anh e@ens 6 teen 179 14.0 201 11.5 232 10.5 240 8.8 282 7 ss axa Wee aD < vd eee’ Sed 18 1.4 32 1.8 60 2.7 81 3.0 104 ) Rs . db baie ects cd Vecess ‘ 14 1.1 2? 1.3 50 2.3 55 2.1 83 2 Dh, é. cotpesuneeenmed es uhat 68 5.3 90 5.1 109 4.9 121 4.4 170 + Transportation.............. ‘ 112 8.8 143 8.2 154 6.9 160 5.9 187 5 : Aid to dependents............. 75 5.9 112 6.4 125 5.6 172 6.3 196 5 : Gifts and donations............ 104 8.2 143 8.2 180 8.1 225 8.3 271 7 : Education and recreation eet? 96 7.5 112 6.4 137 6.2 176 6.5 190 5.3 Miscellaneous............. nae 54 4.2 69 3.9 75 3.4 79 2.9 106 2 Surplus or saving.............. 116 9.1 242 13.8 386 17.4 589 21.7 993 27 Total net income........$1,277 100.0 $1,752 100.0 $2,219 100.0 $2,720 100.0 $3,606 100. ( : Read table thus: The single women teachers receiving incomes under $1500 spent an average of $215 or 16.8 percent income for food, $156 or 12.2 percent for rent, $70 or 5.5 percent for house operation, etc. Similarly read figures for tea: at the h'gher income levels. * Estimated on the basis of only 217 cases in which this item was reported separately. » Estimated on the basis of only 221 cases in which this item was reported separately. © Estimated on the basis of only 220 cases in which this item was reported separately. « Estimated on the basis of only 554 cases in which this item was reported separately. © Estimated on the basis of only 565 cases in which this item was reported separately. * Estimated on the basis of only 356 cases in which this item was reported separately. ® Estimated on the basis of only 367 cases in which this item was reported separately. » Estimated on the basis of only 177 cases in which this item was reported separately. ' Estimated on the basis of only 182 cases in which this item was reported separately. } Estimated on the basis of only 92 cases in which this item was reported separately. * Estimated on the basis of only 93 cases in which this item was reported separately. [ 196 ] won ley the es 1 di he so t ” ments w Y ACH. 1 over hers 10.1 28.4 NNUN UNM & hw ~ = 4 ow x ent lhe most obvious conclusion suggested by the ts just presented is that, in general, the ichers at the higher income levels might bet have used a part of their surplus funds for lucational and recreational purposes (bet- ments), in view of the relatively small per nt of income which they spent for the latter. As intimated earlier, the relation between -e of income and percentage distribution of . ie. el a —— WOMEN NOT MAINTAINING HOMES a in $1750 $2250 0 $1250 $3750 $4250 NATIONAL EDUCATION ASS'N $2750 $3250 BASED ON DATA IN TABLE 21 in led ANCE de wo sacl S, 1m ind n \ sg hor ic. e A > oF uld lers AU ake eT Vill en- nes TABLE 21—AVERAGE PERCENTS OF INCOME SPENT FOR ALL NECESSI- TIES COMBINED BY MEN AND WOMEN TEACHERS AT DIFFERENT INCOME LEVELS Single women Married men maintaining homes®* Main- Not taining maintaining homes* homes Income level 1 2 3 4 Under $1500. 86.8 67 $1500-1999 80.1 62 $2000-2499 77.8 59 2 $2500-2999... 72.9 2 51 $3000-3499... 67.0 , 53.8 $3500 and over 60.5 57 41 Read table thus: Of the married men maintaining homes those receiving less than $1500 spent an average of 86.8 percent of income for necessities; those receiving $1500-$1999 spent an average of 80.1 percent for necessities; etc. Similarly read figures for the two groups of single women teachers 4 Includes those owning as well as those renting homes. > Includes those who were rooming and boarding, living at the homes of relatives, or sharing expenses with non-relatives women in each of three groups according to the number of dependency units '® for which they were responsible. It should be noted that the average incomes of these groups were quite similar, varying only from $1923 in the lowest dependency group to $2006 in the highest group. ‘Table 22 indicates a general tendency for total current expenditures to increase, and for surplus to decrease, when teachers have more persons to support. The items showing a sub- stantial increase were food, house operation, taxes, interest, and aid to dependents. Food, ) for example, increased from 12.2 percent to 16.1 percent of income, and aid to dependents from none to 11.9 percent. On the other hand, rent, clothing, transportation, the items of gifts and donations, education and recreation, and miscellaneous declined somewhat from the lowest to the highest dependency group. ‘The amount available as surplus dropped from $422 or 21.9 percent of income among women with only themselves to support to $171 or 8.5 percent of those having income among three or more units of dependency. 18 Tt will be recalled that a “unit of dependency”’ is defined here as one person wholly dependent or two perso pendent upon the teacher’s income, including the teacher himself as one unit. TABLE 22.—AVERAGE DISTRIBUTIONS OF INCOME BY SINGLE WOMEN TEACH- ERS HAVING DIFFERENT AMOUNTS OF DEPENDENCY Amount of dependency* 3.0 or more units 327 teachers) 1.1 to 2.9 units (1016 teachers Only 1.0 unit budget Items of budge 612 teachers Amount Percent Amount Percent Amount Percent 2 4 5 ee ae House operation... Food, rent, ani house operation........... 554 See ore bine ‘ 235 ee ee canta ‘ 33 {nterest tidied wie asset e es 24 0 A ee ey ae 95 Transportation ; ; ’ 154 Aid to dependents , ; : 0 Gifts and donations........ webibtacate 187 151 Education and recreation ‘ : 143 122 Miscellaneous....... Bes : ' ; ‘ 76 70 Surplus or saving leis idk, arashneit 422 322 At ff OOS eC 238 138 109 63 171 ee Awe Total net income $1,923 100 $1,983 100 $2,006 100.0 Read table thus: The single women teachers with only themselves to support (1.0 unit of dependency) received an average income of $1923. Of this amount, $234 or 12.2 percent was spent for food, $208 or 10.8 percent for rent, $112 or 5.8 per f house operation, etc. Similarly read figures for the teachers with larger amounts of dependency. *A “unit of dependency”’ is one person wholly dependent or two persons partly dependent upon the teacher’s i ing the teacher himself as one unit. » Estimated on the basis of only 446 cases in which this item is reported separately. © Estimated on the basis of only 452 cases in which this item is reported separately 4 Estimated on the basis of only 448 cases in which this item is reported separately ® Estimated on the basis of only 715 cases in which this item is reported separately. f Estimated on the basis of only 724 cases in which this item is reported separately. ® Estimated on the basis of only 714 cases in which this item is reported separately h Estimated on the basis of only 236 cases in which this item is reported separately ! Estimated on the basis of only 246 cases in which this item is reported separately [ 199 ] Figure VI pictures the situation for the same groups of teachers, using only the four main categories of saving, giving, necessities, and betterments. ‘This chart emphasizes the fact that an income which is barely adequate for the teacher with only himself to support will be wholly inadequate for the teacher with a family or other dependents. While it would be impracticable to pay teachers ac- cording to the size of their families, it is im- portant that a reasonable provision be made for dependents. Probably the best that can be done is to pay teachers at each level of ex- perience at least enough to provide the appro- priate standard of living for the average num- ber of dependents for which teachers at that level of experience are responsible. Comparison of Teachers in Ten Cities The influence of locality upon the expendi- tures of city teachers is revealed only in part by the data of this survey. The number of teachers reporting from most of the individual cities was too small to be considered represent- ative of all teachers in those cities. More: the cooperating groups varied markedly { city to city with respect to average inc sex, marital status, and general living « tions. Differences in these important fa: tend to obscure the effect of living in one rather than in another. It seems advisable to limit among cities to those ten from which at one hundred usable reports of income and penditure were received,'® and to make comparisons for the entire group repor! from each city without classification as to income level, living conditions, or numb: dependents. A detailed analysis for the cities is presented on page 264 of the Appen The discussion at this point is concerned \ certain summary figures, which appea: Tables 23 and 24. Table 23 compares the respect to the distribution of average in among the four categories of saving, gi\ necessities, and betterments. ‘The differ between cities seem to have been due par! compar! ten cities \ ” These ten cities were: Cincinnati, Ohio; Cleveland, Ohio; Dallas, Tex.; Denver, Colo.; Kansas City, Mo.; Lou Ky.; Minneapolis, Minn.; Pittsburgh, Pa.; Rochester, N. Y.; and St. Louis, Mo. FIGURE VI DOLLARS 2500 * GE NECESsITIEs REEREEE GIVING AVERAGE PERCENTS OF INCOME USED FOR FOUR MAJOR PURPOSES BY SINGLE WOMEN TEACHERS HAVING DIFFERENT NUMBERS OF DEPENDENTS TI) BETTERMENTS, [_] SAVING 1.1-2.9 3.0 AND OVER UNITS OF DEPENDENCY NATIONAL EDUCATION Ass'N BASED ON DATA IN TABLE 22 not entirely, to differences in average in e, which varied from only $1730 in Louis- » to $2665 in St. Louis. For example, the iisville teachers used 69.0 percent of their mes for necessities, while the St. Louis hers used only 62.9 percent for necessities. Qin the other hand, the reporting teachers in Dallas, with the relatively low average income f $1821, spent only 62.1 percent for neces ties, while those in Pittsburgh, with an aver- income of $2633, spent 68.9 percent for same types of items. The Rochester teach with an average income similar to that of the entire reporting group, devoted 69.3 per- cent to such items, while the entire reporting group spent only 65.0 percent for those items. Ihe percents for saving and giving tended to vary inversely with changes in the percent while the percent de- voted to betterments showed no such tendency. greatest the saved which ranged from about 12 in Louis- ville to 21 in Kansas City. In all of these cities the percent for betterments seems to have been unduly low. It was less than half as large as spent for necessities, variation was in percent the percent saved in every city except one. Judged in relation to the tentative goal of only 50 percent for necessities, none of these ten city groups were receiving adequate in adequate incomes were apparently those re- ceived by the reporting teachers in Louisville, Rochester, and Pittsburgh, while the incomes permitting the closest approach to the standard percent for necessities were received in Dallas, Kansas City, and St. Louis. Evidently ‘the average income of $2633 in Pittsburgh was *” See also the recommendations for determining minimum and less adequate than the lower average incomes L hese conclusions rest, of course, upon the assump ot skill among teachers in the several cities, but there reported in several of the other cities. tion similar in money management seems to be no reason for suspecting significant differences in this factor from city to city. The fact that comes in certain cities appear to be more In ade may relatively low ay erage quate than higher incomes in other cities be due in part to the tendency for persons with the smaller incomes to spend less money to: necessities. his tendency, however, can hard ly for the kind of difterence just noted. As we have seen in account entirely an earlier se tion, when other factors influencing teachers’ expenditures are kept approximately equal, in creases in income tend to be accompanied by reductions in the percent of income used tor necessities. A comparing Dallas and Pittsburgh, may there reverse tendency, as noted in fore be attributed largely to such factors as sex and marital status, number of dependents, and local commodity prices. ‘These factors may create a real need for higher incomes in one city than in another. Their importance in the ‘Table 24. Table 24 shows, for example, that the re ten selected cities is indicated in porting group in Pittsburgh contained a large percent of married men, had a greater pro portion of teachers maintaining homes, and food than did the reportin oup in any other city. The Pittsburgh had the largest average number of dependency units The Dallas group, on the other hand, con higher prices experienced substantially oor = &! group also second tained the smallest percent of married men, maximum salaries i TABLE 23.—AVERAGE PERCENTS OF INCOME DEVOTED TO THE FOUR MAIN DIVISIONS OF TEACHERS’ BUDGETS IN TEN SELECTED CITIES Minne- apolis, Minn. (161 teachers Cleve- land, Ky. Ohio (120 (100 teachers) teachers) Louis- ville, Dallas, Texas (135 teachers) Divisions of budget 1 4 18.2 14.0 62.1 a. / ) Saving rp 3 Giving Sie ia ad ‘ine ° q 3 Necessities. . 1 Betterments 3 $1730 $1806 Average income... . $1841 $1821 devoted to saving, 11.5 to giving, 60.0 percent to necessities, and the other nine cities. ) teachers) teachers) teachers) Read table thus: The average teacher reporting from Louisville received an income of $1730. of which 12.2 percent St. Louis, Mo. (105 teachers Pitts- burgh, Cincin- ter, nati, me. Be Ohio 141 209 Kansas Roches- City, Mo. (147 Denver, . 2 ania. eachers) teachers 10 11 8 9 6 12.6 17.4 12.3 13.1 68.9 62.9 6.2 20.8 17.4 12.0 12.3 62.2 9.3 63.7 5.0 6.6 6.6 $1915 $2067 $2245 $2435 $2633 $2665 was 7.3 percent to betterments. Similarly read figures for each of { 201 had the lowest average number of dependents, status, dependency, and living conditions n included the second smallest percent of teach- not have been the same for an entire city g1 ers maintaining homes, and experienced a level as for the sampling of that group which made of food prices below the average. These dit- the reports. Our conclusions must be limited ferences go far toward explaining why the to teachers receiving incomes and living unde: Pittsburgh teachers, with an average income conditions similar to those reported here. of $2633, spent 69 percent for necessities, while the Dallas teachers, with an average in- come of only $1821, spent only 62 percent for necessities. The group in St. Louis, with an Fells *! has shown that teachers in city average income only slightly higher than that school systems, colleges, and universities gen of the Pittsburgh group, spent only 63 percent erally use a smaller proportion of their in for necessities, partly because of lower com- comes for food and a larger proportion for such modity prices and partly because of the smaller items as health, transportation, education, proportion of teachers who were maintaining — recreation, giving, and saving, than do wage- homes. In Rochester the relatively high cost earners. It would be helpful also to know how of food, together with an average income of the expenditures of teachers compare with only $2067 and a normal amount of responsi- those of other occupational groups having bility for dependents and home maintenance, similar incomes and similar responsibilities. helps to account for the relatively high percent Data are not available, however, for answer- of income spent for necessities by the teachers ing this question precisely. Studies of other reporting from that city. groups often differ significantly in their deti- The preceding comments on the relative nitions of budget categories, in the localities adequacy of the incomes reported by the co- and years represented and in the composition operating teachers in the ten cities do not of the reporting groups with respect to sex, necessarily apply to the average incomes of a// marital status, number of dependents, and in- teachers in those cities. In the first place, the comes received. Moreover, such studies have average income of all teachers in any city may not generally analyzed expenditures accord- have been different from that of the group ing to size of income and other influential fac- reporting in this survey. In the second place, _ tors. such influencing factors as sex and marital Table 25 makes general comparisons be Expenditures of Teachers and Other Occu- pational Groups 33 * Eells, Walter C. Teachers’ Salaries and the Cost of Living. Stanford University, Calif.: Stanford University Press, 19 Table IIT, p. 28-29. TABLE 24.—CERTAIN FACTORS AFFECTING THE RELATIVE ADEQUACY OF TEACHERS’ INCOMES IN TEN CITIES, 1932-33 Louis- Cleve- Dall Minne- Kansas Roches- Cincin- D Pitts- St. ville, land, Te aS, — apolis, City, ter, nati, enver, burgh, Louis, Factors Ky. Ohio oy Minn. Mo. N. Y. Ohio Colo. Pa. Mo. (120 (100, —~ (161 (147 (141 (209 = (170 (105 teachers) teachers) *®*°€TS) teachers) teachers) teachers) teachers) *°®°"€TS) teachers) teachers 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Q 10 11 Teachers’ average income. $1730 $1806 $1821 $1841 $1915 $2067 $2245 $2435 $2633 $2665 Percent used for ‘‘ necessi- ties"... 69.0 64.1 62.1 6 62.2 6: 68.9 62.9 Percent married men..... 25.8 18.0 8.1 1 17.0 14. 36.5 26.7 Percent maintaining homes®, . ; 48.0 42. 53.1 49. 58.7 60. 2.1 2 2.2 9.6 od Average dependency units. 2.3 a3 2.0 2.3 7 2.3 Index of food prices» (av. for ten cities=100).... 91.3 98.8 97.1 94.6 102.5 106.6 98.8 102.5 109.9 99 6 47 8 3 Read table thus: The reporting teachers in Louisville in 1932-33 received an average income of $1730, of which 69.0 percent was used for ‘necessities’; in the same group 25.8 percent were married men, 41.7 percent were maintaining homes, and the average number of dependency units was 2.3; in Louisville during the same year the total yearly cost of 42 food items was only 91.3 percent of the average cost for the ten cities in the table. Similarly read figures for each of the other nine cities. * Includes both those owning and those renting homes. > Index of total yearly cost of 42 food items in the budgets of wage-earners, computed from price and quantity figures supplied by the U. S. Bureau of Labor Statistics for the 12 months beginning October, 1932 and ending September, 1933. (Average for ten cities in 1932-33 = 100). { 202 ] CELZ$ SI BWOIUT [e}0} 10] BINSy Zunjnseas ayy “auodul [e}0} JO JuadIed C] 7$ SB pazio ; SBUIARS PUB SaIN}IpUsdxa [k}0},, SB pazioday JO Juadiad Cy] 0} [enba Sursnoy 310} yuNOW Ue SapNisu] } Burjovsjqns Aq payndwosy » sary ONVIOA PUB ‘[BIN}[ND ‘[BuoOIvIIIe1 ‘[PUOT}BINps SapNjouy p ‘sBurgsiuiny pue uoneisdo asnoy ‘Zursnoy ‘ZuryqyojD “pooj sepnyduy yoing> ‘spt 1 Apaau 0} suOIyT }UOD puke SIIB [[e Sapnpouy q ‘spury [je jo s} SaAul pue Sapnjouy e : ‘sjulayy pue “gq “gq ‘JAOR] Ul yep uO paseq jer 17$ tics gwooul yijeey ‘uonejyodsurl WSU B[qeyIWeYyD pue JUGWAIIjel “BJUBINSU! SSUIABS 'qy upItiuaMmYp ,“BULAI'T JO sauelg pue sawoduy Iw Way “2D “A ed} UIWOM UL ,SI@YIVI} wal Ajit : Arjoedsa * IAIZ 0} Q'p] “Buraes 07 1 pe ] $ ct6 ul 10 94} 10} PUB SIIqIVA] J « | ©} Juadied ¢°9 pue ‘sarzISsa ) dnoiZ & yy paredwo0s iS Jad g°¢] payoAap dnoiz Jaw0j VY, “Z7SLTS JO = ul suosiad PWOIU! SBBIBAE UB BUIAIIIII AVAINS C¢-7E6] IY} Ul SI9YIeI}] UIWIOM J[ZuIs JO dnois y :sny} a/qQe} peroy ) [Rlapeajy ey) SI ZSLT$ Jo C36 68lt$ *Blee$ 80L7$ 789I$ 6¢77$ 6177$ ZSLI$ sUIOIUT [BO] 9 ~°s9 oF °8 el Il + Zz $d) T€6I “199 2381S BMO] }8 sisquiew Aynoeg L4z €€-ZE61 *‘Avains jueseld ul siayovey (POT) €€-ZE6T ‘go1ases [euoissajoid ul soaAojd -Wi9 [Blopeg I>) €€-ZE61 *‘Aoains jueseld ul siayovey (Z7$L) €€-ZE6! *‘Aoains jueseld uw sisyovey (78 £€-ZE6T *‘Aaains juesold ul sisyovey sol) f€-Ze6I *Qd1AJ9S [BIpo} -Snd [vlepes ul seaAoidurg (OTT) £€-ZE6! ‘Aoains jueseld ul sloyovey (9€Z) ZE-1 E61 “BIusoseD ‘ouselg ul slayovey (BOP) f€-ZE6!I *‘AQAINS jueseid ul sioyovey (94) £e-Ze6! ‘2014198 [IAI ul seaAojd -we [Blepeg ZE61 *sia}sIurm IsIPOye Ww 3@3pnq jo - — - SUOISIAIg 00Z+$-00 1 FS OOFES-OOTES 0087$-00L7$ OOLI$-OOSTS OO0€Z$-0077$ O0O8T$-OOLTS jO SaUlOdU! aBRvleAy jO S@UI00U! avlesy jO SoulooU! e8¥leAy jO SouIOOU! a2BlBAy JO Somloou! a8vleay JO SewWIODUI aF¥leAy UsUIOM B[ZUIS SOtIUIey YRIM Us AWOONI AO AZIS GQNV SOLVLS IVLIAVW OL LOAdSTA HLIM SNOILIGNOO AV'IIWIS AAQNN SdNOAD IVNOILVdNIDDO AAHLO NIVLYAS GNV SHAHOVAL AX LADGNA AO SNOISIAIC NIVW ANOA OL GCALOAAGC AWOONI JO SLNADAAd ADVAAAV—SZ AIAVL >, ~ vw ~ > a - ' = > . ' ue ' f. _ - ' w ' ' is ,; 2 & > ba = ie — | : ee 1 J ‘ Seco &€& #8 Fes Swi coe &€E x qs>u0e¢ © ’ Pa eos ee oso 3 © "- 5 OoOmom Ee BY Pe Ose Sern 4 = s w an om © e-c& = ~ = = e = os — — Fetes cs = _ fx, ob sw ® 2 2 O ) r =“ a 3) a £ =— ss =- 2 as li ~—3 ~ t. = ~~ on is _ ro he om aw = = & = a ss De ; =—_— —- =u Ff ~~ oon oon =_ = = = 5 oe S “I ~™m ° — ww» Qa ., fF = S&F as YO v - - 2 . San na ©& — a |e _ th oO ODBaBMe vi"! & ao pam => | ee 2 eS tween certain groups of teachers in the 1932-33 survey and a few other groups whose marital status and average incomes were similar to those of the teachers in this survey. For the sake of comparability, no data are included which were collected prior to the present economic depression. Comparisons are shown between teachers of this survey and (1) single women teachers in the Fresno, California sur- vey, (2) single employees in the federal civil service, (3) families of federal employees in the custodial service, (4) Methodist ministers, (5) families of federal employees in profes- sional service, and (6) faculty families at lowa State College. The percents of income spent for necessities by the comparable groups of teachers in this survey were strikingly similar to those of the single employees in federal civil service, the single women teachers in the Fresno survey, and the Methodist ministers. In the case of families of employees in the federal custodial service, in the federal pro- fessional service, and in the college faculty, the percents for necessities were somewhat larger than those spent by the corresponding groups of city teachers. In most cases the per- cents devoted to savings by comparable groups were very similar, the greatest differences ap- pearing at the highest income levels where the city teachers devoted a larger share of income to savings than did the federal professional employees or the college faculty members. The only groups which devoted as large a propor- tion to giving as did the corresponding groups of teachers were the single women in the fed- eral civil service and the Methodist ministers. The Fresno teachers, the ministers, and the college faculty members were the only groups to devote a larger percent to betterments than did the corresponding groups of teachers in the present survey. While these data are not conclusive, they suggest that the teachers co- operating in the 1932-33 survey probably did at least as well as most other occupational groups in managing the incomes which they received. Summary This chapter has set forth results of the Committee’s survey of city teachers in 1932-33 under three main heads: (1) sources of in- come, (2) borrowing and reduction of debt, and (3) current expenditures and surplus. These results may be enumerated briefly as follows: 1. A relatively small proportion of income, on the average, was received { sources outside the school system. Among single women and married men, about 94 cent was received in the form of school sa! Income from this source among the wo varied, however, from 98 percent in the g with total incomes under $1500 to 79 per in the group with incomes of $3000 or m Among the men it varied from 96 percent the group receiving less than $2000 to 84 | cent in the group receiving $3500 or m At the higher income levels investment e ings were of second importance among men and women. Income from outside o pations was of little consequence among women, but among the men it contributed nificantly at the higher income levels. 2. The average change during 1932-33 the amount of debt outstanding among th teachers was very small in relation to the of their incomes. Including both borrow money and unpaid bills, there occurred average net increase of $13 in total indebt ness, or 0.7 percent of average income. || women with an average income of $1045 | unit of dependency increased their indebted ness by only $8, on the average, while the me: with an average income of only $687 per u: of dependency increased their indebtedness $31. Generally speaking, the larger the amo of income per unit of dependency, the m favorable to the teacher was the change his indebtedness during the year. Smal! comes plus heavy responsibilities lead to r tively heavy borrowing. 3. Of the average income of $2043 recei\ by the 2358 teachers whose reports were ani! yzed, 16 percent was devoted to saving, percent to giving, 65 percent to necessities, an 6 percent to betterments. This distribution in marked contrast to that recommended the Committee as a tentative goal for teachers with a medium number of years in school ser ice. The proposed distribution allots 20 pe: cent to saving, 10 percent to giving, 50 percent to necessities, and 20 percent to betterments. In the actual distribution made by the teac!- ers, the lack of balance between betterments and saving was perhaps largely a matter personal choice. The failure to attain the goa! of 50 percent for necessities, however, was a) parently due primarily, altho not entirely, the inadequacy of the incomes received rathic' [ 204] rrowed red debted e. Ihe 45 debt: he men er ul ness imo tion 1s ded by sachers yl seri 0 per yercent ments. teach- rments tter of le goal yas ap- ely, to rather to mismanagement of those incomes. This conclusion is supported by the facts concerning expenditures for specific types of necessities. [he average amount spent for food during the vear was only $296; for rent, taxes, and in- rest combined, $306; for house operation, $190; for clothing, $210; for transportation, 155; for health, $103; and for miscellaneous ds, $70. +, Altho the married men received an aver- ave income $436 higher than that of the single women, they spent 73 percent of it for neces- sities while the women used only 63 percent the same items. This may be partially ex- plained by the fact, mentioned above, that the amount of income per unit of dependency was only $687 among the men, while among the women it was $1045. Assuming equality of tor skill in money management between the men and the women, it appears that the incomes of the former were less adequate than those of the latter, on the average. 5. Among teachers of the same sex, marital status, and income level, those with larger responsibilities for dependents devoted greater proportions of their incomes to necessities and to giving, and smaller proportions to saving and to betterments. Obviously an income which is barely adequate for the teacher with only himself to support will be quite inade- quate for the teacher with dependents. While it would be impracticable to pay each teacher according to the size of his family, teachers’ salaries generally should be large enough to provide for the average number of persons dependent upon them. 6. Differences in living conditions exerted considerable influence upon the teachers’ ex- penditures. The percent of income spent for necessities ranged from only 56 in the group of women sharing expenses with non-relatives to 79 among the men renting homes. Even among the women alone, those who owned or rented homes apparently received less adequate incomes than did those who were rooming and boarding, living with relatives, or sharing ex- penses with non-relatives, in spite of the larger amounts received by the owners and renters. Home-owners evidently had a slight advantage over the renters, as illustrated by the fact that the men owners receiving incomes of $2000° to $2499 spent only 75 percent for necessities, while the men renters with similar incomes spent 80 percent for necessities. The women living at the homes of relatives were those at a slight disadvantage compared to who were rooming and boarding. The former devoted a little more to necessities, and a little less to saving and giving, than did the latter. 7. Other important factors being equal, the teachers at the higher levels of income devoted smaller percents of income to necessities than did those with lower incomes. Among the married men maintaining homes, for example, this percent declined from 87 for incomes un der $1500 to 60 for those of $3500 or more. Accepting the proposed goal of 50 percent for necessities as reasonable for teachers with medium amount of experience, it appears that the average woman in this study who was not maintaining a home needed an income some where between $2500 and $3500, while both the average man and the average woman who vere maintaining homes needed considerably more than $4000. It is not suggested that the salaries of teachers be determined according to whether or not they maintain homes. On the contrary, salary increments should be such as to enable every teacher to maintain a home of his own eventually, without sacrificing his standard of living too much in other directions. 8. A comparison of the teachers’ expendi tures in ten selected cities reveals differences which cannot be wholly accounted for by varia ly In tions in average income. Other apparent fluential factors were the ratio of married men to single women, the average number of de pendents, the percent of teachers maintaining homes, and the relative position of local com modity prices. Due to the operation of such factors, comparatively low average incomes in certain cities seem to have been more ade- quate than relatively high incomes in other cities. In none of the cities was the goal of 50 percent for necessities attained. Those ap- proaching it most closely were Dallas, Kansas City, and St. Louis, while those furthest from attaining it were Louisville, Rochester, and Pittsburgh. 9. It is impossible to make entirely satis- factory comparisons of expenditures between the teachers of this survey and other occu pational groups. Such comparable data as are available, however, indicate that the cooper- ating teachers probably managed their incomes in 1932-33 with at least as much skill and wisdom as are characteristic of most other oc- cupational groups. [ 205 ] CHAPTER V Financial Assets and Liabilities of Teachers The preceding chapter has dealt at some length with the current financial affairs of teachers during the year 1932-33. This chapter presents an analysis of the financial assets and liabilities of these teachers as of September 30, 1933. Types of Information Collected On a special sheet at the back of the report booklet, the cooperating teachers were asked to record the following items concerning prop- erty owned and debt outstanding on Septem- ber 30, 1933: 1. Total present value of all real and personal property, except money and securities. (No attempt was made to define “present value” in the booklet, as it was felt wise to permit each teacher to give the best estimate he could, whether based on actual sales value, on the value assessed for taxation, or on some other basis.) 2. Total amount of savings accumulated and value of securities owned, except life insurance policies. 3. Value of life insurance policies in force: a. Cash surrender value b. Total face value. 4. Total amount of indebtedness. In addition to these items, certain others were obtained by means of the one-page “Sup- plementary Inquiry” sent to all teachers at the end of the year as follows: 1. Total amount of salary due the teacher for school service rendered between October 1, 1932 and September 30, 1933, but not yet received because of insufficient school funds. (This item was to in- clude only such amounts as had actually been promised to the teacher.) 2. Total amount of the teacher’s deposits tied up on September 30, 1933, in banking institutions which were temporarily closed or in receivership on that date. 3. Total amount of the teacher’s money which had been definitely lost since October 1, 1929, thru the liquidation of defunct banking institutions. The data obtained by these inquiries are to be considered as general estimates rather than as exact statements of assets and liabilities. None of the items were reported by all of the 1 The average given for cash value of insurance among the women may be somewhat larger than was actually the case. | teachers, and many teachers who gave fivur, indicated that they were only approximate! correct. Nevertheless, the averages shown j, Tables 26 and 27 are believed to have conside; able significance. Comparative Status of Men and Women Table 26 summarizes the reported facts concerning assets and liabilities for sing! women, married men, and both sexes com bined. These figures indicate that while the men had accumulated about 40 percent more property, on the average, than had the women they also had about three and one-half times as much debt outstanding as did the women When the averages for outstanding debt are subtracted from those for total property owned, the result for the men is not muc! larger than that for the women. Average net assets among the women were $4429, while among the men they were $5040. The smal! difference in favor of the men may be part}; explained by the differences between the tw groups in average size of income and numbe: of dependents. While the larger incomes « the men would tend to make their accumulated assets exceed those of the women, the large: number of persons dependent upon the men’s incomes would have the opposite effect. More over, the men in this survey had been in scho: service about three years less, on the averag: than had the women. The women had a significantly larger p: portion of their wealth in the form of mone) or securities than did the men. This difference was probably due largely to the fact that a majority of the men owned or were buying their homes, whereas a relatively small per- centage of the women were doing so. ‘here was a small difference in favor of the men with respect to the average cash surrender value 0! life insurance policies reported,’ but no appr ciable difference in the average amounts 0! back salary due. The latter item was ver) small in both groups. ne proportion of teachers failing to answer this item was much greater among the women than among the men, and it is possible many of those failing to answer carried no life insurance at all. [ 206 ] figy res cimately OWN in onsider- Vomen d facts single S CcoM- ile the it more vomen, f times vomen, ebt are roperty much we net while » small partly le two umber nes of ulated large: men’s More- school erage r pro- noney »rence hat a uying | per- Chere with ue of ippre- TABLE 26—GENERAL SUMMARY OF TEACHERS’ ASSETS AND LIABILITIES ON SEPTEMBER 30, 1933 Single Married Both Items of financial status women* men* sexes* 1 3 4 Value of property owned: All property except money and securities $4831 $2658 (369) (1881) Money and securities» (except life insurance).......... $1325 $1904 (332) (1954) Life insurance (cash surrender ee $1116 $946 (309) = (1461) 22 $25 (334) (2012) Totai property@ eacsas s $7294 $5533 Total outstanding indebtedness. $2254 $980 (346) (1673) Net assets® Pore $5040 $4553 Supplementary items (1932-33): Total income . $1968 $2404 $2043 Dependency units. . 1.9 3.5 2.2 Years of school service , 16.5 13.2 15.9 Back salary due Read table thus: The average amount of property (other than money or securities) reported by single women was $2128; by married men, $4831; and by both groups combined, $2658 Similarly read figures for other types of property, outstanding indebtedness, total net assets, and the several supplementary items. ® The number of teachers reporting on each item is given in parentheses below the average figure for that item, except in the case of “total property’’ and ‘“‘net assets,” which were derived by combining or subtracting figures based on different numbers of teachers. > The average amount tied up in closed banks was $115 for the women, $108 for the men, and $114 for both sexes com- bined. The average amount definitely lost in bank failures since 1929 was $66 for the women, $53 for the men, and $64 for both sexes combined. © The average face value of life insurance policies was $3429 among the women, $7170 among the men, and $4158 among both sexes combined. 4 Computed by adding the average amounts given for the four types of property owned. * Computed by subtracting the average total indebtedness from the figures for total property owned. Certain items of financial status not used in computing net assets are given in footnotes to Table 26. Footnote (b) indicates that neither the amounts tied up in closed banks on September 30, 1933, nor the amounts definitely lost in bank failures were, on the average, so large as to constitute a major difficulty in the economic aftairs of these teachers. Both items were slightly larger among the women than among the men. Footnote (c) shows that the average face value of life insurance policies re- ported by the women was $3429, or slightly less than one-half of the $7170 reported, on the average, by the men. Assets in Relation to Length of Service Table 27 shows a marked relationship be- tween length of school service and (1) total property owned, (2) total outstanding in- debtedness, and (3) net assets. Among the women, average net assets increased from $1807 in the group with one to ten years of service to $9077 in the group with thirty-one to forty years of service. The corresponding figures for men were considerably higher, ranging from $2727 in the lowest experience group to $16,767 in the highest experience group. While the factor of time may be largely responsible for these trends, the tendency for income to increase with length of service also has a bearing upon the situation. In 1932-33 the women with one to ten years of service received an average income of only $1553, while those with thirty-one to forty years re TABLE 27.—AVERAGE ASSETS, LIABILITIES, AND CURRENT INCOMES OF MEN AND WOMEN TEACHERS AFTER VARIOUS PERIODS OF SCHOOL SERVICE Items of financial status 1-10 years Women* Men 2 Total property owned.............. 2,261 Total indebtedness bas 454 Net assetsi...... — , 807 Current income (1932-33) 11-20 years Womene Men‘ Length of school service 21-30 years 31-40 years Women? Men‘ Womens Men 5 6 7 8 9 $8,178 $7,139 $10, 406 $10,100 $19,139 2,682 891 ,992 1,023 2.372 2 5,496 6,248 7,414 9,077 16,767 2,517 2,219 2,884 2,486 3,557 Read table thus: The women teachers with one to ten years of school service reported average property holdings of $2261, out- standing indebtedness of $454; net assets of $1807; and current income of $1553. Similarly read figures for both men and women with different periods of school service. * The smallest number of women reporting on any item included in these totals was 349. > The smallest number of men reporting on any item included in these totals was 142. © The smallest number of women reporting on any item included in these totals was 453. 4 The smallest number of men reporting on any item included in these totals was 117. * The smallest number of women reporting on any item included in these totals was 246 f The smallest number of men reporting on any item included in these totals was 31. ® The smallest number of women reporting on any item included in these totals was 78. h The smallest number of men reporting on any item included in these totals was 14. ! Difference between ‘‘total property owned”’ and “‘total indebtedness.” [ 207 } ceived an average of $2486. The comparable figures for men were $2071 and $3557. Figure VII shows how both net assets and current in- come were related to length of service. The tendency for indebtedness to increase with length of service is not clearly explained by the data at hand. This tendency is probably due in part to the larger proportion of the older teachers who had undertaken the pur- chase of homes on the instalment plan. Another possible factor may have been a tendency for those with the larger amounts of property to borrow against their property more heavily during the depression than did those with smaller amounts of property. ‘The number of cooperating teachers with very long periods of service was too small to permit definite conclusions. Their reports sug- gest, however, that after serving in the schools for thirty-five or forty years under conditions similar to theirs, and following similar prac- tises with respect to saving and investment, single women on the average might expect to accumulate net assets of $9000 or $10,0( while married men on the average might ¢ pect to accumulate $16,000 or $17,000. Hi, adequate are these amounts as provision {i the period of retirement? At 4 percent terest, the income from $10,000 would be on $400 per year, and the income from $17,() would be only $680. If these amounts capital were used to purchase straight life a: nuities at age sixty, the retirement income « the woman (paying $10,000) would be abou: $730 per year, while that of the man (paying $17,000) would be about $1375 per yea: These retirement incomes are much low: than the amounts spent for all current pu: poses in 1932-33 by the average woman teach er ($1640) and by the average man teache: ($2078) in this survey. It should be noted also that the amounts of accumulated capital just mentioned are co: siderably less than the $26,610 recommended by the American Provident Society as a suit- able reserve at age sixty for persons who wil! 2 Computed from rates in effect on January 1, 1935, as furnished by an authorized representative of a large mutual life iy ance company. The amounts given are based on the assumption that the individual would receive his retirement income in mont! payments. They include dividends payable at the end of the first year, according to the dividend scale now in effect. The scak dividends provides for a slight increase in each succeeding year. FIGURE VII AVERAGE NET ASSETS OF WOMEN AND MEN TEACHERS AFTER VARIOUS PERIODS OF SCHOOL SERVICE DOLLARS 20,000 f—- WOMEN MEN | 15,000 | | 10,000 |_ 5,000 |— —_ 1-10 11-20 21-30 31-40 1-10. 11-20 21-30 31-40 YEARS OF SERVICE YEARS OF SERVICE BASED ON DATA IN TABLE 27 | [ 208 ] i a NI a Sk ) OO! 3 it e) ittain an income of $60 per week, or $3120 How oer year, at the peak of their earning power.° 1 for [his recommended reserve would provide a t it straight life annuity at age sixty of about $1940 on] for a woman, and of about $2155 for a man.* OO! Sol Summary e an The principal facts revealed concerning the 1e assets and liabilities of teachers in this survey bout are as follows: ing 1. The men teachers on the average had ear. accumulated considerably more property than we! the women, but also had incurred more debt pul in proportion to the value of their property ach than had the women. Average net assets were cher about 14 percent larger among all men $5040) than among all women ($4429). ts of 2. The women had a considerably larger con proportion of their property in the form of ided money or securities than did the men. More suit- than one-half of the wealth reported by the will men was real or personal property other than i money or securities, due probably to the rela- ynthl tively large proportion of the men who owned alee or were purchasing homes. 3. The average face value of life insurance policies reported by the women was $3429, as compared with $7170 reported by the men. 4. The average amounts of back salary due, Sere of money temporarily tied up in closed banks, and of funds definitely lost in bank failures during the depression were apparently not large enough to constitute a major difficulty in the financial affairs of these teachers. 5. There was a marked tendency for the > deForest, Charles M., and others. Are Society, Inc., 1932. p. 81. * Payable monthly, and including first-year dividends according to present scale You as Old Financially as in Years? Make Sure teachers of longer school service to have more property, greater outstanding indebtedness, greater net assets, and larger current incomes than the teachers of shorter periods of service. Altho the available data are not highly con- clusive, they suggest that after thirty-five or forty years of service under conditions similar to those experienced by these teachers and fol- lowing similar practises of saving and invest- ment, single women might expect to accumu- late $9000 or $10,000, on the average, while married men might expect to accumulate $16,000 or $17,000. These amounts of capital are distinctly inadequate to provide, at age sixty, retirement incomes equal to the average current expenditures reported by all men and all women teachers in this survey. They are ller than the $26,610 also much smal recom- mended by the American Provident Society as at age sixty fe persons re at the peak of a suitable reserve ceiving about $3100 per year their earning power. 6. These facts, sented in the preceding chapter, indicate a need tor (a) more adequate incomes Tor teac h together with those pre- ers, and (b) better management of income by teachers. At the same time it should recog- nized that no amount of improvement along these two lines will guarantee a satisfa for other group), unless the economic system of retirement status teachers (or for any the nation can be so ordered as to maintain the safety and productiveness of investments and to prevent majer changes in the purchas- ing power of money. This chapter differs from others in this bulletin in that it deals with teachers as in- dividuals rather than as groups. At the end of the year covered by the regular monthly re- ports of income and expenditure, a selected group of one hundred teachers were asked to submit brief descriptive accounts of their economic situation in general, and especially of any significant changes therein during the year from October 1, 1932, to September 30, 1933. The illustrative material thus obtained adds vividness and human interest to the statis- tical information concerning groups of teach- ers presented elsewhere in this report. As a general guide, in the preparation of these statements, the following list of points to be covered was suggested to the teachers selected : 1. Your living conditions, including dependents or other persons living with you, as well as dependents not living with you. 2. Reductions or increases, if any, in your income during the year. Factors causing such changes. 3. Unusual or increased financial responsibilities which you assumed during the year: extra aid to dependents, extra donations for charitable purposes outside your family, illness in family, etc. Factors causing these. 4. Expenses of a strictly professional nature: at- tendance at summer school, educational books and periodicals, travel for professional improvement. 5. Borrowing and repayment of debt, if any. In- crease or reduction in unpaid bilis. Reasons for these. 6. Losses or gains, if any, in accumulated capital : bank closings or failures, depreciation in value of securities or real estate, forced sale of property at loss, loss of property thru foreclosure, etc. 7. Financial aid received directly or indirectly from other persons or organizations. Such descriptive statements were received from thirty-six teachers in widely scattered cities. Altho the statements varied consider- ably in length and interest, practically all of them contained some significant points. Limit- ations of space, however, made it advisable to include only nine of them in this chapter. These nine were selected, not because they CHAPTER VI Case Reports of Teachers’ Economic Status represent typical situations among teachers, but because they were among the most interest ing descriptions received. The statements are presented essentially as the teachers submitted them, together with certain important facts obtained from the teachers’ statistical reports For obvious reasons the names of the individ uals and the cities in which they were teaching are omitted here. Teacher A Objective facts—This teacher is a married man with a wife and four children of schoo! age. At the time of reporting he had been in active school service for eight years. He was buying the heme in which he and his fami, lived. His total net income was reported as $2218, and his school salary as $2005. Expendi- tures and other financial items for the year were as follows: ee $413 ed ah ae 0 House operation ..... 323 ae ee 135 I dawicks vse ox:s 191? Necessities = 78.6% ae 324 ee 149 Transportation ...... 108 Miscellaneous ....... 101 Aid to dependents. ... 31 a . Gifts and donations. . at Giving = 4.07% Education and recrea- SOON ac his fan ed eas 122} Betterments = 5.5% Gentes. ces 265} Saving = 11.9% IR tos ete cc ke cbipnies sain $2,218 Increase or decrease in borrowed money.... 0 Increase or decrease in unpaid bills......... ( Total net assets, September 30, 1933°...... $5,25 The personal statement submitted by this man is notable for its note of cheerfulness and lack of complaint. He and his family have evidently discovered that happiness depends upon many factors other than financial afflu- ence. They seem to remain solvent and enjoy life thoroly on a relatively small income. 1 Except in those cases where current expenditures exceeded total income, the percentages devoted to necessities, saving, giving, and betterments are shown. In connection with these distributions, it is well to have in mind the apportionments suggested in Chap- ter IX for teachers at various income levels and in different types of living conditions. 2 In each case the figure for ‘“‘surplus’’ or “deficit” is the difference between reported income and reported current expenditures. $ In each case the figure for “total net assets’’ is the difference between total value of property and total indebtedness reported. [ 210 ] hers, rest ; are itted facts rts. ivid- hing of ng, ap- res. ed. Teacher's own statement—There are six of us in my immediate family, including two boys and two girls of school age. In addition it has become necessary, during the past few months, to help other relatives less fortunately situated than we are. At present my father and mother are also members of our household. A variety of circumstances is responsible for our present economic status. We have tried to make our small purchases wisely. We have been willing, as a rule, to forego those things which our budget would not permit. Com- mercial amusements have an almost negligible place in our budget; yet we have lots of fun. We drive a T-model Ford touring car in the summer when weather conditions and ability to start make such means of transportation a pleasure. We have learned that a pair of barber shears and a pair of clippers are cheap as com- pared to barber bills in these days of bobbed hair. We have systematized our buying so that an allowance of $40 per month is ample to provide all food, including meats and milk as well as other items. We have learned success- fully to make needed repairs on furniture and about the home. (But you should have seen our first attempt at paper hanging.) We have lived and enjoyed life, and altho some ad- versities have come our way we have been on the whole extremely fortunate. Our salaries this year were reduced only 5 percent, altho a clause has been added to our contracts permitting a cessation of school “‘if and when, in the opinion of the board, it be- comes necessary.” Last year we lost a week’s pay at the end of the term because of public demand for cuts in teachers’ pay. This, in the opinion of the school treasurer, was unwar- ranted and unjust but was resorted to as a means of satisfying public clamor for reduc- tions irrespective of prevailing schedules and of curtailments made along other lines. Until a year and a half ago I had paid rent. When I discovered that I had paid out enough money to have purchased the place in which we lived, I became interested in vacant properties with the idea of purchasing. The opportune time arrived, a desirable property at a favor- able figure was located, and by borrowing $600 to add to the $1200 which we had in huilding and loan stock, we negotiated a deal for an eight-room house. The lot, 55’ x 125’, is in a quiet residential neighborhood close to [ 211] schools and churches, in close proximity to transportation facilities, and within walking distance of a beautiful park. By trading in a lot valued at $500, making a cash payment as before mentioned, and assuming a nine-year mortgage of $3800 we secured a home which we could at least call our own. The fact that we now have ample room has made it possible for me, in a measure, to repay my father for the years of toil and sacrifice which he spent in providing for his family of four. While our home is not pretentious, it is a source of much pleasure to us, and we strive to make it a place where the young folks of the neighbor hood may feel free to come and have their good times. This is paying us big dividends! Since we were married, twenty-four years ago, we have had a charge account at a grocery only once, but that taught us a lesson. The account was small, but still too large in rela- tion to our income, and was paid with difficulty. Consequently, we incur no bills but prefer to pay cash or go without. This plan has been a source of comfort to us as we look about and see some of our friends and neighbors trying to accustom themselves to “lowered standards” of living, and striving, often in vain, to liqui date their debts. During the past year there have been no serious illnesses in our immediate family. However, the loss of my brother and father- in-law, and the serious illness of my own father all entailed unusual expenses. We endeavor to support, by purchase of tickets and attendance, all the activities of the school community, and are also called upon repeatedly for donations by various welfare agencies. Our state has placed upon us a 2 percent sales tax which applies to all purchases. Real estate, altho greatly depreciated in value, still bears as great an amount of tax as in the free- and-easy period during the War. We own a little place of thirty acres, fortunately without encumbrance, which until the past two years had netted us from 3 to 5 percent on the in- vestment, but which has barely paid for taxes, let alone upkeep, during the past two years. Having made our investment in a family, we have been able to make few others. As a result, recent bank failures, depreciations of securities, etc., have affected us personally very little, altho indirectly they have increased our load by contributing to the financial difficul- ties of relatives on both sides of the house. Insurance has been one of our large items of expense. A twenty-pay policy (which has but five more years to run), an accident and health policy (which has been sorely needed and beneficial in the past), liability insurance, and fire and hail policies cost us in the vicinity of $275 annually. A hobby? Yes, but one that’s inexpensive as compared with the expenditures of some people for liquor, tobacco, and picture shows. My hobby is photography now and I feel en- tirely justified in such expenditures as I make for this purpose. I can’t close this account without mention- ing one other point. Mother and I spent a day and a night at “A Century of Progress” on a total outlay of $5.50. And nobody saw more for his money. Teacher B Objective facts—This teacher is an un- married woman with a record of nineteen years of active school service. She was classified as rooming and boarding, but was responsible for 6.5 units of dependency. Her reported net in- come was $2220 and her school salary $1848. A summary of her expenditures and other pertinent financial items for the year follows: EE Wns a abc BCKORER ES OER LORIE adidawtns $313 EE bn dkd cede Set eacak Seb aes van ewes 168 BenGn SNUUNINR, o guraiiawe dew badass y od det 95 Sa. ee eee ee eee 227 RR FRE Rar tentite, 5 lege, Spe RE peated 151 DEE .04,,40004n0beuet alee Grd eat date ter 505 PE ed 4s 686 ke ohh sblheeeaes worlds tds 81 pI ole, ae ea 103 RPE e, Ts grt ae a oo 80 Fe ee I, i 5.6.9 0:5 c0necivawnces see 191 Gitte end Gametime. . 6s... ccc cee cesses. 37 Education and recreation.................. 132 Contes, LAPIS ois onic se cries < swsesae 140 Teste Wier Fis. i eh ih. de dds cscs $2,220 Increase in borrowed money............... 244 Increase in unpaid bills*.................. 738 Total net assets, September 30, 1933........ $3,536 The following statement by the teacher her- self gives a vivid picture of heavy financial responsibilities not usually thought of as ; ing to the lot of an unmarried woman. Teacher's own statement—My living ditions are rather complicated. During week, I board and room in the city wh: teach. Week-ends and vacations | spend o: family homestead, a distance of twenty, miles. Rather than have the farm sold, my and I purchased it in July 1931. Things | very well during the first year. I was recei $210 per month, and my sister was rece’ $112 per month as a practical nurse. D the year 1932-33, however, it became n sary for me to assume almost the entire port of the family. Living on the farm at time were my brother, his wife and three girls, an elderly aunt and uncle, my sister, part of the time myself. My brother, with aid of a tractor, operated the farm for | considered his family partially dependent the others wholly dependent upon me. The returns from the farm, owing to low prices and a long pericd of drought, not go very far toward meeting the expens: running the farm. My brother did, how: raise enough feed for the stock and some ot food supply for the family. Our living ; was reduced to the minimum. Proper { and clothing for from seven to nine pe is quite a problem in itself. We have burned coal for three years. During the school year beginning Septen ber 1932, I got my first salary cut in the f of a voluntary gift to the board of education. It amounted to $31.50 per month for fou: months, and $21 per month for the remaining six months, making $252 in all. Beginning January, I contributed 2 percent of my salar) to the fund for unemployed teachers. Some voluntary and some compulsory gifts or con tributions were made to the Community Ches: to unpensioned teachers, to the Federation Churches, to my own church, and to fi school organizations. At first I tried to carry both my own 1: surance policies and my sister’s, but we final!) had to cut them both in half. *In this particular case the surplus of $140 is only apparent because there was an increase of $738 in unpaid bills during year. Strictly speaking, any increase in unpaid bills during the year should be subtracted from an apparent surplus (or added apparent deficit). Likewise, any decrease in unpaid bills during the year should be added to an apparent surplus (or subtract from an apparent deficit). In this case, therefore, the increase of $738 in unpaid bills should be subtracted from the apparent sur) of $140, leaving a real deficit of $598. This procedure is not applicable to increases in borrowed money, however, because the expenditure of borrowed money is s posed to have been included in the regular report of expenditures, whereas bills incurred but not paid during the year are supposed to have been omitted from the report of expenditures. [ 212 a > a as ! 1g n ny the vhe » | nse€s ot eptem e form cation. r rour aining ling in salary Some r con Chest, ion of o five vn i! final] iring t ed to al tbtracted t sur} y is sup- supposed The year itself was somewhat of an en- durance contest for the whole family. A third baby girl was born to my brother’s family, and of course I had to pay the hospital bill. It was 4 Caesarian birth. My sister, the nurse, came home to help and ended up by staying the en- tire year. The two older children had whoop- ing cough, the aunt la grippe, and the little baby a very bad case of eczema for which she is still being treated. It goes without saying that the doctor’s bills have been enormous. The obstetrician’s bill isn’t paid yet. For myself, I have had to retrench in every way. I walk nearly two miles every day to school in order to save car-fare. I do my own washing. I do without dessert at meals (which s probably good for me). I stay away from downtown. I cut down on all amusements that cost money, except for a series concert ticket and a series theater ticket of six performances each. I have to content myself with attending free lectures. For my summer vacation I spent one week at the lake at a very low cost. The rest of the time I spent canning everything cannable to help out on the family’s winter food supply. I also devoted a great deal of time to taking inventory of and mending my clothes so as to make them last a little longer. Most of them have served longer than | like to say. I have not been able to do any university extension work for three years. I started out to complete a B. S. degree, but lack thirty-five points of doing so. Since I started my univer- sity work, the fee has increased from $7 per credit point to $9 per credit point. Consider- ing the cost of board, room, car-fare, books, and fees, together with my cut in salary, I do not feel that I can afford it. I did, however, buy six books to use in my work. During Easter vacation my sister and I managed to take a short recreational trip. We had a chance for a free ride to and from New York City, which we took advantage of. I paid all of the expenses for the six days. Part of the money had to be borrowed, which was perhaps foolish, but I felt that we both needed a change, especially my sister after caring for sick people all winter. Since it was necessary to pay the hospital bills already referred to out of my September and October checks, I had to borrow $300 to pay the November interest instalment on our mortgage and the school taxes. The loan was obtained thru the Teachers’ Credit Union. | paid it back in monthly instalments of $30 plus interest at 1 percent of the unpaid balance. It was only half paid when I had to borrow $150 more to help pay the May in- terest instalment on the mortgage. I also bot rowed $75 from a bank to tide me over the summer and $45 on an insurance policy to pay the interest on some notes and to meet September 1933 expenses. Several other unusual items of expenditure have made matters more difficult. Last sum- mer | which cost me $136, and I also have a doctor’s bill of $97. I had lightning rods put on the house at had to have some dental work done a cost of $89, because insurance on rodded buildings is cheaper. I also had a com- bination pumphouse and woodshed built on to the main house at a cost of $102. The floor of the old one was so unsafe that I was afraid the whole family would fall down the well The only financial aid I have received was $300.47 in the form of milk checks, $160 from the wheat crop, and $25 from my. sister, in addition to the foodstuffs that were raised on the farm. My brother did some unwise buying during good times which we are having to pay fot during very bad times. We owe about $2809 worth of notes which accounts for a good deal of the interest and debt payments in my bud- get. The amount of indebtedness has not seemed great enough to warrant bankruptcy. We are trying to be optimistic and hope that next year will give us a “good break.’’ High- pressure collectorship is the hardest thing to stand. The third year of the depression finds us a little worse off than during the other two. In spite of trying to keep optimistic, one is bound to admit that there is an unpleasant reaction. Eating in the cheaper places, curtailing amuse ments, and wearing clothes that are cheaper and out of style does something to one’s sense of well-being. Teacher C Objective facts—This is the case of an un married woman who had been in school work only five years. She and three other adult members of her family were dependent entirely upon her school salary, which was only $1730 { 213 ] Tew ee Ls in 1932-33. They owned their home subject to a mortgage on which no principal had been paid for three years. Their difficulties were increased by a most unfortunate salary situa- tion in the local schools. Following are the figures on expenditures and other items reported by the teacher: PE i neh avas ooh ches Oe re aiee teak ds $445 Ee EP ee Ree er ee Pee 0 er ee Tr 385 | Ae Serpe enn ange 187 ee oS Senay are 12 a A ree 9 eR Re 150 SN rete ein eda Wi eGieM Add bee w ge bin Raaes 117 ia 5 ee As. Fi SRE Sled cee Res 217 I Biba ie Ca dares have put 20) of our would $2500 n next 1 hand ; been en my of my s used e. rk for idence le uni- ual in ancial nt ap- ris a in a salary ind of on he roups of PR aiame iv Ses reported other income of $325 from invest- ments. This couple had no dependents other than themselves. They had no rent to pay be cause they were living at the home of the wife's mother. The husband had been in school work for sixteen years. Their combined financial summary for 1932-33 is as follows: en Pee, rey eee $484) | en eee te 0 House operation..... 298 | ClothHE oss viecswawes 222 | TOGOW 60 dd Wo ea 5654; 127 } Necessities 22.0% ee Ee Eg ee 0 OS Ae ee eee 9 [Transportation ..... 224 Miscellaneous ....... 110) i endents. . 0 ar Aid to dep i $ l Giving 6.0% Gifts and donations 4064 Education and recre- BOOM Fe Sih ake nn ne 1,968\ Betterments 29.3% ae 2,868 } Saving = 42.7% RE MING og Soaks des dccedew es $6,715 Increase or decrease in borrowed money 0 Increase or decrease in unpaid bills.... 0 Total net assets, September 30, 1933.. $28,085 This teacher’s statement of his status is brief but requires no additional comment. Teacher's own statement—My salary last year was only 5 percent below the maximum which I have received since the depression be- gan. The city in which I teach is one of a very few which are still solvent and generous. My wife also has been fortunate in holding a well- paying position in an adjoining city. Our com- bined salaries in 1932-33, together with div- idends and interest earnings, amounted to ap- proximately $6700. Of this sum we saved or invested about $2870. We pay no rent because my mother-in-law owns the apartment in which we live. My wife, mother-in-law, and I enjoyed a 54-day cruise to Europe last summer. We have no debts, and have experienced no bank losses. Practically all of our assets have been accumulated thru salary earnings. We have had some losses in defaulted real estate bonds, but those have largely been made up. Our assets are about 80 percent liquid. Our standard of living has never been lowered; possibly it is higher now than ever before. ® Another case of “communal reporting,” Teacher E' Objective facts—This teacher is a widow of eleven years’ teaching experience, with two and a_ mother mainly upon her salary, which in 1932-33 was $1860. During the year her mother contrib uted a total of $100, garage rent brought in young children dependent $9, and additional earnings amounted to $121, bringing her total income to $2089. She was making payments on the home in which she and her family were living. Following is the list of her reported expenditures and related items: SP ee eee $403 ) eee ad 0 House operation..... 694 | i ee ne 90 | pc eee vs 80 } Necessities 80.6% Interest ee er 40 } OS ee 200 | Transportation ...... 166 Miscellaneous ....... 12 | Aid to dependents. Bas 9! Giving 3.4% Gifts and donations. . 71\ Education and recrea- DF Rietievenemtn am 1 1 oT eR eae 234 Surplus” 311 Saving = 14.9% Total income.... $2,089 Decrease in borrowed money 10 Decrease in unpaid bills*...... 2 Total net assets, September 30, 1933 $2,021 The following personal statement indicates how keenly a woman teacher may feel her financial responsibilities when she has children of her own and is dependent primarily upon her own earnings. Teacher's own statement—lI have two chil- dren, one of whom will be five years old this month and the other seven next month. The little one was born five months after my hus- band’s death. As soon as possible after these experiences—in 1929—I went back to work. Very fortunately I had been with the schools before my marriage and they were willing to take me back on the staff. My parents, who had been retired from business September for some time, made their home with me. They helped me as much as they could in a financial way but my expenses were very great, in- cluding my husband’s funeral expenses, my and therefore not included in the tabulations for groups of teacher * Strictly speaking, the apparent surplus of $311 should be increased by the amount of decrease in unpaid bills ($2) ) making an actual surplus of $313 for the year. See footnote 4 on page 212 for a more complete statement on this point [ 215] own doctor and hospital bills during preg- nancy and confinement, and later the pedia- trician’s bills. During the summer before my return to work I borrowed enough money to pay my bills and buy a used car. Since then I have been paying that money back. During the school year I repay all that I owe, and then have to borrow again to live thru the summer. Gradually, however, I have been able to de- crease my debt each year. My unusual expenses did not all come in 1928 and 1929. Since returning to work I have paid my sister, also a widow, for staying with my mother (who is almost 80 years old) and my two children. The sister has had her home to keep up and a daughter in school, so that it has been necessary to pay her more than an ordinary maid would receive, but the feel- ing of security which her help has given me has been worth the expense. I have continued to pay her during my summer vacations be- cause it does not seem fair to hire her on a nine- or ten-months’ basis. In 1930 my father died after a long illness at home and in the hospital. My mother has frequently had to have doctor’s care, and my children seem to have had more reason for medical attention than the average youngster. Both of the children have had tonsillotomies. The little one in her five years has been under the care of our regular pediatrician, an eye specialist, a throat specialist, and a surgeon. She had two minor eye operations before she was a year old. At about seventeen months she began her hospital experiences, and has had three such experiences of various lengths. All of this naturally has involved considerable expense. Our home is subject to a mortgage, but I have been fortunate in needing only to pay the interest on it during the past year. We did have other property—some building lots, one piece of suburban property, and a large tract of uncultivated land—but I have made no effort to pay taxes on these for at least five years. At first I expected to keep them and did not try to realize any money on any of them. Then, when I realized how impossible it would be for me to carry the expense of their taxes, the depression was far enough advanced so that selling or mortgaging was out of the question. Now I am simply forgetting that such property ever existed, and especially am { 216 ] I trying to forget all the money invest: them. Our salary cuts this past year have ma very difficult for me to meet operating penses from month to month. But the tho that worries me most is that whatever | n have had for my children’s future is gone I can see no possible way of saving any! for the proverbial “rainy day.” I am t: to carry enough insurance so that, for a te years at least, the children will be cared { if I should drop out of existence. I would like to feel, above all else, that whether I am | or not they can have at least a decent pla live and an opportunity for a good educativ: Right now I do not see how I can assure of these things to which they are entitled Teacher F Objective facts—This teacher is a mai twenty-four years of teaching experience. has a wife and one daughter, and owns home in which they live. His reported sa for school services in 1932-33 was $2822 he received income from other sources am: ing to $1023. Other items of his financial! port for the year are summarized below. OS Re eee $ $40) are 0} House operation.... 636 | Clothing .....<..«. 123 | cf re err 486 + Necessities = 61.8 ee 266 | BE edie canons 46 | Transportation .... 246 | Miscellaneous ..... 41 | Gifts and donations Aid to dependents.. 200 74 Education and recre- ) ) Betterments = 0.6 SE eve ksvcky << 23 : Surplus ........... 1,171 Saving = 30.5% ict aaencawe ces $ 3,845 Increase or decrease in borrowed money Increase or decrease in unpaid bills... Total net assets, September 30, 1933... $12,528 As the foregoing figures show, this teac! was relatively well-situated financially. His personal statement indicates, however, that this condition has not been achieved without years of prudent management and wise inves'- ment. Sted In Teacher's own statement—My family con- +s of a wife, a daughter, and myself. My daughter is fifteen years of age and she is a ‘ynior in senior high school. We have never had any servants because our income did not warrant it and because I have an extremely thrifty and industrious helpmate who takes great pride in her home. | am forty-six years of age and have con- tinuously taught senior high-school subjects since 1909. I have an A. B. degree from col- leze and an M. A. degree from a large uni- versity. My entire college and university ex- penses were earned and paid for by myself from salaries which ranged from $600 per annum in 1909, $1250 in 1918, $3500 in 1930, to about $2500 in 1933. During the past two years my salary has been reduced $1000 by supposedly voluntary contributions to balance the city budget and by retrenchment in school activities, such as the closing of night and sum- mer schools. My income from sources other than salary has also been greatly reduced. During the past year | earned approximately $150 from private tutoring, while in previous years I had earned from $500 to $600 in this way. My income from investments did not change much and approximated $850 during the year. I tried to keep this income intact by shifting or ex- changing my bonds for others which seemed more secure. These bonds were originally pur- chased when the market was high, and their present market value is only about one-half of their actual cost to me. The major portion of my savings have been invested in public utility bonds, and these were especially hard hit during the past year. Up to this time, I have managed to steer clear of bonds which defaulted or companies which went into re- ceivership by exchanging my holdings before they were a complete loss. My wife and I have always kept our ex- penditures within our income, and at the same time have managed to save something each year for the home of our dreams and for the education of our daughter. Our entire present capital has been accumulated by these savings. Our present home, which is the fulfilment of our dreams, is the third we have owned since 1921. It is, incidentally, the only one of the three for which we did not pay cash. Last October we traded our second home, which was purchased at the peak of real estate values, for this one at a price of $2000 less than we paid for it in 1928. We do not consider this a real loss, however, because we paid $8000 less for our present home than our neighbors paid for a similar one in 1928. We retrenched during the past year by re- ducing our donations to charity, and by cur- tailing our expenses for pleasure, clothes, travel, and items of a professional nature. During this period our expenses for books, periodicals, travel, and summer school have been practically nil. These retrenchments were caused by two things. The first was our re duced income and the second was the purchase of our home, which compelled us to pay $20.80 per week into a building and loan association. The only assistance given to other dependents was in the form of a loan of $200 to the parents of my wife who were severely hit by the depression and long illness. We were fortunate in not losing anything thru bank closings or failures. Our only debt or unpaid bill is the building and loan mort gage of $4160 on our home. This was obtained October 11, 1932, and now has been reduced to $3500 by the payment of the weekly in stalments which include all interest charges, taxes, and water rent. We have always enjoyed good health. We have never received any financial aid from anyone. We never let bills accumulate. We seldom use a charge account. We simply do without things until we can pay cash for them. We have always religiously avoided finance companies and loan sharks. We have neve paid a carrying charge on anything we have purchased. True, we have had to deny ourselves many of the pleasures and perhaps the finer things in life such as travel, the fine arts, and books. This was not because we did not crave them, but because we felt that we must first meet those obligations which are necessary to maintain our physical health and comfort. Teacher G Objective facts—This case, of an unmarried woman teacher with thirteen years of school experience, presents a quite different picture from that of Teacher F, in spite of the fact that the number of dependents was the same in both cases. This teacher rented and main- tained an apartment for herself, her mother, [ 217] and her aunt, both of the latter being wholly dependent upon her. The following financial summary shows a terrific burden in the form of expenses for illness and other physical dis- abilities : OE hau c.wxceten cerile as tee kts ea 4 Oe ere oi $ 550 PE 50st dewde entice tae rece eae heed die 560 ee ee er ere 335 GO scsea cit hs cede be ate hes 114 EE ii dul cor ny deeb kec a hha id kas 4.< 1 EE. cacunant is kee eee waa Mae ha eae sd 5 EE Wika neeri era arieteens sccarwuras <4 620 pS a ee 56 ETE ECR TTT ET 39 FEE! SOOT COO TE 26 Se EI, 5 cnc dnchraidaeaterenas 47 Education and recreation.................. 103 EE aededuetctawedcilesc Miseekslet cess 910 I 7S oicioa tak se sink sites be ewer $1,545 Increase in borrowed money................ 570 Increase in unpaid bills................... 43 Total net assets, September 30, 1933....... $ 863 Teacher's own statement—When I began to make these reports of financial status, my mother had been dependent upon me for three years, and my aunt since June 1932. ‘They were aged sixty-five and seventy, respectively. My mother had been operated upon in July 1931 for cancer, and the resulting expense used almost al] her own savings and practically all of mine. Then my aunt began to develop cataracts on both eyes. I had been teaching in one of the smaller cities in my state. In September 1932, I was offered a similar position in a larger city, which afforded better opportunity for advancement. I decided it would be best to move to my place of work, where my mother could continue un- interruptedly her X-ray treatments and my aunt could be under closer supervision of her oculist. I sold what furniture we couldn’t use and bought a few new pieces which were necessary to our comfort. What little money I could obtain was used to pay the traveling expenses of mother and aunt. I bore the cost of transfer of goods by van. In 1932-33 my salary was supposed to be $210 a month, but from this a 10 percent de- duction was made to help balance the school budget. The sum of $7.50 was deducted each month and paid into our state teachers retire- ment fund as an investment for my future use. In addition, I pay a premium of $40.30 yearly on a twenty-year endowment polic, which will mature in 1938, giving me $1) I pay $5 monthly to a building and loan assy ciation and put aside another $5 for my aun: In December 1932, I became seriously il! and was forced to undergo an operation. | was a! sent from school for four weeks in addition ; my Christmas vacation. I received half pay fo; the time lost. My expenses during that time | including household, hospital, medical, other costs were about four times the amoun: | of my check for the month. The rest of » savings vanished. In February 1933, my mother became seri. | 7 ously ill and grew slowly worse. I had a trained nurse for a few days and later a practical nurse to care for her and help with the house wor! My aunt was too feeble to do more than pre pare meals. In March we moved to another apartmen: in this city. This was done under our physician's advice, as our other apartment was poor!) heated and badly arranged for caring for 3 sick person. The expense of this moving, alth small compared to the other, was nevertheles: a significant item. In May my mother died. Her funeral ex penses were paid from the remnant of her sa\ ings which she had entrusted to me for this pu: pose. I continued, however, to pay all of ow bills for food, clothing, rent, medicines, doc- tor’s fees, etc., as well as my aunt’s bills fo: the care of her eyes. My greatest financial problem still lay be- fore me. My doctor advised me not to work during the summer, as I was on the verge of a nervous collapse. I did, however, attempt t find employment but with no success. With the help of friends I was able to borrow $300 from a bank by offering my building and loan stock as security. I used $60 of this to attend the World’s Fair. So far I have been able to pay only the inte: est on my borrowed money, but I expect ¢ repay $100 during the coming year. and oe Teacher H Objective facts—This is the case of a mar- ried man with seven years of teaching experi- ence. In 1932-33 he had a family of six to sup- port, including himself, on a reported salar 8 Strictly speaking, the apparent deficit of $910 should be increased by the amount of increase in unpaid bills ($43), making a real deficit of $953. See footnote 4 on page 212 for a more complete statement on this point. { 218 ] nt policy 1c $1000. 0aN asso- my aunt. sly ill and f was ab- ldition t f pay tor hat time ical, and > amount St Of my ame seri- a trained cal nurse se work han pre- partment 1ysician’s Ss poorly lg for a ng, alth: ertheless ieral ex her say- this pur- 1 of ow 1es, doc- bills for | lay be- to work rge of a empt to NV ith the 00 from an stock end the he inter- + Kpect [0 a mar- experi- - to sup- 1 salary }), making Page Se em f ee AABN, St cull cans rere Pam of $2613. No income was received from any other source. The family lived in a rented home. Their financial report is summarized as follows: Wee ccas.cdeenes vos $472 | Gay oper tT ere ae 660 House operation..... 354 | Cl rie nticeaass 233 TaxeS ..-+--eeeeeees 4 > Necessities 79.6% Pree 1 SAS Preyer 35] Transportation ...... 286 Miscellaneous ....... 34 | Aid to dependents. ae 3/ Giving = 1.5% Gifts and donations. . 36) iducation < ecrea- 3 Education and re Oey 3.19 a eer eae 80) a ee 414 } Saving = 15.8% Ns gcisic's 5a Kwhie-d bee ea aware $2,613 Decrease in borrowed money.......... 223 Increase or decrease in unpaid bills.... 0 Total net assets, September 30, 1933 Not reported According to this teacher’s personal state- ment, he had no serious cause for complaint with respect to his economic situation. His school district has had some financial difficul- ties, but apparently they have been less serious than in many other localities. He was not able to save much during 1932-33, but paid off some outstanding debts and contracted no new ones. Teacher’s own statement—At the beginning of October 1932, our prospects did not look especially unfavorable even tho we knew we were to get a 10 percent cut in salary. When we read of what was being done in other cities, we felt that we were rather fortunate in re- maining so nearly on our regular salary sched- ule. Of course all increments were to be with- held, but it was said that the 10 percent cut would be made for the current year only. So we began the year’s work, happy that we had a steady income and rather proud of our city. In the latter part of October, my brother in another state became ill and we decided to take his oldest son, a boy of sixteen, into our home and give him the advantage of attending a first- class high school and also help to lighten my brother’s financial load by caring for the boy’s support. This new responsibility was in addi- tion to my own family of three children, and made a perceptible difference in our expenses. At that time I owed something over a hundred dollars on my car and about fifty dollars on some furniture. These accounts were being taken care of in monthly instalments. | was also making monthly payments of $32.50 on building and loan stock, bought on the instal- ment plan, and held purely as a savings account. Things went along smoothly and | was able to take care of current expenses each month. We did not get our February pay until the last of March, or our March pay until the last of April, and then we received no more until July. I borrowed one hundred dollars from the building and loan company and later seventy- five more. When the banks closed last March we were not seriously handicapped, as the issue of clearing-house scrip was negotiable and altho we would not get our money from the banks, we got thru the ten days without much incon- venience and with no loss at all. Our June pay was received entirely in de linquent tax bonds, known as baby bonds, and all pay since that time has been half in cash and half in these bonds. My landlord takes them for rent, the coal dealer takes them in the same proportion in which I get them, the grocer accepts them, and I used them to pay a one-hundred-dollar note to the building and loan association. I was fortunate in securing a position last summer as head of the mathematics department of our summer school. My nephew is not with us this year, and while our cut this year is 11 percent instead of 10 percent, we have not yet been greatly inconvenienced. My monthly bills are all paid, and I have been careful not to contract any more. Our current expenses are virtually the same as they were last year. We have received salary for September and Oc- tober of this year, and altho November pay is past due, we are not hard pressed for money yet. Two hundred and fifty thousand dollars worth of the baby bonds have been redeemed by the city and 18,000 idle men have gone back to work in the past three weeks. We are living in the same house that we have occupied for several years. The rent has been reduced from $70 three years ago to $55 for the past two years. I’ve contracted no new debts, and taken on no new obligations. I have made no payments to the building and loan company in the past year except the one- hundred-dollar note, but I’ve at least broken even and am thankful for that. I’ve received no help from any one and have paid out about [ 219 J a ee a a $100 for charitable purposes in the past year. I have lost nothing thru bank failures or thru depreciation of real estate or securities. Teacher I Objective facts—This teacher is an unmar- ried woman maintaining a home for herself and four other adults who are almost wholly dependent upon her income. She reported a salary of $1870 in 1932-33, and a total income of $2020. She was paying for her home in instalments. She had spent twenty-four years in active school service. Her financial summary for the year follows: NE acs chercente acteers gar: Re 0 House operation..... 262 | Clothing ....é.0esies 178 | ee eee 289 b Necessities = 89.0% a ee eee 221 | IR sn 5b. 05 6 tnt wh 86 | Transportation ...... 147 Miscellaneous ....... 54 Aid to dependents.... OP ei hs One Gifts ne gene . ssa} me eee Education and recrea- ast Betterments = 2.3% Se re Gnceen? ais cin sadnake 44} Saving = 2.2% We NN ss cee cdeews 0 owes caces $ 2,020 Increase in borrowed money.......... 139 Decrease in unpaid bills®............. 10 Total net assets, September 30, 1933... $10,123 Teacher's own statement—Since 1925 I have been the only one in my family earning any in- come, as my father was forced to retire because of age. He is now past eighty-four years old, and my mother is sixty-four. Both are kept busy caring for my older brother, who has been a victim of infantile paralysis since October 1918. Both arms and both legs are paralyzed. We have spent hundreds of dollars for nurses and doctors, clinical examinations, etc., in an effort to improve his condition but with almost no suc- cess. To make matters worse he has been men- tally unbalanced since 1924. However, with the exception of one month in 1925 and three months last winter we have been able to care for him ourselves. My mother’s oldest sister came to live with us after the death of her daughter in 1930. ESOT A AS ®* Strictly speaking, the apparent surplus of $44 should be increased by the amount of decrease in unpaid bills ($10), mak a real surplus of $54. See footnote 4 on page 212 for a more complete statement on this point. [ 220 ] For about five months her sons paid me fo; dollars a week for her board, but since t! they have paid none because they themse! were seriously affected by the depression. |, cept for five months last winter, which spent at one son’s home, | have provided eve thing for her. However, since her son’s plication last April to the Catholic Chari: for aid, my aunt has received orders for $ month for room rent and about $8 worth of groceries each month for her board. The long strain of caring for my brother | affected my mother’s health. She has been the hospital twice during the past two yea It has been also necessary for me to pay m) aunt’s doctor bills during the past year, sir her sons have been unable to do so. Thruout the year 1932-33 my school sala was affected by the required contributions 10 percent to help balance the school budge There was also a 1 percent contribution to t Teachers’ Emergency Relief Fund. The elin nation of all summer school classes meant S$" less income for me than usual because I had taught in summer school for several years. \\ rented a two-room apartment in our home $20 per month until January 1933, when ou: tenants moved because they found lower ren: elsewhere. In view of all my other obligations, my e) penditures for professional improvement were limited to my dues for membership in loca state, and national education associations and small amount for educational books. As for debt, it became necessary for me increase the loan from the Household Finan Corporation taken out originally to help pa my mother’s first hospital bill. Last summer |! had to borrow more to meet taxes and some o! the interest on the bank mortgage against m: home. Besides this I have been unable to rep a personal loan of $100 made to me by a friend the year before, when the bank demanded tha: the final instalment of taxes be paid at om The amount of other old accounts has been 1 duced by use of the Household Loan plan, s that some current monthly bills are practical!) all that remain unpaid. The value of my home has decreased. Before the depression it would have sold for ab $7000. Now I doubt that it would bring even n ne i ce tl n mse] yn. | ich she eve n’s harit yr SO rth of her h een yea ay my > Since were local and — =) oO n Na Mattar Be 35000, even if there were any buyers, altho it s been kept in pretty good repair. Thru the ith of a relative I was left two small pieces f property in another large city, one of them , a contract. Not one cent have I received in nterest or on the principal in three years, the eople on the property being out of work. Last pring they moved out, giving up the contract nd leaving me to pay the taxes. The other ice has a squatter on it. He simply moved in, epaired the cottage a bit, and continues to live there. I pay the taxes. He can be ousted by illing the police, I understand, but that would do me no good and would take shelter away from someone worse off than I am. The tax valuation of these two lots has decreased two-thirds during the past three years. My financial difficulties mainly to having too many other responsibili seem to be aue ties after investing in a home. When I bought the home my father was earning a fair salary and my young sister was nearly thru school. Then my father was retired with no pension or income of any kind, and my sister was n ried a few months after going to work. Afte: that it was pretty difficult to meet mortgage and interest payments along with all current expenses. ] \ T FIRST GLANCE it might appear somewhat strained to apply the term standard to anything so variable as the way in which people live. A standard implies a rule, and the use of the term becomes explicable only when it is understood that there is net one standard of living but rather a multiplicity of standards. For ever individual there is his own personal standard, consisting of what he is accustome: to provide for himself and his family. With mounting income that standard ma grow, and with decreasing income it may shrink. But with a fairly maintaine level of income will be found also fairly fixed habits of expenditure, which fo t the individual’s standard of living. It would be extreme, strongly on the differences among individuals. In the social however, to insist | world, as in the natura] world, there is, with all allowance for individual peculiarities, a marked tendency toward definite types. Men similarly situated will, as a rule, act in a similar fashion Members of a group of families, enjoying about the same income, living in the same street, occupying houses of approximately the same size, having similar ideas regarding their obligations to society, church, and community, will be found t apportion their household expenditures in about the same manner ing.—The C other words, a common standard of li States, 1914-1930, National Industrial Conference Bx to have, in ost of Living in the Uni ird, 1931, p. 12. a ae en CHAPTER VII Changes in Cost of Living with Reference to Teachers’ Salaries Most discussions concerning the revision of teachers’ salaries have emphasized the impor- tance of changes in the cost of living. The usual line of reasoning prior to the depression was that since the cost of living had increased mark- edly since 1913 or 1914 (usually taken as the basic year), teachers’ salaries should be raised at least enough to keep pace with the higher liv- ing costs. The fact that these costs reached their peak in 1920 and were somewhat lower during the following decade was not generally con- sidered a valid reason for cutting salaries in the 1920's, because during the preceding period of inflation teachers’ salaries had actually declined considerably in purchasing power. Partly to make up for these losses, and partly to place the remuneration of teachers on a more professional level, most school systems either maintained or increased teachers’ salaries during the decade following 1920. During the past few years, however, the eco- nomic depression has brought an insistence upon reductions in school costs, and particularly in teachers’ salaries. The proponents of salary re- ductions have contended that because of the large drop in cost of living since 1929, sub- stantial decreases in salary could be made with- out lowering standards of living. In support of this contention they could point to the index of cost of living computed by the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics,' which for the country as a whole decreased 25 percent be- tween December 1929 and June 1933. More re- cently the counter-argument has been advanced that it is time to stop reducing salaries and, instead, to begin increasing them, because living costs are again on the rise. This chapter under- takes to reveal the facts concerning changes in living costs as they have affected the purchasing power of teachers’ salaries during the depres- sion. Such an undertaking requires a critical study of the nature and measurement of changes in cost of living. Definition and Measurement of Changes in Cost of Living In any discussion of this kind it is essential Monthly Labor Review. to have clearly in mind what is meant changes in the “cost of living.” As everyone knows, the prices of commonly used goods a: services fluctuate from year to year, from mont! to month, and even from day to day. Frequent of course, the prices of certain commodities ris: while the prices of others fall or remain changed. This may occur without affecting cost of living as a whole. But when the gene: price level of a representative list of commodities shows a change, we say that the “‘cost of living has increased or decreased, as the case may Because of such changes, the purchasing pow of money is not a permanently fixed thing. A given sum of money will buy more at one tin than at another. Such changes in the cost of living are usually expressed in terms of index numbers. These index numbers are simply percentages based the price level in some particular year. The cost in this basal year is expressed as 100 percent while higher or lower costs at other periods ar expressed as percentages which are propo: tionately greater or less than 100. If indexes of the cost of living are to be most meaningful, they must be computed from th: prices of commodities of the same kind and quality, combined according to the proportions which these commodities occupy in the budgets of persons whose cost of living we wish to meas ure. Thus there are really as many diiterent “costs of living” as there are individuals whi spend their incomes differently from other ind viduals. A cost-of-living index computed fo: group of persons can be considered valid on|\ for the average member of the group. Mor over, such an index must be applied with cau tion, if at all, to any other group whose standard of living and distribution of expenditures ar significantly different from those of the origins group for which the index was computed. Two series of index numbers are common used to represent relative changes in the cost 0! living in the United States. One of thes: already mentioned, has been computed for June and December of each year by the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics.? The othe: 1 Published by the United States Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, in the August and February issues of the 2 Beginning in November, 1934 the Bureau of Labor Statistics plans to compute its index quarterly instead of semi-annually [ 222 ] les ant by veryone ds and month Juent!y Hes rise uIn un ing the genera 10dities living nay be power ling. A le time usually These ised on he cost ercent ods are yropor- ye most ym. the id and ortions udgets ) Meas iterent Is who rind) | for d only More h cau indard monly -ost of these, r June Jnited othe: s of the ally. Dials ne ee is computed monthly or oftener by the National Industrial Conference Board.* Critical writers have objected to the use of these indexes in inter- preting trends in teachers’ salaries, largely be cause the commodities and weights used in con structing them are based upon the budgets of wage-earners and small-salaried workers other than teachers. How valid is this objection? Is it possible, with data now available, to measure changes in cost of living for teachers more ac curately than do the indexes now generally used for this purpose? To answer these ques- tions it is first necessary to examine more closely the indexes now in common use. Nature and Trend of Current Cost-of- Living Indexes Sources and methods used in constructing the indexes—The United States Bureau of Labor Statistics collects information regularly in each of thirty-two representative cities * the prices of a fixed list of commodities classified under these six headings: (1) food,’ (2) cloth- ing, (3) rent, (4) fuel and light, (5) house furnishings, and (6) miscellaneous. A separate concerning index is computed for each of these six groups of items, and the six indexes are then combined into a single index of the total cost of living.® A simple average of the six separate indexes would not be satisfactory for this purpose be- cause the six items represented are not equally important in a person’s total expenditures. In computing the composite index therefore, the six component indexes are weighted according to the proportions of the average workingman’s family budget devoted to these groups of items, as revealed by a comprehensive survey made by the Bureau in 1918-19. The following example shows how the composite cost-of-living index 8 Published in various bulletins and leaflets such as the following in the United States in 1931, 1932. 52 p. The Cost of Living in the United States in 1 was calculated from the six sub-indexes for the United States as a whole in June 1934, using prices in December 1913 as the base of 100: Commodity index Weight Product Food 108.4 38.2 $140.88 Clothing 136.4 : 16.6 2264.24 Rent . 102.3 13.4 1370.82 Fuel and light 156.0 . 5.3 826.80 House furnishings... 167.8 . 5.1 855.78 Miscellaneous so Koo 21.3 $172.67 99.9 13631.19 Composite index 13631.19 — 99.9 136.448 The specitic items whose prices were averaged in computing the six sub-indexes shown above are listed in the Appendix, page 265 The cost-of-living index prepared by the Na tional Industrial Conference Board is similar in construction to the one just described. It differs, however, in that prices in 1923 (instead of 1913) modities priced are classified under only five are used as the base, while the com- headings with weights as follows: (1) food, 33.0; (2) housing, 20.0; (3) clothing, 12.0; (4) fuel and light, 5.0; and (5) sundries, 30.0. The Conference Board computes its own sub- index for each of these categories except food, for which the index of food prices furnished by the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics is used. The weights used in averaging the five separate indexes were obtained by com! yIning the results of several studies of the budgets of wage-earners and small-salaried workers. ‘They are intended to represent post-war conditions,’ whereas those used by the Bureau of Labor Statistics represent conditions during the latter part of the war period. Commodity prices for the Conference Board's index, except those for food, are collected in a National Indu rial Conference Board. The Cost of Living Supplement to Conference Board Service Letter, March, 1933. 8 p. Changes in the Cost of Living, January, 1933 to March, 1934. Conference Board Information Service Domestic Affairs, Memorandum No. 31, May 16, 1934. Mimeographed, 11 p. The Conference Board's address is 247 Park Avenue New York City. * These thirty-two cities are: Atlanta, Ga.: Birmingham, Ala.: Cincinnati, Ohio; Cleveland, Ohio; Denver, Colo.; Detroit, Mich.; Houston, Texas City, Mo.; Los Angeles, Calif.; Memphis, Tenn.; Minneapolis, Minn.; Mobile, Ala.; folk, Va.; Philadelphia, Pa.; Pittsburgh, Pa.; Portland, Maine; Portland, Ore.; Baltimore, Md.; Boston, Mass.; Buffalo, N. Y.: Chica Il] Indianapolis, Ind.; Jacksonville, Fla.; Kansas, New Orleans, La.; New York, N. Y.; Nor- Richmond, Va.; St. Louis, Mo.; San Francisco and Oakland, Calif.; Savannah, Ga.; Scranton, Pa.; Seattle, Wash.; Washington, D. C. 5 Food prices are collected also in nineteen other cities as follows: Bridgeport, Conn.; Butte, Mont.; ; Little Rock, Ark.; Louisville, Ky.; Manchester, N. H.: Milwaukee, Wis. Columbus, Ohio; Dallas, Texas; Fall River, Mass.; Newark, N. J.; New Haven, Conn.; Omaha, Nebr.; Peoria, Ill.; Providence, R. I.; Ro City, Utah; Springfield, Ill. Charleston, S. C.; hester, N. Y.; St. Paul, Minn.; Salt Lake ® In addition to constructing indexes for the United States as a whole, the Bureau computes percents of increase or decrease in prices of the same commodities in each individual city. 7 Formerly the National Industrial Conference Board used a different set of weights as follows: (1) food, 43.1; (2) housing, 17.7; (3) clothing, 13.2; (4) fuel and light, 5.6; and (5) sundries, 20.4. [ 223 ] nee ned aa. = larger number of cities and towns than are those obtained by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The Conference Board, however, does not publish cost-of-living figures for individual cities, but only for the United States as a whole. Trends in living costs of wage-earners— Figure VIII shows the variations in the separate commodity indexes and in the composite cost-of- living index computed by the United States Bu- reau of Labor Statistics from 1913 thru 1934. The average cost of each group of commodities in 1913 is taken as the base or 100 percent, and the costs for all subsequent dates are shown as percentages of the corresponding costs in 1913. The data indicate a rapid increase from 1913 to about 1920 in the total cost of living and in the cost of each group of items composing it. Following the depression of 1921-22, a period of comparative stability was maintained until about 1930, when the prices of many commodi- ties began to show the effects of the current business depression. The cost of food dropped 39 percent from December 1929 to June 1933, when it reached a point 3 percent below its 1913 level. Clothing, rent, and house furnishings also decreased materially between 1929 and 1933. On the other hand, the index for miscellaneous commodities changed relatively little during this period. Since June 1933 there has been a small upturn in the prices of all these groups of commodities except rent, which has continued to fall altho more and more gradually. The figures of the National Industrial Con- ference Board show trends similar to those in Figure VIII, and therefore need not be repro- duced here. Later in this chapter the trend in total cost of living for wage-earners, as meas- ured both by the Conference Board and by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, will be compared with trends in various cost-of-living indexes for teachers since the onset of the current economic depression. Earlier Methods of Constructing Cost- of-Living Indexes for Teachers The desirability of constructing a special cost- of-living index for teachers is suggested by the marked differences between the spending habits of city teachers and those of wage-earners and small-salaried workers.’ Since the weights as- signed to the separate commodity indexes computing the composite index should be ba, upon the spending habits of the group und consideration, there is at least theoretical just cation for the assertion that a cost-of-livi: index based on wage-earners’ budgets shx not be applied to teachers. ‘Che following su mary compares the average percentage distri tion of teachers’ budgets, as revealed in survey, with the series of weights used by United States Bureau of Labor Statistics the National Industrial Conference Board computing their respective indexes: Average Distribution for 2358 Teachers RS RE a 2 eee ne oe ene i eC atde etc din edesese kts eaes SEG LIS, SE aE ee Other current expenditures................. Investments and surplus................... Weights Used by United States Bureau of La Statistics ME ke ccanscd ide dsiase ee Oa he pag eae eee 13 NS Bi ye ee ee NN III dis gic dn cee tins x a seeie sare ER ES Tear Se a a ee 1 I, ons bow a tains awh 00, 606,sieaesee 2 Weights Used by National Industrial Confere: Board I ARI eb Niece ater Gab aks hae salah wn Sm an eeaew'e Gus I Ad ee iuu aul das os siete cntaswas 2 RE Ce 0 ee ee I I, MUS Sha cc ls caawdee ERE A While there are differences between weights used by the Bureau of Labor Statist! and those used by the Conference Board, sui differences are small compared to those betwe: the series of weights used by either agen and the distribution of expenditures for cit teachers. The item of food, which is given weight of 38.2 by the Bureau of Labor Statist: and of 33.0 by the Conference Board, occupi: only 14.5 percent of the budget of the avera; teacher reporting in this survey in 1932-33. There are not such significant differences wit! respect to clothing, housing, and house opera- tion, but the relative importance of all othe: current expenditures combined varies marked. among the three series of figures. The latte: § See: Eells, Walter C. Teachers’ Salaries and the Cost of Living. Stanford University, Calif.: Stanford University Press Table 3, p. 28-29. [ 224] VIII FIGURE ee -_—— = N.SSYy NOILVONGA TWNOILYN * 7 vel «CEE 8261 €Z61 8i6) “AON 2330 =e 2930 “23a 93a GIS “d ‘SE61 “GSAS “*emay s0gv] Apyuow Ni] SOILSILVLS HORVI AO NVENNE 'S NM AS G3ALYOdsay VLVG NO Gasva + e16t oS BDVusAV 06 | | iam, f ws \e* a jj “seca ce —_—-“T — = ee ee ay ch ein ths ghee of ] al- STS ites nts 1S1- zh; ht, re- the m- u of the urgh ED cs )3.0 rom f of t of , In ess, nard for modity indexes was weighted roughly according to its relative importance in the budget of a high-school teacher having a family of four, with a salary of $1700 in 1913 and $2850 in 1926. The weights were not determined solely by a study of the spending habits of Pittsburgh teachers, but were estimates based upon several different budget studies. The composite index is shown in column 3 of Table 28. A peculiar feature of the technic in construct- ing this index was the use of different weights for the same group of commodities in different vears. The weight assigned to food varied from 22 to 30; rent, from 16 to 33; clothing, from 10 to 18; house furnishings, from 5 to 8; and miscellaneous items, from 19 to 29. Fuel and light was the only item whose weight remained constant, the weight of 5 being used thruout. These variations in weights were introduced, according to the investigators, because “the ap- portionment of the expenses of a family is not uniform from year to year—especially during periods of changing prices.”’ '! The investiga- tors evidently overlooked two facts which make such a procedure unsatisfactory: (1) that in any properly constructed cost-of-living index, changes in apportionment of the budget due to varying rates of change in the prices of different commodities are automatically taken into ac- count without modifying the weights, and (2) that to change the weights from year to year introduces a variation in the standard of living whose cost is being measured, whereas the sole purpose of a cost-of-living index is to measure changes in the cost of maintaining a constant standard of living from year to year. A cost-of-living index for university faculty members—In 1932 Boothe '* constructed an index to represent changes in the cost of main- taining the average university professor’s stand- ard of living. The procedure used was as follows: 1. On the basis of questionnaire returns from 802 faculty members in twenty-seven institu- tions in 1925-26, the average percents of total expenditures devoted to the six major categories ™ McKay, Marion K., and Warne, Colston E. op. cit., p. 22 of the budget were computed for the group. The average total expenditure was found to be $3072, of which 23.3 percent was spent for food, 12.7 percent for clothing, 23.3 percent for housing, +.7 percent for fuel and light, 6.0 percent for house furnishings, and 30.0 percent for miscellaneous items. 2. Since the cost-of-living index was to be constructed on a 1913 base, the percents of ex- penditure for the six groups of commodities as found in 1925-26 were adjusted so as to repre- sent the distribution of expenditures which would have been necessary in purchasing the same kinds and amounts of commodities in 1913. This was done by (a) computing the relative price level for each group of commod ities in 1913 with 1925-26 as the base, using the figures of the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics; (b) multiplying each of the resultant figures by the corresponding percent of ex- penditure found in 1925-26; (c) adding these six products and then dividing each one by their sum in order to obtain the percents which would have been required for the six groups of commodities in 1913. This modified distribu tion was as follows: food, 25.6 percent; cloth- ing, 13.5 percent; housing, 25.0 percent, fuel and light, 4+.5 percent; furniture and furnish- ings, 5.1 percent; and miscellaneous, 26.3 per- cent. 3. The modified percents just given were then used to weight the corresponding com modity indexes published by the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, in computing the composite cost-of-living index for university faculty members. The composite index obtained by the above procedure appears in column 4 of Table 28. An index for public school teachers in Fresno, California—In 1932 Eells ' cost-of-living index might be constructed for the teachers of Fresno, California, which would showed how a presumably be more valid for that group than would the index published by the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics. Later he elaborated on this suggestion and actually computed such an index for the period from 1913 to 1932." 12 Boothe, Viva. Salaries and the Cost of Living in Twenty-seven State Universities and Colleges, 1913-1932. Columbus. Ohio Ohio State University Press, 1932. 158 p. 18 Eells, Walter C. Salary and Cost Study of Fresno Schools. Fresno, Calif.: Fresno City Council of Education, 1932. 190 p 14 Eells, Walter C. “It Would Be Unfair to Reduce Teachers’ Salaries Now.”’ Nation’s Schools 10: 17-22; September, 1932. Also: Eells, Walter C. Teachers’ Salaries and the Cost of Living. Stanford University, Calif.: Stanford University Press, 1933. 94 p ee er taney ee aan oe ‘The procedure followed by Eells was simi- lar to, but not identical with, those employed in the studies already mentioned. He used five of the six separate commodity indexes computed by the Bureau of Labor Statistics for the United States as a whole, and weighted these indexes in accordance with the spending habits of Fresno teachers as revealed by a questionnaire survey covering the year 1931-32. The form on which the teachers were asked to report their expenditures did not conform exactly to the sixfold classification of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and it was therefore necessary to group the expenditures under only four main categories instead of six. The following illus- trates the calculation of the composite index for December 1931, using prices in 1913 as the base :'° Index Weight Product OS Pere er ee 114.3 & 16.2 = 1851.66 0 a er 135.5 & 11.9 = 1612.45 Housing (rent and house operation).... 145.2" 16.4 = 2381.28 Miscellaneous ........ 205.4 55.5 = 11399.70 100.0 7245.09 Composite index =17245.09 + 100 = 172.5 From the foregoing it is evident that Eells made no use of the Bureau’s index for house furnishings. This omission seems unwarranted, as does the averaging of indexes for rent and fuel and light to obtain a single index called “housing.”” The Fresno teachers reported as separate items (a) the amount of rent paid or interest on house indebtedness; and (b) house operation, including fuel, light, and house fur- nishings. With the data in this form, it would seem more reasonable to treat rent as a separate item, and to include the index for house fur- nishings either as a separate item or in combina- tion with the index for fuel and light. Eells’ index for Fresno teachers is shown in column 5 of Table 28. The large differences since 1920 between his figures and those of the Bureau of Labor Statistics (column 2) are due mainly to the heavy weight of 55.5 assigned by him to the index for miscellaneous articles and services, which has declined relatively |i: since that year. Following is a list of the spe: items included in determining this weight, : gether with the percent of the average Fre teacher’s budget devoted to each item :'* ME AEE Se 14 I ria W Ei iicae o ice Uwairadae « UR SAS > 2 a eee eee ans a ws ve noduewaa waa ee PE SR EOS, 2 re eT ee 5 ee kn SEARS a Savings, insurance, etc...................... SIMMS oc P ives sdsiccciveecceavces The validity of this procedure in weightine the index for miscellaneous commodities \ be considered later in this chapter. An approximate index of cost-of-living | city teachers in general—In October 1933 Butsch '* published a criticism of Eells’ inde: and presented a new series of index numbers for teachers based on somewhat different sumptions. Butsch’s principal objection to ¢! procedure used by Eells was concerned wit the unusually heavy weight assigned by ¢! latter to miscellaneous articles and service: Pointing out that many of the items included under this heading by Eells are not priced | the Bureau of Labor Statistics in the constru tion of its miscellaneous index, Butsch objecte« particularly to the inclusion of three item namely, “dependents,” ‘savings, insuran etc.,”’ and “automobile,” which together con prised 27.3 percent of the average teache budget in Fresno. He contended that the cos: of these items should not be assumed to va in accordance with the Bureau's index for m: cellaneous items. Money given to dependen:s is much more likely to be spent for food, clot! ing, and housing than for the types of miscel! neous commodities priced by the Bureau. Sa ings and investments likewise are eventua!! ® Eells, Walter C. Teachers’ Salaries and the Cost of Living. Stanford University, Calif.: Stanford University Press, 1 p. 14-15, * The index used here for “housing” was a weighted average of the indexes for “rent” and “fuel and light”? furnished by | Bureau of Labor Statistics. It was computed thus: (136.2 & 13.1) + (168.0 x 5.2) = 145.2 13.1 + 5.2 17 Eells, Walter C. Teachers’ Salaries and the Cost of Living, p. 12, Figure 3. 18 Butsch, Russell L. C. “Trends in the Purchasing Power of Teachers’ Salaries.” American School Board Journal 87: 18-2 October, 1933. [ 228 ] nt for a variety of commodities, rather than miscellaneous items alone. With respect to tomobile maintenance, Butsch suggested the istruction of a separate index based upon a mbination of the wholesale prices of auto- sobiles, petroleum products, and automobile tires, as published by the United States Bureau t Labor Statistics.*?® Butsch’s proposal, then, would require a re- vision of the budget weights used by Eells for Fresno teachers, omitting savings and aid to dependents, and recalculating the percentages for the remaining items, as follows :°° l Original Revised weights weights I gt EP erasc thetic te cieee eek 16.2 20.1 Clete iio cicixenio aes 12.9 14.8 Scars phim 0S db daeaseitaca 16.4 20.4 Miscellaneous (55.5) pO ere 7.8 9.7 Other miscellaneous ........ 28.2 35.0 COs Feeds 40.d aeeledancs 15.2 (omitted ) i TEE ere re Cree 4.3 (omitted ) GMa a tas BAe d oo .vna w&teces 100.0 100.0 Following this principle, but using as weights the average percentages found in studies of teachers’ budgets in five cities, Butsch con- structed the series of index numbers shown in column 6 of Table 28. He made no claim as to their validity except that they probably give a more accurate picture of the situation for city teachers in general than do Eells’ figures. Relative merits of earlier indexes for teachers —In general, the indexes for teachers in Table 28 indicate a less rapid increase in cost of liv- ing prior to 1920, and a less rapid decline after 1920, than does the index of the Bureau of Labor Statistics. This difference is greatest in the case of the index constructed by Eells, due primarily to the excessive weight which it gives to miscellaneous articles and services. Butsch’s index appears to be sounder in principle than any of the others because it assumes that savings and aid to dependents should vary according to the combined cost of all other items rather than according to the cost of a few miscellaneous items only, and because it makes use of a sepa- rate index for automobile maintenance which, altho not entirely satisfactory, is still better than the index of miscellaneous items as a measure of changing transportation costs. The indexes for Pittsburgh teachers and for university fac ulty members are both open to question because of ambiguity concerning the nature of the ex penditures included in the weight assigned to the index for miscellaneous items. The Pitts burgh index is questionable also because of the variation in weights assigned to the several commodity indexes in different years. The index for university professors possesses one advan tage over the others, in that the budget weights found to be appropriate for professors in 1925 26 were adjusted to correspond with relative price conditions in the base year, 1913. While the indexes just described have theit limitations, each one represents a contribution and helps to provide a background for furthe: progress in this field. A Modified Index Utilizing Data from the 1932-33 Survey This section describes the construction of still another cost-of-living index for city public school teachers in general. In developing this index, the best of earlier procedures have been utilized, and an attempt has been made to im prove upon them so far as possible. The results are admittedly imperfect, but it is believed that further important refinements in procedure must await more exhaustive research than has yet been carried on. In the meantime, it is essen- tial that statements concerning changes in the cost of living of teachers be based upon prin ciples of fairness and reasonableness, rathe: than upon questionable assumptions which can readily be discredited by critical taxpayers. Types of Commodities and Measures of Price Changes Used in the Index As shown in Chapter IV, the present survey obtained the most comprehensive data avail able on the distribution of teachers’ budgets in city school systems of the United States. More than two thousand teachers in thirty-seven cities reported the distribution of their incomes among thirteen groups of items. The average percents devoted to these items were as follows: food, 14.5; rent, 10.0; house operation, 9.3 ; clothing, 10.3; taxes, 2.6; interest, 2.3; health, 5.0; transportation, 7.6; aid to dependents, 5.3; 19 In the Monthly Labor Review. The Bureau of Labor Statistics does not collect retail prices of the three items mentioned here ® Butsch, Russell L. C. op. cit., p. 19. [ 229 ] ee eo ony Ameer oh ee at Ee Be nee oo -. aie eran eh © aggrecan rt apyen n = gifts and donations, 7.4; education and recrea- tion, 6.2; miscellaneous, 3.4; and investments or surplus, 16.1. An ideal cost-of-living index for these teachers would take into account changes in the cost of articles and services of all thirteen types. For various reasons, however, this ideal cannot be achieved. In the following paragraphs each type of commodity is discussed separately with reference to its inclusion or ex- clusion in the composite index, and the source utilized, if any, in determining changes in its cost. lFood—This item is included in the composite index because of its importance and because of the relatively satisfactory index of food prices published by the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics. The Bureau’s food index is not a per- fect measure of changes in the food costs of teachers, because it is based solely on retail prices of food products and does not take into account prices of meals in restaurants or at boarding places. It is, however, the best measure available and is used here to represent the trend in the cost of teachers’ food. Rent—The rent index computed by the Bu- reau of Labor Statistics is included here as a measure of changes in the rents which city teachers pay. This index is open to the objec- tion that it is based on rents in houses and apartments occupied by families of wage- earners and other small-salaried workers, rather than those occupied by teachers, and that it takes no account of the rents charged for single rooms in private homes. It is probably safe to assume, however, that over a period of years there is considerable relation between the rents charged for workingmen’s quarters and those charged for the type of quarters usually oc- cupied by professional people. At present there appears to be no better measure of trends in rent in representative cities of the United States. House operation—There is no single index of prices which will adequately represent the variety of items included under the heading of “house operation” in this survey.” Apparently the best available procedure is to use two of the sub-indexes furnished by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, one for fuel and light and the other for house furnishings. The present survey, how- ever, does not indicate what weights should be *! See page 188 for a description of this category. assigned to these two indexes, since the teachers were not asked to report their expenditures sep, rately for the two groups of items. It seems mos; probable that approximately the same propv: tion of the average teacher’s budget was | voted to each group of items,** and that 1 indexes for house furnishings and for fuel and light should therefore receive equal weights. These two indexes have certain limitations when used to represent changes in the cost ot “house operation” among teachers. Teachers living in rented rooms do not pay for fuel and light directly, and those living in apartments often have their heat furnished. The house fu: nishings priced by the Bureau of Labor Sta tistics are possibly of a somewhat lower grad than those usually purchased by teachers. More over, a few items reported by the teachers unde: “house operation,” such as telephone, cleaning supplies, and laundering of household linens are not taken into account in the indexes for house furnishings and for fuel and light, but are included in the Bureau’s index for mis cellaneous items. In spite of these limitations, it is believed that the procedure used here fu: nishes a satisfactory approximation to the true trend in teachers’ costs of house operation in representative cities. Clothing—In the composite index fo: teachers the item of clothing is represented ) the index of clothing prices constructed by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Since the articles of clothing priced by the Bureau are those com monly used by workingmen and their families, the index may not give sufficient weight to the kinds and quality of clothing usually purchased by teachers. It should be remembered, how ever, that while the actual cost of a commodity in dollars at a given time depends upon the kind and quality selected, the trend in cost ot teacher’s clothing may be similar to the trend in cost of clothing purchased by workingmen’s families. Therefore, while the Bureau’s index possibly should not be considered as adequate|; representative of changes in clothing costs fo! single women teachers alone, it seems to be a reasonably satisfactory measure for a group o! teachers which includes both single women and married men, many of whom are responsib|: for the support of children. #2 As shown earlier, the proportions of the average wage-earner’s budget devoted to these two groups of commodities were nearly equal, being 5.3 percent for fuel and light, and 5.1 percent for house furnishings. [ 230] achers Ss sepa- s Most ropor as de- at the el and hts. ations Oost of ichers | and ments e fur- r Sta. grade Uore- under aning linens Ss for , but mMis- tions, » fur- ’ true on in for “d by y the les of com- ilies, 9 the lased how- ydity the st of rend 1en’s ndex tel) ; for be a p of and sible T'axes—No usable measure of changes in the cost of taxes from year to year is available at present. Property tax rates in representative cities are available, but they are wholly unsatis- factory for this purpose, whether computed on the basis of assessed value of property or on the basis of estimated true value. For example, consider the case of a man owning a certain piece of city property whose assessed valuation ina given year is $5000. The next year a gen- eral revaluation of property is made in that city, resulting in an average increase of 50 percent in assessed valuations, the purpose being to in- crease the yield of taxes without raising the tax rate. Assuming that this man’s property has been revalued at $7500, he now pays 50 percent more taxes on that property than he did when it was valued at only $5000, altho the tax rate remains the same. Or, take a situation in which the true or market value of city prop- erty declines 50 percent, while the total amount of money to be raised by taxation in the city remains the same. A tax rate computed on the basis of estimated true value would necessarily show an increase of 100 percent during the same period, but the actual number of dollars paid in taxes on a given piece of property would remain the same unless its assessed valuation or the actual tax rate had been changed. From these examples it is clear that tax rates could not satisfactorily be used in constructing a cost-of-living index unless the assessed valua- tions of the individual pieces of property mak- ing up the total remained constant year after year, a condition which does not exist in most cities. It would be possible, if the necessary data were available, to obtain the equivalent of con- stancy by first expressing the total valuation of a city for each year in terms of the property buying dollars of some base year. The total valuation in these dollars of constant value could then be divided into the total amount of tax collections for each year, and the result would be a series of tax rates fairly represent- ing the trend in amount of property taxes paid by the average taxpayer on the same piece or pieces of property year after year. Unfortu- nately, the data needed to convert current prop- erty values into dollars of a single base year are lacking. There is no index of the average value of individual pieces of property over a period of years. According to the National Association of Real Estate Boards, even the best appraisers are unable to estimate the extent of depreciation in real estate values during the depression because true sales (not forced) have been so few. Until some fairly reliable index of property values has been developed, there seems to be no satisfactory way of estimating the trend in tax payments for use in construct- ing a cost-of-living index. Since tax payments cannot be included as a separate item in the cost-of-living index, the question arises as to whether they should be taken account of in the weight assigned to the index for miscellaneous commodities, 01 whether they should be omitted entirely. So fat as can be ascertained, all of the earlier cost-of- living indexes discussed in this chapter have fol- lowed the former procedure. It seems doubtful, however, that tax payments tend to vary more in accordance with the prices of certain mis- cellaneous items than in accordance with prices of food, clothing, shelter, etc. Taxes are not used in constructing the miscellaneous index of the Bureau of Labor Statistics. For these rea- sons the item of tax payments is omitted entirely from the computation of the modified cost-of- living index for teachers. This omission means that, insofar as teachers’ salaries are to be ad- justed according to the composite index, the amount of salary needed for tax payments will be assumed to vary from time to time approxi- mately in accordance with the cost of all other items of current expenditure combined. Interest—The earlier cost-of-living indexes for teachers have included interest payments, as well as taxes, in the weight assigned to the index of miscellaneous commodities. As in the case of taxes, there seems to have been little justification for such a procedure, except that no separate index for this particular item was available and it was obvious that interest rates had not changed during the depression as had food, clothing, housing, etc. Consultations with certain bank officers in Washington, D. C., have corroborated the general impression that interest rates on personal loans have changed very little if at all, on the average, over a con- siderable period of years, altho no published figures are available. Moreover, there is some evidence ** that interest rates on home mort- *3 President’s Conference on Home Building and Home Ownership. Home Finance and Taxation. Publication No. II. Wash- ngton, D. C.: the Conference, 1932. p. 62, 65, 67. (3) wholesale prices of motor hicles,?° and (4) wholesale prices of tires tubes.** In weighting each of these four it: the first step was to estimate the proportior teachers’ transportation costs which go for fare. This was done on the assumption that : teachers who owned cars used all or practic: all of their transportation budgets to ope: and maintain their cars, and that those did not own cars used all or most of th transportation budgets for street car-fare. (): the total expenditure of $366,500 reported the 2358 teachers for transportation, 25.2 ; cent was spent by those who did not own au: mobiles, while 74.8 percent was spent by thos who did own automobiles. A weight of 25.2 \\ therefore assigned to street car-fares in co puting the transportation index, and a combi: weight of 74.8 was assigned to the three iten representing automobile costs. The weight assigned to each of the th: items of automobile expense was based o: study of the per mile cost of operating and ma taining the average car in 1928, quoted i: publication of the National Automobile Ch ber of Commerce.** This study showed cost for nine specific items as follows: RE tig SL 9 ee 1.31 cx oo Gee Ce oe ed errr 0.22 pe a eT eee eee 0.64 I a aa SE ee 1.39 EE re 0.14 Garage at $4 per month............... 0.44 Interest at 6 percent.................. 0.36 Insurance (fire, theft, tornado)........ 0.21 Total cost per mile............ 6.43 * As reported by the American Petroleum Institute, 50 West 50th St., New York City. ** As reported by the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics. The Bureau no longer issues figures for ‘“‘automobiles’’ alone *" As reported by the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics. The Bureau no longer issues figures for ‘‘automobile tires’’ a 8 Facts and Figures of the Automobile Industry (1929 edition). New York: National Automobile Chamber of Commerce, |! p. 74. { 232] [he three items of gasoline (1.31 cents), s and tubes (0.64 cents), and depreciation 39 cents) add to a total of 3.34 cents, and resent 39.2 percent, 19.2 percent, and 41.6 ‘nt of this total, respectively. Applying ese percents to the combined weight of 74.8 be assigned to automobile costs, the indi- dual weights for the three items are found to 29.3 for gasoline, 14.4 for tires and tubes, nd 31.1 for the cost of motor vehicles (de eciation ). Che following shows the method of comput- ng the composite transportation index for the 1933-34, using the average of prices in 928-29 ?° as 100: Index Weight Product Street car-fares....... 104.3 25.2 2628.36 Gasoline (retail)...... 90.5 29.3 2651.65 Tires and tubes (whole- we > eae 78.7 X 14.4 1133.28 Motor vehicles (whole- nt i ee ee as.7 31.1 2758.57 MUD ceaseer pes 100.0 9171.86 lransportation index 9171.86 — 100.0 91.72 It will be noted that this index takes no iccount of changes in the cost of automobile motor oil, maintenance (repairs and replace- ments), license, garage, interest, or insurance. These items, according to the study quoted bove, totaled 3.09 cents per mile, or a little less than half of the total cost of 6.43 cents per mile. Unfortunately there is no satisfactory way of ncluding these items. It would be especially desirable to include maintenance, which is the largest single item (1.72 cents), but investiga tion has indicated the impracticability of ob taining prices on comparable auto parts and repair work over a period of years. The trans- portation index as here computed, therefore, is idmittedly far from perfect. Nevertheless, it appears to be an improvement over earlier methods of handling the item of transportation costs. It is especially superior to the inclusion of expenditures for transportation in the weight assigned to the miscellaneous index. Mid to dependents—This is another group ot expenditures which Eells included in the weight assigned to the miscellaneous index, but which Butsch omitted entirely in comput- ing his cost-of-living index. There is, of course, no way of measuring changes in the cost of pro Each year is the period fr m September 1 thru the following viding dependents with certain kinds of com modities without knowing what kinds are pro vided. In the absence of such knowledge, the tairest assumption seems to be that the cost of giving financial aid to dependents varies rough) according to the combined cost ot tood, cloth ing, housing, and other measurable items of the rather than according to the If this as teacher's budget, cost of miscellaneous items only. satist ictory sumption be accepted, the only procedure is to omit the item of aid to depend ents In constructing the composite index The objection may be raised that altho the cost ot tood, clothing, and shelter went down during the early years of the depression, un tavorable economic conditions brought a gen eral increase in the responsibility of teachers for the support of relatives. As Butsch has pointed out, however, a cost-of-living index by its very nature cannot take account of changes from vear to vear in size of family, in the number o dependents outside the family, or in the degree to which these persons are dependent upon the head of the family. The function of such an index is to measure changes in the cost of pro viding a definite standard of living for persons living under certain conditions, having families of a specified size, and with certain needs and obligations to be met. It is basically unsound t introduce a variation in any of these factor: except that of cost or price, unless an entirel new series of index numbers is to be developed Gifts and donations—This class of expend tures, like aid to dependents, is disregarded her: in constructing the cost-of-living index. In this category the teachers were asked to report the cost of Christmas, wedding, and birthday | ents; special gifts of money; and donations church, charitable institutions, relief agencie and needy persons. While presents given at Christmas, weddings, and birthdays may occa a type similar to some of the sionally be of “miscellaneous” items priced by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the other types of gifts and donations mentioned are more likely to con sist of, or to be used for, food, clothing, and other necessities. It is probable, moreover, that a large proportion of the amounts reported by the teachers under gifts and donations were of the latter type. Often the teachers found it diffi cult or impossible to distinguish between this category and aid to dependents. Under these circumstances it would not be satisfactory to include the percent reported for gifts and dona- tions in the weight assigned to the miscellaneous index, as was done in several of the earlier studies. It is better to assume that the cost of such items varies according to that of all other commodities combined. Education and recreation—Expenditures for education and recreation are included here, as in the earlier studies, in the weight assigned to the index of miscellaneous articles and services. This procedure is not wholly satisfactory, but seems less objectionable than any other. No index of prices is obtainable for the types of educational and recreational activities in which teachers engage. In constructing its miscellane- ous index, however, the Bureau of Labor Sta- tistics includes prices of motion pictures and newspapers, two of the many items which the teachers reported under education and recrea- tion. Moreover, it is believed that such items as concerts, stage plays, books, magazines, col- lege tuition, membership in organizations, and travel have generally tended to vary but little in price during the last ten or twelve years. Since the Bureau’s miscellaneous index likewise has varied only slightly during the same period, that index is used as a rough measure of price changes among items of this type. It should be used for this purpose, however, only until some better measure can be obtained. Miscellaneous items—This category, as used in the classification of teachers’ expenditures in this survey, includes some but not all of the items which are priced for the miscellaneous index by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. For this reason the teachers’ miscellaneous expendi- tures are combined with their expenditures for health and for education and recreation in determining the weight to be assigned to the Bureau’s index for miscellaneous articles and services. Surplus or savings—This is one of the three categories which were treated differently by Eells and by Butsch, the former including it in the weight assigned to the miscellaneous index, and the latter omitting it entirely. It is clear, of course, that savings or investments cannot be considered as changing in cost from time to time, except in the case of life insurance or annuities. Moreover, there seems to be no justi- fication for assuming that the amount of income available for these purposes should vary accord- ing to the cost of miscellaneous articles services only. Savings and investments usu are used eventually to purchase many o! kinds of commodities, including food, cloth); and shelter. For this reason the amount a able as surplus each year, if it is to vary in accordance with the cost of goods and s ices, probably ought to vary according to thy combined cost of all the commodities provid for in the teacher’s budget. It is true that cost of these commodities may be different the time when accumulated savings are s) than at the time when the money was saved Yet in the long run a policy of paying teachers on the average, at least enough salary so ¢! the amount saved or invested each yea keep pace with increases or decreases in t! total current cost of living would probably ly the fairest and most satisfactory policy that could be devised for meeting this particula problem. In the cost-of-living index developed here, therefore, the percent of income saved o: invested is not used in weighting any of thy component indexes, but is omitted from computation entirely. Weighting the Eight Component Indexes As already indicated, the amounts spent fo various purposes by the 2358 teachers reporting in this survey are used as the basis for weighting the eight commodity indexes in the constructi of a composite cost-of-living index. It would not be correct, however, to use as weights th: percents of total income devoted to these eight categories, because the sum of those percents | considerably less than 100. It is necessary to calculate the percents for the eight categories using the sum of expenditures for these cat gories as 100 percent. Column 2 of Table 2° shows what part of each dollar spent by th: teachers for all eight items in 1932-33 went to each one of the items. Each of the first seven items (food, clothing, rent, fuel and light house furnishings, transportation, and interest occupies a larger proportion of the total than it would occupy if taxes, aid to dependents donations, and savings had been included in the total. The miscellaneous category, on the other hand, occupies a very much smaller proportion of the total than it would if taxes, aid to de pendents, donations, and savings had been in cluded in the miscellaneous category. By omit- ting the latter items, the percent for food | increased from 14.5 to 21.1, while the percent [ 234] rticulay veloped aved or of the mm the lexes ent for porting ighting ruction would hts the e eight ‘ents Is ry tore Ores P. Carve ble 29 by the ent fo! > Seven light, erest), | than idents, in the - other yortion to de- en in- - omit- ood Is ercent for miscellaneous items is reduced from 55.9 1 2 0 41.0. [he figures just referred to (in column 2 of lable 29) would be the correct ones to use as weights in constructing a composite index with the school year 1932-33 as the base. But since it seems desirable to select as the base a yeat 1928-29) prior to the onset of the depression, it is better to modify the 1932-33 weights in wcordance with the differing relative price 1928-29. The essential points in the calculation of these modified levels prevailing in weights are shown in the remaining columns of Table 29. The 1932-33 weight for each item (column 2) is multiplied by the ratio of 1928- 29 prices to 1932-33 prices for that item (col- umn 3). Each product (column 4) represents the fraction of a dollar required in 1928-29 to buy the same kind and amount of the com modity as could be bought in 1932-33 for the amount of money indicated in column 2. The figures for the eight commodities in 1928-29 total $1.293, which was the amount necessarj in that year to buy as much of these commodi ties combined as could be bought for $1.00 in 1932-33. By dividing the 1928-29 figure for each commodity by $1.293, it is possible t express the figures for that year as fractional parts of the teacher’s dollar in 1928-29 fo: the eight commodities listed (column 5). When the decimal point in each of these quotients is moved two places to the right (column 6), we have a series of percentages which total 100 } l vat yuduve and which may properly be used as weights in combining the eight price indexes on the 1928-29 base. Ow ing to the tact that the price of tood was much higher in 1928-29 than in 1932-33, whil miscellaneous items were only slightly highe: in the former year, the weight finally assigned to food is 26.2 and that assigned to miscellane ous items is only 17.3. The weights given to the other six items are not significantly differ ent from those representing the 1932-33 dis tribution as shown in column 2 of Table 29 The Teachers’ Cost-of-Living Index from 1928-29 thru 1933-34 Table 30 shows price indexes for each of the eight groups of commodities and for all groups combined, using the average of available prices for 1928-29 as the base (100.0) in each case. Each year is defined as the period from September 1 thru the following August 31, this being the twelve-month per corresponds most closely to the school year. ‘The year 1928-29 is taken as the base because economic conditions were more favorable to teachers generally in that yea han in any other prior to the onset of the depression, and because the general level of commodity prices was neither unusually high nor unusually low as compared with prices in other years of the decade following 1920. The price level in 1928-29 was practicalls the same as that in the calendar year 1923, which is used as the base for the cost-of-living index computed by the National Ind trial Conference Board, and not quite so high as that in 1926, which has often been referred to as a ‘normal’ level by economist discussions of inflation. TABLE 29.—METHOD OF CHANGING WEIGHTS FOR EIGHT SELECTED ITEMS IN TEACHERS’ BUDGETS FOR 1932-33 TO THOSE FOR 1928-29 Revised eadene weights for 1928-29 (in Distribution of teachers’ dollar for eight items Ratio of com- Amount required in modity prices in 1928-29 to purchase 1928-29 to prices items costing a total Distribution of teachers’ dollar for eight items Selected items in teachers’ budgets in 1932-33 in 1932-33 of $1.09 in 1932-33 in 1928-29 percents 1 2 3 a 5 6 Food.... $0.211 1.600 $0.338 $0. 262 26 Clothing 0.150 1.339 0.201 0.156 15.6 ee 0.146 1.364 0.199 0.154 15.4 Fuel and light 0.0684 1.168 0.079 0.061 6.1 House furnishings , 0.0684 1.350 0.092 0.071 ra Transportation en 0.110 1.143 0.126 0,097 9 Interest...... ; 0.034 1.000 0.034 0.026 2.6 Miscellaneous. ..... 0.213 1.053 0.224 0.173 17.3 Total — $1.000 ‘ $1. 293 $1.000 100.0 Read table thus: Of each dollar spent by the average teacher for these eight commodities in 1932-33, $0.211 went for f Since in 1928-29 the average price of food products was 1.600 times as high as in 19 the quantity of food costing ! 1932-33 would have cost $0.338 in 1928-29. The latter amount is 26.2 percent of the total cost in 1928-29 of the eight osting $1.00 in 1932-33. Hence, of each dollar spent in 1928-29 to maintain the same standard of living as in 19 $ would have gone for food, and 26.2 is the weight which should be assigned to food prices in computing the cost-of-living 1928-29 as the base year. Similarly read figures for the other seven groups of commodities Sources: Column 2—Based on the complete distribution of teachers’ expenditures in column 2 of Table 16, but ex amounts spent for ‘‘aid to dependents,”’ ‘‘gifts and donations,”’ “taxes,’’ and “surplus or savings.’’ Column Computed f indexes for each group of commodities in 1928-29 and 1932-33, as shown in Table 30. Column 4—Computed by multiplying eac! amount in column 2 by the corresponding ratio in column 3. Column 5—Computed by dividing each amount in column 4 by sum of those amounts, $1.293. Column 6--Obtained by moving decimal point in each figure of column 5 two places to the * Based on the assumption that the teachers spent equivalent amounts for house furnishings and for fuel and light » Includes ‘‘health’’ and “education and recreation’’ as well as the items reported under ‘‘miscellaneous’’ by the teacher [ 235 ] a Following is a summary of the computation of _ ers, increases in the number of their depend £ \ p te . I the composite index for 1933-34: more than offset the favorable trend in cos i livi ym 1929 933. F ore, in ledex Welgkt Product ing from | to I Furthermore, i Food 4% 262 = 1919.28 locality where salaries were actually red) 00 oath + these ae ry. 4 26.2 O138.2 Cheiiilinss = occ ccccvucs $3.5 S< 15.6 = 1302.60 48 much as 22.7 percent, and where the t ee are 66.7 X 15.4 1027.18 in cost of living followed the average Fuel and light......... 88.4 X 6.1 = 539.24 some increase in salary should have been 2 H ; y 22 4 yj = 9? 5 . . . ° House furnishing»... . $3.5 X 3 592.85 vided in the past year to avoid a reductio: Transportation ....... oh x 9.7 889.49 iain a ' bateuied a "100.0 se 26 = 260.00 ©teachers’ living standards below the lev: Miscellaneous ........ 94.5 < 17.3 = 1634.85 1928-29. 100.0 8064.49 Trends in Living Costs during the Composite index = 8064.49 — 100.0 = 80.6 Depression as Measured by Variou Methods Column 10 of Table 30 indicates that the cost of living among city teachers, as measured A comparison of cost-of-living indexes « here, declined steadily from 1928-29 to 1932- puted by various agencies and by various m 33 and then increased slightly in 1933-34. In ods mentioned earlier in this chapter is 1932-33 the index stood at 77.3, or 22.7 per- sented in Table 31. First are shown the ind: cent below the general price level of 1928-29, for wage-earners derived from those publis! but during the following year it rose to 80.6. by the National Industrial Conference B: These facts indicate that the salary of the aver- and by the United States Bureau of L age city teacher probably could have been re- Statistics. These are followed by three serie duced as much as 22.7 percent by 1932-33 with- indexes intended to represent the cost of |i) out forcing him to lower his standard of living, of city teachers. All three of the latter \ provided he had experienced no increase in computed especially for this report and uti number of dependents. While data on this point the data on teachers’ expenditures obtained are lacking, it is probable that for many teach- the present survey. They differ from one TABLE 30.—INDEXES OF PRICES IN THE UNITED STATES FOR EIGHT GROUPS OF COMMODITIES AND FOR A COMBINATION OF THESE COMMODITIES AC. CORDING TO THE SPENDING HABITS OF CITY TEACHERS (1928-29 = 100) Fuel and House Trans- Miscel- Tota Year Food Clothing Rent light furnishings portation Interest laneous of (weight (weight (weight (weight (weight (weight (weight (weight eight = 26.2) = 15.6) = 15.4) =6.1) =7.1) =9.7) =2.6) = 17.3)" iten 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1928-29....... 100.0 109.0 100.0 109.0 109.0 100.0 100.0 100.6 100 1929-30....... 98.2 98.8 97.4 08 6 98.8 97.8 100.0 100.5 98 1930-31... ‘ 83.3 92.5 93.2 95.5 91.8 91.1 100.0 109.1 ; SOEs ca vens 69.4 81.5 85.3 91.2 80.5 88.2 100.0 98.3 83 | 62.5 74.7 73.3 85.6 74.1 87.5 100.0 95.0 SOEs xs a0 oe 69.4 83.5 66.7 88.4 &3.5 91.7 100.0 94.5 Read table thus: The index for food, in relation to the base of 100.0 in 1928-29, was 98.2 in 1929-30, 83.3 in 1930 Similarly read figures for each of the other commodities and for all commodities combined. Sources: Column 2—Food index for each year computed from the average of twelve monthly indexes, September thru t! lowing August, published by the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics (1913 = 100). Columns 3, 4, 5, 6, and 9—Index clothing, rent, fuel and light, house furnishings, and miscellaneous items computed for each year from the average of semi indexes, for December and the following June, published by the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics (1913 = 100). Colum Transportation index for each year represents (a) the average of service station prices of gasoline, including state and federa in fifty representative cities on the first of each month from September thru the following August, as reported to the R« Division of the National Education Association by the American Petroleum Institute, 50 West 50th St., New York City; (b) sale prices of motor vehicles and of tires and tubes for twelve months, September thru the following August, as reported in form by the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics in the Monthly Labor Review, except for certain months prior to | which the figures on these items were furnished directly to the Research Division of the National Education Association; (« annual indexes of street car-fares, for December and the following June, as reported to the Research Division of the Nationa cation Association by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Weights used in averaging the four sub-indexes are as follows: retail ga 29.3; motor vehicles, 31.1; tires and tubes, 14.4; and street car-fares, 25.2, as explained in the text. Column 8—Index for based upon general evidence that interest rates on personal loans and home mortgages changed very little, if at all, during the under consideration. Column 10—The composite index for each year is a weighted average of the eight commod!ty index: weights, given at the head of columns 2 to 9, inclusive, are explained in Table 29 and in the accompanying text. * Includes ‘health’ and “education and recreation’ as well as the items reported under “miscellaneous” by the teacher [ 236 ] vend 1 Cost >in red le tr yt "en ctior level] ‘ious ined ne -OUPS SS AC- 00) Tota of item the ' -her in respect to the grouping of items under 0 main divisions of the budget, and in respect to the weights assigned to the separate commodity indexes. The methods used in grouping and weighting are those proposed in this study, in Butsch’s study, and in Eells’ study, respec- tively. Figure LX, based on Table 31, shows that the two series of indexes for wage-earners agree losely with each other, but that they differ somewhat from each of the three series of in dexes for teachers. In general, the trend in cost of living for wage-earners appears to have been more rapid than that for teachers, both down- ward from 1928-29 to 1932-33, and upward from 1932-33 to 1933-34. This difference is most marked when Eells’ method is used in con- structing the teachers’ index, and least marked when the method of the present study is used. In 1932-33 the five series of indexes, in order of greatest decrease since 1928-29, were as follows: Conference Board, 74.1; Bureau of Labor Statistics, 74.6; present study, 77.3; Butsch’s study, 79.4; and Eells’ study, 84.7. This same order prevailed generally thruout the period from 1928-29 thru 1933-34. If the index developed for teachers in the present study can be accepted as a reasonably valid criterion, the use of either series of w age- earners’ indexes as a measure of changes in teachers’ living costs from 1928-29 thru 1933- 34 would apparently introduce no serious error. It should not be assumed, however, that in the future these indexes for teachers and wage earners will show such similar trends as in the past. It will undoubtedly be worthwhile to con tinue the computation of this particular index for teachers at regular intervals, at least until a more valid measure can be developed. Limitations of the Teachers’ Index Altho the special cost-of-living index com- puted in this study is believed to be more satis- factory for teachers in general than any other index available, its limitations should be kept clearly in mind. These may be summarized as follows: 1. Some of the uses to which teachers put their money are, in a sense, left out of account TABLE 31.—RECENT TRENDS IN INDEXES OF COST OF LIVING FOR WAGE- EARNERS AND TEACHERS IN THE UNITED STATES, AS COMPUTED BY VARIOUS METHODS Wage-earners’ families in the United States Teachers in city school systems of the United States National Industrial U.S. Bureau of Method usedin Method used by Butsch Method used by Eells Year® Conference Board> Labor Statistics present study in School Board Journal in Fresno, Calif., survey 1 2 3 4 5 6 1928-29 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 i ee 98.3 98.6 98.6 98.6 99.5 1930-33 ....4.. 89.9 90.7 91.7 92.1 95.7 1931-32.... ‘ 80.5 81.3 83.5 85.3 90.2 1932-33.... ‘2 74.1 74.6 77.3 79.4 84.7 1933-34.... ‘ 78.3 78.4 80.6 82.2 85.6 Read table thus: The index of the National Industrial Conference Board, with the average of prices in 1928-29 as the base of 100.0, was 98.3 in 1929-30, 89.9 in 1930-31, etc. Similarly read figures for each of the other agencies or methods Sources: Column 2—Computed for each year from the average of twelve monthly indexes of total cost of living (1923 = 100) from September thru the following August, as published by the National Industrial Conference Board. Column 3—-Computed for each year from indexes published by the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics (1913 = 100) for six separate groups of com- modities, as follows: for food, the average of twelve monthly indexes from September thru the following August; for clothing, rent, fuel and light, house furnishings, and miscellaneous, the average of the semi-annual indexes for December and the following June. In computing the composite index, the average index for each group of commodities was changed to correspond with the new base (1928-29 == 100), and was then weighted according to the procedure used regularly by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Column 4 Computed as shown in Tables 29 and 30, and as described in accompanying text. Column 5—-Computed by method described in text, from commodity indexes published by the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics. The indexes for food and transportation for each year were obtained by averaging monthly indexes from September thru the following August; those for other commodi- ties by averaging semi-annual indexes for December and the following June. The weights assigned to the several commodities were based upon the percentage distribution of teachers’ expenditures in the present survey, except that the percents spent by the teachers for specific items were combined according to the procedure used by the original investigator. Column 6—Computed by method described in text, from commodity indexes published by the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics. The index for food for each year was obtained by averaging monthly indexes from September thru the following August; those for all other com modities by averaging semi-annual indexes for December and the following June. The weights assigned to the several commodities were based upon the percentage distribution of teachers’ expenditures in the present survey, except that the percents spent by the teachers for specific items were combined according to the procedure used by the original investigator. ® The indexes for each year represent as nearly as possible the twelve-months period from September 1 thru the following August 31. » The Conference Board’s available cost-of-living indexes for each month since August, 1934 are as follows (1928-29 100) September, 81.0; October, 80.9; November, 80.8; December, 80.8; January, 1935, 81.6: February, 82.4; and March, 82.4 [ 237 ] in constructing the index: (a) taxes, (b) finan- cial aid to dependents, (c) gifts and donations to church, charity, ete., and (d) surplus or sav- ings. Changes in the cost of taxes could be meas- ured satisfactorily if certain essential data were obtainable, but it is doubtful whether a wholly acceptable measure of change could be devised for the other three items. The latter are ob- viously of a different nature from those cate- gories of goods and services whose quality, quantity, and price can be readily measured. Nevertheless, money saved or given to depend- ents, church, and charity is eventually used to buy commodities of the measurable type, and changes in the cost of such commodities could be determined if their nature and amounts were known. In the absence of specific knowledge, some assumption must be made as to their nature and amount, if the composite index is to repre- sent changes in the average teacher’s total cost of living. The safest assumption—that dona- tions and savings are eventually used to pur- chase a wide variety of commodities rather than only one or two types—is utilized by omitting these categories in computing the composite index. Granting that this is the best possible procedure under present circumstances, it stil! remains a weakness in the structure of the in dex. Whether this weakness is of major or on|, minor importance can be determined onl) further investigation. 2. The separate indexes for food, clothing rent, fuel and light, house furnishings, and miscellaneous items used in computing the com posite index are based upon the kinds amounts of specific commodities purchased workingmen’s families in 1918-19. The f index, for example, represents an average retail prices for forty-two different iten weighted according to their relative im; tance in the average workingman’s food bud get. The quality and amount of such items the average teacher’s food budget may somewhat different. Moreover, a considera minority of the teachers purchase ready-cooked meals, and fluctuations in the price of board are known to lag somewhat behind changes the store prices of food products, altho m satisfactory measure of the former is available mn 3. The index of teachers’ transportation *2 For a list of these forty-two items, see page 265 of this bulletin. FIGURE IX RECENT TRENDS IN COST OF LIVING OF WAGE EARNERS AND TEACHERS iN THE UNITED STATES AS COMPUTED BY VARIOUS METHODS (1928-29=100) Cost oF Livinc INDEX 105 1928 - 29 100 Teacners- Eevt’s MetHoo ~~ — m1 Teacners- Butscu’s MetHoo Teacners- Present Stuvy Wace Earners- U. S. Bureau or Lasor Statistics Wace Earners. Nationa Inoustria 75 Cowrerence Boaro ~*~ ~*~ * | 70 1928-29 1929-30 1930-31 1932-33 1933-34 NATIONAL EDUCATION ASS'N 1931-32 BASED ON DATA IN TABLE 31 rossible it stil] the in- Or only nly DY othing S, and le CoM ls and ised by e tood age ot tems imp d bud ems it lay be lerable cooked board wes In ho no ilable. rtation we ee costs developed here does not include all types of transportation expense and hence is only approximately correct. Moreover, in the case of motor vehicles and automobiles tires and tubes, indexes of wholesale prices must be used because no corresponding indexes of retail prices are available. 4. Since the amounts spent by teachers for fuel and light and for house furnishings were not reported separately, it was necessary to esti- mate the proportions of income devoted to these two commodities in order to determine how much weight each should have in the composite index. Since these estimates were based upon the average teacher’s expenditure for house operation, as well as upon the relative impor- tance of house furnishings and fuel and light in the average wage-earner’s budget, the re- sults are probably sufficiently accurate for prac- tical purposes. less valid for individual cities than tor cities in general, and it may be less valid for teachers in small towns and rural areas. The index ob- viously should not be used in any locality for which more valid data are obtainable. Such data, however, are available at present for rela- tively few localities. ‘The Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes regularly an index of food prices in each of fifty-one cities, but computes indexes for clothing, rent, fuel and light, house furnishings, and miscellaneous items for only thirty-two of these. Retail prices of gasoline are available for each of fifty cities, but whole sale prices of motor vehicles, tires, and tubes are published only for the nation as a whole. Reliable information as to how teachers in in dividual communities distribute their expendi tures is even more meager. In the present study, average distributions based on reports from at least one hundred teachers could be computed 5. The composite index is based on data from _ for only ten cities, and even these distributions cities of considerable size. Hence it probably is may not be closely representative of the total TABLE 32.—RECENT TRENDS IN TEACHERS’ AVERAGE SALARIES AND THEIR PURCHASING POWER (1928-29 = 100) Average salaries received* Estimated purchasing power of average salaries Classroom teachers in 65 cities over 100,000 in population All teachers, principals, and supervisors in the United States Classroom teachers in 65 cities over 100,000 in population Year All teachers, principals, and supervisors in the United States Index Amount Index Amount Amount Index Amount Index 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 1928-29 $1392! 100.0 $2235 100.0 $1392 100.0 $2235 100.0 1929-30 1420 102.0 2298» 102.8 1440 103.4 2331 104.3 1930-31 1440> 103.4 2343 104.8 1570 112.8 2555 114.3 1931-32 1417 101.8 2316 103.6 1697 121.9 2774 124.1 1932-33 1316> 94.5 2199 98.4 1702 122.3 2845 127.3 1933--34 1222» 87.8 2070" 92.6 1516 108.9 2568 114.9 1934-35 1226> 88.1 2076 92.9 1460¢ 104.9 2471 110.6 Read table thus: In 1928-29 the estimated average salary of all teachers, principals, and supervisors in the United States was $1392; in 1929-30 it was $1420 or 102.0 percent of the 1928-29 figure; in 1930-31 it was $1440 or 103.4 percent of the 1928-29 figure; etc. The estimated purchasing power (in 1928-29 dollars) of the average salary of this group was $1392 in 1928-29; $1440 in 1929-30, or 103.4 percent of the 1928-29 figure; $1570 in 1930-31, or 112.8 percent of the 1928-29 figure; etc. Similarly read figures for classroom teachers in cities over 100,000 in population Sources of data: Column 2—Average salaries for 1929-30 and 1931-32 from the Biennial Surveys of Education published by the United States Office of Education; for 1928-29 by direct interpolation between 1927-28 and 1929-30; for 1930-31 based on returns from forty states and District of Columbia, plus 1929-30 figures for the other eight states (National Education Association. Educational Research Service Circular No. 11, 1932); for 1932-33, based on advance data on file at the United States Office of Edu- cation from twenty-three states; for 1933-34, by interpolation between 1932-33 and 1934-35 in accordance with the trend in total ex- penditures per teacher as estimated in May and September, 1934 by departments of education in thirty-two states; for 1934-35, based on estimates of October, 1934 from departments of education in thirty-one states. Column 4—Median salaries for 1928-29, 1930-31, 1932-33, and 1934-35 from the biennial studies of salaries in city school systems conducted by the Research Division of the National Education Association; for 1929-30, 1931-32, and 1933-34, by interpolation between the years immediately preceding and following. Columns 6 and 8—Purchasing power of salaries computed by dividing each figure in columns 2 and 4 by the teachers’ cost-of-living index for the same year, as shown in column 4 of Table 31, except for the 1934-35 figures, which were computed by dividing the corresponding salaries in columns 2 and 4 by 84.0, on the assumption that the percent of increase in cost of living between 1933-34 and 1934-35 will be the same as that between 1932-33 and 1933-34. Columns 3, 5, 7, and 9—Indexes of average salaries and of purchasing power computed by dividing each amount in the preceding column by the amount for 1928-29 in that column * Salary figures for all teachers, principals, and supervisors in the United States are arithmetic averages, while those for classroom teachers in cities over 100,000 in population are medians. > Estimated figure. ¢ Since complete data on cost of living are not yet available for 1934-35, it was necessary to use an estimated index in com- puting these figures on purchasing power. The index used, 84.0, assumes the same percent increase in cost of living between 1933-34 and 1934-35 as occurred between 1932-33 and 1933-34 eine Repeal ty © mer eer 4 —— teaching groups in the ten cities. A few other local studies of teachers’ expenditures are avail- able, but in most of them the expenditures have not been classified in such a way as to make possible the construction of an index according to the procedures used in this study. Until fur- ther research has been carried on, therefore, the general index as computed here will prob- ably be the best available indicator of trends in teachers’ cost of living in most localities, whether urban or rural.** Recent Trends in the Purchasing Power of Teachers’ Salaries The trend of teachers’ salaries in relation to changes in their cost of living may best be shown bv translating the actual salaries re- ceived each year into dollars having the pur- chasing power of a selected base year. This is accomplished by dividing the actual salary for each year by the teachers’ cost-of-living index for that year. Table 32 and Figure X show the trend of average annual salaries and of purchasing power since 1928-29 for two | groups: (1) all teachers, principals, and su visors in the United States, and (2) all « room teachers in sixty-five cities over 100 in population. The average salaries received by both g: increased slightly from 1928-29 thru 1930 but began to decline in the following \ This decline was greater in the case of teachers, principals, and supervisors than in case of the classroom teachers in large cit In 1932-33 the average for the nation whole was 5.5 percent below that in 1928 while the average for teachers in cities | 100,000 in population was only 1.6 pe: below that in the earlier year. In 1933-34 | averages dropped still further, reaching |: which were 12.2 percent and 7.4 percent be! the corresponding figures for 1928-29. || figures for 1934-35, however, indicate a sli upturn. *3 It is not believed that the difference commonly prevailing between the salaries of urban teachers and those of rural tea makes the teachers’ index, as computed here, inapplicable to rural teachers. While data on the budgets of rural teacher lacking, it is probable that the chief difference between them and the budgets of city teachers is in the proportion of i: saved. As already explained, however, the item of savings (as well as taxes, aid to dependents, and other donations) has omitted in computing the teachers’ index, and the percentage distribution of the remaining items is likely to be about the for low-salaried groups as for higher-salaried groups. FIGURE X RECENT TRENDS IN TEACHERS AVERAGE SALARIES AND THEIR PURCHASING POWER BEX (1928 -29=100) 130 125 _ —>. 120}- P ee. ee N . CITY TEACHERS \ ALL TEACHERS me \ PRINCIPALS & . SUPERVISORS — * .~ 115 fo_»t A 110 Wa 105 iz «— CITY TEACHERS 20, 1928 - 29= 100 ee 95}—— AVERAGE SALARY PURCHASING POWER ALL TEACHERS PRINCIPALS & 90}- OF AVERAGE SALARY ~-~-~-~-~ SUPERVISORS | 85 | 1928-29 1929-30 1930-31 1931-32 1932-33 1933-34 1934-35 NATIONAL EDUCATION Ass'N BASED ON DATA IN TABLE 32 =] [ 240 ] Che trend in purchasing power of average salaries is a quite different story. Apparently both groups of teachers gained in purchasing nower between 1928-29 and 1932-33. In the itter year, it is estimated that the average teacher in the nation as a whole could buy about 22 percent more with his salary, and that the average teacher in the larger cities could buy about 27 percent more, than in 1928-29. In 1933-34, however, the purchasing power of the all-inclusive group dropped sharply to a point only 9 percent above that of 1928-29, while the buying power of the city teachers reached a level only 15 percent above that in the base year. While cost-of-living data are not vet available for the entire year 1934-35, it is estimated that if living costs continue to in- crease at the same rate as between 1932-33 and 1933-34, the purchasing power of these two groups in 1934-35 will be only 5 percent and ll percent, respectively, above the levels of 1928-29, Must teachers’ salaries be increased immedi- ately in order that their purchasing power may not fall below its pre-depression level? No single answer to this question will be true for all localities or even for all states. Teachers in some parts of the country have unquestionably suffered much greater cuts in salary than those shown in Table 32, while in other localities the salaries have been reduced very little, if at all, since the depression began. An example of un- usually severe reduction is found in Kinston, North Carolina, where the median salary of all classroom teachers dropped from $1319 in 1928-29 to $718 in 1934-35, or 45.6 percent. A similar but less extreme case is that of Omaha, Nebraska, where the median fell from $2135 to $1551, or 27.4 percent, during the same period. On the other hand, Albany, New York, has reported a slow but steady in- crease amounting to 6.8 percent from 1928-29 to 1934-35, Clearly the need for adjustment in salaries to prevent a reduction in purchasing power below the pre-depression level can be determined only in the light of salary condi- tions and living costs in the individual states and local communities. To discover these con- ditions and the needs arising therefrom is essen- tially the responsibility of state and local school authorities and of state and local teachers asso- cations. As intimated above, the chief value of a cost- of-living index in the determination of teach- ers’ salaries is to serve as a warning of possible losses in purchasing power. No cost-of-living index should be used as the on/y criterion of need for adjustment in salaries, for several rea sons: (1) Salaries in the base year may not have been sufficient to provide a suitable stand ard of living for teachers; (2) revision of salary scales in the past has usually lagged behind changes in the cost of living, and it may therefore be advisable to compensate teachers for past losses of purchasing power; (3) in a nation having the natural wealth and produc- tive power of the United States, the trend in purchasing power and standards of living for all moderately paid groups of workers should be steadily upward for many years to come; and (4) to obtain teachers with the ability and training needed in the modern school, the sala- ries paid must permit standards of living sim- ilar to those enjoyed by people of comparable ability and training in other lines of work. Summary This chapter has presented a number of facts essential to an intelligent consideration of the trend in cost of living with reference to teach- ers’ salaries. The principles underlying the con struction of a cost-of-living index have been set forth, and the indexes published by the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics and the National Industrial Conference Board have been described. After reviewing several earlier studies in which special cost-of-living indexes for teachers were developed, the chap- ter has shown in some detail the calculation of a new index for teachers which is believed to have certain advantages over the earlier ones. The general trend indicated by this new index during the present economic depression is not greatly different from that shown by the indexes for wage-earners. The teachers’ index shows a somewhat slower trend than does the wage-earners’ index, both downward during the early years of the depression, and upward since 1932-33. The new index has certain limi- tations which should be fully understood by those who use it. In spite of these limitations, the index is believed to be the most satisfactory measure of its kind now available, and should prove helpful in the study of salary problems. Altho the average salary of all teachers in the United States declined considerably be- tween 1928-29 and 1933-34, their purchasing power increased up to 1932-33 because of sub- [ 241 ] stantial reductions ‘n cost of living. This is not, cost-of-living index should be used as the < however, an argument against increasing sala- criterion of need for revising teachers’ salary ries at this time. Teachers’ living costs rose scales. Iwo other considerations especially nee somewhat from 1932-33 to 1933-34 while to be kept in mind: (1) Ina nation having the salaries continued to fall; consequently the wealth and productive power of the United average teacher was considerably less well off States, the mere maintenance of present pur in 1933-34 than in the previous year. If living chasing power is insufficient ; the buying ability costs continue to rise at the same rate, the aver- of all moderately paid groups, at least, should age purchasing power of all teachers in the be continuously increased for many years nation in 1934-35 will, it is estimated, be only come. (2) To obtain and keep teachers wit! about 5 percent above its 1928-29 level. If care the ability, professional training, and general is not taken to eliminate the customary lag of culture needed in a modern program of educa teachers’ salaries behind increases in living tion, salaries must provide standards of living costs, an even more serious loss of purchasing as attractive as those enjoyed by persons of power is likely to result. similar ability and training in other fields of As emphasized in the preceding pages, no work. y es MISTAKE is frequently made of applying figures showing cost of living changes to other standards of living than the one employed in making the study, upon the assumption that changes in maintaining one standard will prob- ably apply proportionately to others. This assumption is incorrect, however, since the relative importance of different items in the budget changes as the established standard of living changes. For example, food accounts for one-third to one-half of the cost of the wage-earner’s budget, but this relative proportion tends to de- crease as incomes become larger. Thus, a cost of living change which is largely influenced by the retail price of food items will not accurately reflect the effect of this change of food prices upon standards of living maintained by higher incomes. —The Cost of Living in Twelve Industrial Cities, National Industrial Confer- ence Board, 1928, p. 2. he sole salary ly need ing the United ft pur- ability should ars > Ww ith enera| educa living ns of lds of CHAPTER VIII Incomes of Teachers and Other Occupational Groups [his chapter supplements the data of Chap ter VII on teachers’ salaries in relation to cost of living by comparing the average salaries ot teachers with the estimated incomes of othe: important occupational groups during recent years. Table 33 shows this comparison for eleven different groups, including all public school teachers, principals, and supervisors in the United States, and all classroom teachers in sixty-five city school systems over 100,000 in population. Relative Position of Teachers In Table 33 the eleven occupational groups are listed according to the size of their average incomes in 1933 (the latest year for which comparable figures are available), with the higher-income groups at the top and the lower- income groups at the bottom of the list. In that vear the averages ranged from $3940 for con sulting engineers to $1314 for state and county government employees other than those in edu cation. The public school teachers in cities over 100,000 in population ranked fifth with an average salary of $2199, while the group in- cluding all public school teachers, principals, and supervisors in the nation ranked tenth with an estimated average salary of $1316. The average salary for the city teachers was ex ceeded by those for consulting engineers, phy sicians and surgeons, lawvers, and dentists. Uhe average salary for all public school teachers in the nation was exceeded by those just men tioned, and also by the averages for salaried employees in a group of seven industries, clergy men, federal government employees, and city government employees outside of education. Of the nine non-teaching groups, the only one TABLE 33.—AVERAGE ANNUAL INCOMES OF PUBLIC SCHOOL TEACHERS AND OTHER OCCUPATIONAL GROUPS, 1929-1933 1929 Occupational group 1 2 3 Consulting engineers*. |Amount} Index Amount | Index 1930 1931 1932 1933 Amount | Index Amount | Index _Amount Index 5 6 7 8 Qu 10 11 42.0 1 2. 3. 4. S. 6. Lawyers® ate Wahine Physicians and surgeons* BP. 6 cssaccass Classroom teachers in 65 cities over 100,000 in population>.... Salaried employees in certain in- dustries® . Clergymen> ‘ Federal government employees. . City government employees‘. ... $10,412 100 $; 5. 4, 560 389 575 235 100 100. 100 100 100 100. 100 100 ,114 371 343 ,018 , 881 , 464 ,573 75.0 61.4 60.7 103.6 83.9 79.6 99.7 102.0 ). All public school teachers, prin- cipals, and supervisors in the United States>... ,392 100 . State and county government employees?....... 419 100 102 .440 103 417 101.8 101.3 1,490 105 1,434 101.1 1,314 92 Read table thus: According to the best available estimates, the average annual income of consulting engineers was $10,412 in 1929, $8,523 in 1930, $7,220 in 1931, $4,377 in 1932, and $3,940 in 1933. Using the 1929 income as a base or 100.0 percent, the incomes of this group in succeeding years were 81.9 percent, 69.3 percent, 42.0 percent, and 37.8 percent of the 1929 income. Similarly read figures for each of the other occupational groups. Sources: Figures for all occupational groups except public school teachers are tentative estimates by the Division of Economic Research cf the United States Department of Commerce. Such estimates for the years 1929 thru 1932 were originally published in National Income, 1929-32. 73d Congress, 2nd Session, Senate Document No. 124 Washington, D. C.: Government Printing Office, 1934. 261 p. The figures presented here include certain changes in the published estimates for 1929-32, and preliminary estimates not heretofore published for 1933, as reported to the Research Division of the National Education Association by the Department of Commerce. Figures for classroom teachers in cities over 100,000 in population and for all teachers, principals, and supervisors in the United States are those presented and explained in columns 2 and 4 of Table 32, p. 239 of this bulletin « Individual entrepreneurs (not employed by a governmental agency) come from property. > Salaries only. Their average incomes as reported do not include in- © Mining, manufacturing, construction, steam railroads, Pullman, railway express, and water transportation. 4 Excluding those in public education. FIGURE XI DOLLARS OF INCOME 11,000 ;- CONSULTING ENGINEERS... \ 10,000 }- —" \ \ \ \ 9,000 }- ‘ \ N \ \ 8,000 a _—y a N \ > \ 7,000 _ < ie \ \ \ \ | 6,000 }- \ . | LAWYERS ------....... 0/0 \ thie \ PHYSICIANS & SURGEONS -** *” —. \ 5,000 |- waar —— ia — > DENTISTS -----.-....... Rete he ~~ neat Pn Pw. ‘Ss. 4,000 }- os .. =e rs ~*~, ~ ‘ ‘ Ping: 3,000 ma atk ol \ CITY TEACHERS... - Gad 2.000 |_CLERGYMEN es een — q ; , SALARIED EMPLOYEES .-"" pie 9 Te : IN CERTAIN INDUSTRIES ° ne ; ALL PUBLIC SCHOOL ..° ; | 1,000 | TEACHERS “ee eee ° | | oL a | YEARS 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 : : NATIONAL EDUCATION ASS'N j [ 244 ] - | | BASED ON DATA IN TABLE 33 = receiving a lower average income than the all- inclusive group of teachers was that of state and county employees outside of education. With minor exceptions, the eleven groups ranked about the same in each of the other years from 1929 thru 1932. It is clear that dur- ing the entire period, teachers in general occu pied a decidedly unfavorable position in rela- tion to most other groups with qualifications comparable to those needed in teaching. Even the salaries of large city teachers did not com- pare in attractiveness with the incomes of four other prominent professional groups. Doubt less one important reason for the latter dis- crepancy is the fact that most engineers, phy- sicians, lawyers, and dentists are men, whereas the majority of teachers are women. The con- clusion is inescapable, however, that in fixing teachers’ salaries, greater consideration must be given to income levels among comparable occupational groups, if highly competent peo ple (especially competent men) are to be at- tracted to the teaching profession in sufficient numbers to meet the needs of our schools. Comparative Trends in Incomes Figures XI and XII compare the trends in teachers’ average salaries with those in the average incomes of other groups from 1929 to 1933. ‘They show that altho teachers generally were at a disadvantage with respect to thei: salaries, this disadvantage decreased somewhat during the period under consideration. In other words, while all of the fourteen groups suffered reductions in income during this period, such reductions were proportionately less among teachers than among several of the others. By 1933 the average salary of public school teach ers in the nation as a whole had dropped about 6 percent, and that of the large city teachers about 2 percent, below their 1929 levels. In contrast, the average income of engineers had decreased 62 percent; of physicians, 43 pet cent; of lawyers, 30 percent; of dentists, 47 percent; of clergymen, 26 percent; and of salaried employees in industry 21 percent. It should be observed, however, that none of the groups just mentioned, except teachers, are FIGURE XII ) ———————— | AVERAGE ANNUAL INCOMES OF PUBLIC SCHOOL TEACHERS and CERTAIN OTHER PUBLIC EMPLOYEES omenene or 1929-1933 INCOME 1,600 y J CITY EMPLOYEES.. wen | 7 ———— 1,500 = oe — _4~ i FEDERAL EMPLOYEES «-++ +P mmm ha | ee STATE AND COUNTY oe a in 8 aa, | EMPLOYEES «+ © occ ccc cc eepeor™ N | 1,400 }- — SE | ALL PUBLIC SCHOOL ..°’ TEAGMERE 220200. "Tal y 1,300 1 —— = a ee eee Se - ao 0 ‘. :. | | | YEARS 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 | NATIONAL EDUCATION ASS'N BASED ON DATA IN TABLE 33 { 245 ] public or governmental employees. A compari- son of teachers with other publicly employed groups shows little difference in the trends of their respective incomes during the depression (see Figure XII). The average for federal employees declined only 3 percent, for city em- ployees 6 percent, and for state and county em- ployees 7 percent. Moreover, of the eight groups which suffered greater percents of re- duction than did public school teachers in the nation as a whole, all but one were still receiv- ing higher incomes than this group of teachers in 1933. It should be noted also that the figures for teachers and other employed groups represent only those workers who kept their jobs, and therefore take no account of the incomes in these groups which dropped 100 percent dur- ing the depression. If all those employees who were dismissed could be included in the aver- ages, such groups would doubtless compare even more unfavorably with private practition ers in the major professions. Summary This brief chapter has brought out two facts of general significance concerning the incomes of teachers and other occupational groups fron 1929 to 1933: (1) Teachers, in common with other groups of public employees, suffered smaller decreases in income than did salaried employees in industry or private practitione: in the other major professions; and (2) altho teachers experienced less reduction in income than several other groups, they continued occupy an unfavorable position in relation + most of these groups thruout the period unde: consideration. The remuneration of teachers generally must be made to compare more favor ably with that of comparable occupations, if it is to attract an adequate supply of persons with first-rate ability’and training for teaching. . on SCALE OF REMUNERATION must be appropriate to the service, with due consideration for the attraction of the desired man power and for the main- tenance of a standard of living commensurate with the work to be performed. The scale should provide both for automatic salary increases for faithful work and for increase with promotion. Comparable positions in the various services should be paid alike as far as is possible.—Better Government Personnel, Report of the Commission of Inquiry on Public Service Personnel, McGraw-Hill Book Co., 1935, p. 28. [ 246] ition- ) fac ts comes from with ftered laried ioners altho come ed to on to under ichers avor- , if it with os 5 ty CHAPTER IX Improving the Economic Status of Teachers There are two principal ways of improving (1) by in- creasing the skill and judgment with which the economic position of teachers: teachers manage their incomes, and (2) by in creasing the purchasing power of their incomes Earlier chapters have touched upon these points in connection with the findings of this survey. This chapter brings them into sharper focus and makes certain definite suggestions for im provement both in money management and in the determination of salaries. Suggestions for the Management of Income An outline of life values—The plan of money management suggested here is an out growth of a study undertaken in 1919 by a special committee of the Massachusetts Teach- ers Federation, and continued by a member of that committee during a period of fifteen years.’ 1 See: “Personal Economics for the Teacher.” 9: 341-57; May, 1930. Common Ground (Official organ of the Massachusetts Teacher h This committee was concerned primarily wit the problem of adjusting teachers’ salaries up ward in a manner that would be equitable for both teachers and taxpayers. In attacking this problem, however, it was necessary to reach } some conclusion as to the standard of living which teachers as a group should be able to maintain. Based upon the general premise that teachers should live well-rounded lives, the conclusion reached was that such a standard would necessarily include the following: 1. A dignified scale of living in the present, in cluding the ability to share one’s substance with others. 2. Freedom from financial worries in the present and provision for financial independence after re tirement. 3. Study and recreation to enrich the mind and to insure mental and physical health. These essential human needs are expressed most clearly and simply in Figure XIII, which Federation) FIGURE XIII STANDARDS $$ $$<——$—$—$———————— —" OF LIVING | MISCELLANEOUS NEEDS SAVE GIVE HAVE NECESSITIES FOOD EXISTENCE cmnns GROWTH | STANDARD vein STANDARD OPERATING BETTERMENTS EDUCATION RECREATION MISCELLANEOUS LUXURIES SOuRCE: Economic EDUCATION. Money Management Method. Boox i), P. 13 AMERICAN ASSOCIATION FOR { 247 ] classifies all possible uses of money under the three main heads of “Save,” “Give,” and “Have,” the last of these being sub-divided into “Necessities” and “Betterments.” *? The chart shows the difference between a mere “‘exist- ence” standard and the “growth” standard of living deemed essential for teachers. The ex- istence standard includes only the group of necessities: food, clothing, housing, operating, and miscellaneous needs. The growth standard includes these necessities and the items of sav- ing, giving, and betterments as well. An appro- priate distribution of income among these four categories is essential if the individual and his dependents are to lead well-rounded lives. A “goal” apportionment of income—The proper distribution of income among these four uses is essentially a problem for each individual, depending upon the size of his income, the rela- tive costs of various items, his personal tastes, and his responsibilities for the support of de- pendents. Nevertheless, it is possible to set up as a goal an apportionment which, assuming a sufficiently large income, will provide not only a dignified standard of living during active service, but also a similar standard of living during the years of retirement. The goal pro- posed in the money-management plan men- tioned above, and recommended for its reason- ableness by the Committee on the Economic Status of the Teacher, is as follows: ee ee ee ee Caen eee 20 percent MINE, “2st aan: «ew ag academe 10 percent NO kori. oa 0.3 Sx gaa waiahs tabi 50 percent a ES Pee ee eee 20 percent The percentages in this goal distribution are based upon simple facts and straightforward reasoning. Compound interest and life annuity tables show that 20 percent of income must be saved and invested at compound interest each year for at least thirty-two years, if the indi- vidual is to accumulate sufficient capital to provide a retirement income equal to his aver- age current expenditures during active service.° If 20 percent each year is to be laid aside for the retirement period, it seems reasonable that an equivalent amount be used for personal im- * See: Money Management Method. Book Two. cation, 1933. “Key.” ® See: Money Management Method. Book I. ‘‘Key.”’ Boston: American Association for Economic Education, p. 13. provement and recreation during active s ice. Enrichment of life in the present is su: as important as provision for the future. A | ance between savings and expenditures betterments, while not an infallible guide : maximum happiness, will help to prevent p: ent extravagance on the one hand, and the warranted hoarding of money on the oth Thus far we have accounted for 40 percent income. An additional 10 percent is assig: to giving because this is the Biblical stand and because, on a moderate or large income under present social conditions, it seems to a fair proportion for sharing. Having thus lotted a total of 50 percent of income to saving betterments, and giving, we have left only 5 percent for necessities. It cannot be too strongly emphasized t! the foregoing distribution is a tentative go toward which to work. While the committe: believes that competent teachers after a reaso: able period of service should receive incom large enough to permit the attainment of t! goal, it recognizes that the present incomes most teachers are considerably below suc! level. As shown in Chapter IV, page 198, ¢! smaller the income, other factors being equ the larger is the percentage required for ne sities. Altho there may have been room for provement in the management of money by teachers cooperating in this survey, it is nev: theless clear that the goal apportionment s gested here cannot be attained by all teachers regardless of income or living conditions. ‘| goal is presented primarily to clarify the pr lem of intelligent living, and to encourag: teachers to achieve as satisfactory a balance the use of income as their circumstances w’!! permit. Suggested apportionments for teachers various circumstances—T ables 34 to 36, inc! sive, present suggested budget apportionments according to size of income, for three groups of teachers classified by general type of living conditions and number of total dependents. |n each of these tables the percents allotted necessities are similar to the average amounts actually spent for necessities by the correspon Boston (9 Park Street): American Association for Economic } { Dav Horace W. Money Sense. New York: McGraw-Hill Book Co., 1934, p. 168-70, 242, 246 { Schnedler, William A. How to Ahead Financially. New York: Harper and Bros., 1926. Chart 1, facing p. 22. [ 248 ] m 2 S$ sur . A bal res uide t it pr the un other ‘cent ot ssigned andard me and Ss to be hus al saving nly 50 ‘d th it re goal umittee reason ncomes of this mes ot such 8S the equa neces ‘Ol by the neve! It sug ach rs . This prob yurage nce in ers in inclu nents, rroups living its. In ed to iounts pond ic Edu | Davis to ¢ 1¢ groups of teachers in this survey, as shown [able 21 on page 199. The percents allotted to saving, giving, and betterments were ob- tained by arbitrarily dividing the remainder of the budget so as to provide the same balance imong these three items as is provided in the voal-apportionment described above. ‘lo obtain . smooth trend in the percents for necessities from the lowest income level to the highest, the yures presented in Table 21 were modified S follows: 1. The percent spent for necessities by teachers n the highest income interval ($3500 or more) was lisregarded in each case because of the small num- ver and wide scattering of cases in that interval. Che percent for the second highest income interval $3000-3499) was also disregarded in the case of single women not maintaining homes, because that percent was obviously inconsistent with the general trend. 2. The average difference between the percents spent for necessities in the remaining income inter- vals was computed for each of the three types of teacher. 3. The percent for necessities at each income level from $1250 to $3750 (the mid-point of each five- hundred-dollar interval) was then adjusted so as to make the difference between successive percents approximately equal to the average difference com- puted in step 2 above. The starting point for this adjustment was the percent actually spent by teach- ers at the income level representing the largest num- ber of teachers--$1750 for both groups of women, and $2250 for the men TABLE 34.—SUGGESTED BUDGET AP- PORTIONMENTS FOR A _ SINGLE WOMAN TEACHER IN A LARGE CITY WHO DOES NOT MAINTAIN A HOME BUT SUPPORTS ONE OTHER TO- TALLY DEPENDENT PERSON Percents of budget at each income level Items of §©£————______________- budget $1250 $1750 $2250 $2750 $3250 $3750 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Tee 14 15 17 19 20 22 Giving. ...... 7 8 8 9 10 10 Necessities... . 66 62 58 54 50 47 Betterments. . 13 15 17 18 20 21 Read table thus: It is suggested that the single woman not maintaining a home but supporting one dependent on an in- come of $1250, allot approximately 14 percent of her budget to saving, 7 percent to giving, 66 percent to necessities, and 13 percent to betterments. Similarly read the allotments sug- gested for such a teacher at higher income levels. Source: See explanation on p. 248. Percents for necessities are slight modifications of those reported in column 4 of Table 21 Percents for saving, giving, and betterments were obtained by dividing remainder of budget to produce a ratio of approxi- mately 2:1:2 among these items. Table 34 suggests, for example, that while the average single woman not maintaining a home should be able to approximate the goal apportionment on an income of $3250, she may need to spend as much as 66 percent for neces sities if her income is only $1250. TABLE 35.—SUGGESTED BUDGET AP- PORTIONMENTS FOR A_ SINGLE WOMAN TEACHER IN A LARGE CITY WHO MAINTAINS A HOME AND SUP- PORTS ONE OTHER TOTALLY DE- PENDENT PERSON Percents of budget at each income level Items of - budget $1250 $1750 $2250 $2750 $3250 $3750 1 2 3 + 5 6 7 Saving 11 12 14 15 1 18 Giving 5 6 7 8 8 7) Necessities 73 70 66 6 58 55 Betterments 11 12 13 15 17 18 Read table thus It is suggested that the sin tle woman iit taining a home and supporting one dependent on an income $1250, allot approximately 11 percent of her budget to savir 5 percent to giving, 73 percent to necessities, and 11 percent t betterments. Similarly read the allotments suggested for such a teacher at higher income levels. Source: See explanation on p. 248. Percents for necessiti¢ are slight modifications of those reported in column 3 of Table 21. Percents for saving, giving, and betterments were obtained by dividing remainder of budget to produce a ratio of approx mately 2:1:2 among these items TABLE 36.—SUGGESTED BUDGET AP- PORTIONMENTS FOR A MARRIED MAN TEACHER IN A LARGE CITY WHO MAINTAINS A HOME AND SUP- PORTS THREE OTHER TOTALLY DE- PENDENT PERSONS Percents of budget at each income level Items of -— ——- - —-——— - -~ budget $1250 $1750 $2250 $2750 $3250 $3750 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Saving 5 7 9 11 13 15 GAVIME «0000 3 4 5 6 8 Necessities. .. 87 82 77 72 67 fi 7 9 11 13 15 Betterments 5 Read table thus: It is suggested that the married man main taining a home and supporting three dependents on an income of $1250, allot approximately 5 percent of his budget to saving 3 percent to giving, 87 percent to necessities, and 5 percent to betterments. Similarly read the allotments suggested for such a teacher at higher income levels Source: See explanation on p. 248. Percents for necessities are slight modifications of those reported in column 2 of Table 21 Percents for saving, giving, and betterments were obtained by dividing remainder of budget to produce a ratio of approximately 2:1:2 among these items. Tables 35 and 36, which suggest apportion- ments for single women and married men main- taining homes, indicate that neither of these groups can reasonably be expected, on the aver- age, to attain the 50 percent standard for necessities at any of the income levels shown. The suggested percents for necessities range [ 249 ] from 73 percent of $1250 to 55 percent of $3750 for the single woman maintaining a home, and from 87 percent to 62 percent at these same income levels for the married man maintaining a home. No apportionments are proposed for higher incomes because the num- ber of teachers reporting such incomes in this survey was too small to provide a satisfactory basis for budget recommendations. The principal difference between these sug- gested apportionments and those actually re- ported by teachers is in the percents allotted to saving, giving, and betterments. As shown in Chapter IV, the reporting teachers tended to save and to give excessively in proportion to their expenditures for betterments. It is recom- mended that, insofar as possible, the allotments tor both saving and betterments be approxi- mately twice as large as the allotment for giving. The reader should bear in mind that the ap- portionments proposed will not apply to every member of the group which they are intended to represent. Due allowance must be made for differences in the type of home maintained or in the type and location of rooms occupied, as well as in many other matters of personal choice or necessity. For example, the single woman rooming and boarding away from home will need to spend more for necessities than the woman whose parents furnish her room and board without charge. Similarly, the teacher whose home is entirely paid for will probably need to spend less for necessities than the teacher who is renting or buying a home on in- stalments. Moreover, many teachers have in- comes and numbers of dependents which are different from those specified in the accompany- ing tables. All such factors must be taken into consideration by any teacher who wishes to use the suggested figures as a guide in managing his or her income. Some help in making neces- sary adjustments may be obtained by consulting the detailed figures on teachers’ actual expend- itures in the Appendix, pages 258-64, but as a rule the number of reporting teachers in each specific sub-group was hardly large enough to warrant definite recommendations. Influence of changes in cost of living—One factor which will doubtless affect significantly the budget apportionment of any given income during the next few years, is that of rising com- modity prices. If income remains the same dur- ing a period of rising prices, the amount devoted to saving, to giving, or to betterments must reduced or else a lower scale for necessities must be adopted. Which of these courses to follow will be to some extent a matter for individual choice. Table 37 shows how the suggested a; portionment of a $1750 income for a single woman not maintaining a home but supporting one dependent, might be changed to take count of a hypothetical 15 percent increase in the average cost of necessities over the 1932-33 level. The modified figures are based on the assumption that the kinds and quantities of necessities purchased are to remain the sam and that the amounts of money devoted to s ing, giving, and betterments are all to be 1 duced proportionately so as to maintain thy same ratio among them. ‘The result is an i: crease from 62.0 to 71.3 percent for necessities together with a corresponding decrease in th percent for each of the other items. TABLE 37.—SUGGESTED CHANGE IN BUDGET APPORTIONMENT FOR A SINGLE WOMAN TEACHER NOT MAINTAINING A HOME BUT SUP. PORTING ONE TOTAL DEPENDENT ON AN INCOME OF $1750, IN CASE OF A 15 PERCENT INCREASE IN COST OF NECESSITIES Apportionment if cost of necessities is Items of budget . 15 percent greater Same as in 1932-33 than in 1932-33 Amount Percent Amount Percent 1 2 3 4 5 Saving..... $262.50 15.0 $200.90 s.S ea 140.00 8.0 100.45 5 Necessities... .. 1085 .00 62.0 1247 .75 71.3 Betterments.... 262.50 15.0 200.90 11.5 Total income.... $1750.00 100.0 $1750.00 100.0 Read table thus: With the cost of necessities at the 1932 level, it is suggested that the average teacher described h« devote approximately $1085.00 or 62.0 percent of her income | necessities, but that this allotment be increased to $1247.75 o 71.3 percent if the cost of necessities should increase 15 pe cent above the 1932-33 level. Similarly read the figures fo saving, giving, and betterments. Source: Figures in columns 2 and 3 correspond to those column 3 of Table 34. Those in columns 4 and 5 were puted by increasing the allotment for necessities by 15 percent and adjusting the remainder of the budget to obtain a ratio 2:1:2 between saving, giving, and betterments. Keeping accurate account of expenditures No budget plan can be carried out successfull; without keeping an accurate account of expend itures. In fact, it is advisable to keep such a record for several months or a year before set ting up one’s budget plan. Knowledge of how . one has been using his income in the past is of [ 250] Hust De -S Must follow vidual ted ap- single Orting ike at an in ssities in the E IN PR A NOT SUP- VENT E OF >OST eater -33 rcent 5 1.5 5.7 1.3 1.5 0.0 932-3 d here ome t 1.75 on 5 per res for 10se I! e con yercent atio of “es — Fully end- ch a Pie how is of great help in planning his program for the future. If the record reveals that it will prob- ably be impossible for him to achieve the ap- portionment suggested for a teacher in his par ticular circumstances, the suggested apportion ment should be modified accordingly. Once the plan of apportionment has been adopted, all payments of money should be recorded daily and summarized every month or two so that the individual can tell how well he is follow ing his adopted plan. It is not necessary to classify expenditures in great detail. ‘The essential values of budgeting can be obtained by simply classifying all uses of money under the four heads of saving, giv ing, necessities, and betterments.* Many teach ers will find it helpful, however, to divide one or more of these categories into several sub items, such as those indicated in Figure XIII, or those used in collecting information on teachers’ expenditures in this survey. Even if a detailed classification is used, the four main categories should be retained, because they rep- resent the four general types of life values which every individual should strive to obtain in the best possible proportions. Usually a person to whom the study of money management is new can, by exercising greater care and judgment, achieve a signifi- cantly better balance in his use of income. Probably the most effective way of accomplish- ing this is to concentrate on necessities ;* that is, to avoid buying what is not needed, to elimi- nate waste in the use of necessities, and to buy where prices are lowest for goods and services of adequate quality. Increased skill in the pur- chase and use of necessities will reduce the per- cent of income required for such items and will automatically increase the percent avail- able for saving, giving, and betterments. The achievement of the suggested ratio (2:1:2) among the latter three items is relatively sim- ple, depending primarily upon the individual’s own desire to attain such a standard. Suggestions for Determining Appropriate Salary Levels Maximum salaries—It is recommended that wherever financial resources permit, the maxi- mum salary for teachers be tentatively estab- lished at a figure not less than twice the total annual cost of appropriate necessities for an experienced teacher, these necessities to include the maintenance of a home and adequate pro vision for the average number of persons de- pendent upon such teachers for support. ‘hus, if the cost of appropriate necessities for an ex perienced teacher in a given community were tound to be $1750, the recommended maximum salary would be not less than $3500, ‘This amount would enable the average teacher main taining a home in that community to pay for all necessities, including the maintenance of a home for himself and dependents, out of 50 percent of income. However, if the maximum arrived at in this manner were found to be less than the average income received by persons of similar ability, training, and experience in other occupational groups, it might need to be increased somewhat in order to attract per sons of the calibre needed in teaching. Some communities may find it desirable to raise the maximum still further in order to attract the very best teaching talent available. Minimum salaries—It is recommended that the minimum salary for teachers be tentatively established at a figure not less than one and one-third times the total annual cost of appro priate necessities for an inexperienced teache without dependents, and living apart from relatives but not maintaining a home. Thus, if the cost of appropriate necessities for an in experienced teacher in a given community were found to be $900, the recommended minimum salary would be not less than $1200. This amount would permit the average beginning teacher rooming and boarding in that com munity to pay for all necessities out of 75 per cent of income,” and to have left 10 percent for saving, 5 percent for giving, and 10 percent for betterments. However, if the salary so de termined were found to be significantly less than the average income obtainable by inexperi enced persons of equivalent ability and train ing in other lines of work, it might need to be raised in order to attract the kind of individuals desired as teachers. Some communities will wish to raise the minimum still further so as to attract the best inexperienced persons avail able. Schedule of salary increments—It is recom *See: Money Management Method. Book II. ‘‘Key.”’ Boston: American Association for Economic Education, 1933 p. 14 5 This allotment for necessities is exactly half way between spending the entire income for necessities and spending only 50 percent for necessities, as recommended in determining the maximum salary. The Committee believes that even the beginning teacher’s salary should be large enough so that not all of it need be spent for necessities [ 251 ] mended that the salary schedule be so arranged that about ten years are required for the teacher to progress from the minimum to the maximum salary, provided he (or she) obtains the maxi- mum amount of training recognized in the schedule. The application of this recommenda- tion is illustrated in Table 38, which presents a hypothetical salary schedule for a community in which $900 is the cost of appropriate neces- sities for the beginning teacher, and $1750 is the cost of appropriate necessities for the ex- perienced teacher.® In this schedule the mini- mum salary (for a teacher of no experience and only two years of college training) is $1200, while the maximum salary (for a teacher of ten years’ experience and five years of college training) is $3500. The increments are gradu- ated so as to stimulate teachers to obtain addi- tional training up to five years, which is the maximum amount recognized in this particular schedule. Thus, while the annual increase in salary is only $50 for a teacher with only two vears of training, the annual increase is $200 TABLE 38.—HYPOTHETICAL SALARY SCHEDULE FOR TEACHERS (BASED ON ASSUMPTION OF $900 AS LOCAL COST OF NECESSITIES FOR THE BE- GINNER,"* AND $1750 AS COST OF NE- CESSITIES FOR THE EXPERIENCED TEACHER.*) Years of BRP i6iie ceed nw ese = Caperrenee Two Three Four Five 1 2 3 4 5 None . $1200 $1300 $1400 $1500 One - ‘ 1250 1400 1550 1700 Two boat 1300 1500 1700 1900 i _———- 1350 1600 1850 2100 Four.. 1400 1700 2000 2300 a 1450 1800 2150 2500 are : 1500 1900 2300 2700 Seven..... 1550 2000 2450 2900 Eight...... 1600 2100 2600 3100 a nad 1650 2200 2750 3300 , Re, pe 1700 2300 2900 3500 Read table thus: According to this hypothetical schedule, the teacher with only two years of training beyond high school would receive $1200 the first year (no experience), $1250 the next year (after one year of experience), $1300 the next year (after two years of experience), etc. Similarly read the figures for teachers with larger amounts of training. * Necessities for the beginning teacher assume that he (or she) has no dependents and lives apart from relatives but does not maintain a home. » Necessities for the experienced teacher assume that he (or she) maintains a home and has the average number of de- pendents. ® One such schedule might be used for women, and a different one for men, or the same one might be used for both men women. In the latter case, the necessities used as the basis for the minimum salary should be those of the single woman with for the teacher with five years of traini Moreover, at each successive level of ex; ence, the salary increment for an additiona| year of training becomes larger. For teac! of no experience, the salary differential bety successive levels of training is only $100, for teachers of ten years’ experience the « responding differential is $600. The schedule shown in Table 38 is not tended to be adopted without modificatior any school system. Adaptations must be m to local costs of necessities and other conditi affecting the needs of teachers, as well a the peculiar needs and financial resources the local schools. Summary This chapter has made suggestions fo: proving the economic status of teachers in | ways: (1) by increasing the skill and jud ment with which teachers manage their in comes, and (2) by establishing maximum and minimum salaries for teachers on a sounde: basis than in the past. As a guide to better money management, a: outline of fundamental life values has be: presented, and the following apportionment : income has been suggested as a general goa saving, 20 percent; giving, 10 percent; neces sities, 50 percent ; and betterments, 20 percent Since this goal is difficult or impossible of tainment on the incomes received by large num bers of teachers, the chapter has suggested three series of modified goals for teachers different income levels, and under various ing conditions. These modified apportionments are based in part upon teachers’ actual expendi tures, and in part upon the theory of appro priate balance underlying the general goal apportionment. None of the suggested appo: tionments are intended to be applied rigidly. Individual teachers will need to adapt them intelligently to their own peculiar requirements in accordance with differing incomes, living conditions, family responsibilites, and com- modity prices. It is important, however, for each teacher to strive continuously to approach the ultimate goal as closely as possible. The recommendations for the more satis factory determination of salaries are four in 4 t dependents and not maintaining a home, while the necessities used as the basis for the maximum salary should be those of married man maintaining a home and supporting dependents. [ 252] raini expe litior each etwe , wi he « not tion - Mm diti l as rces yund nt, an r idl er t } been ent of Zoal: nece *S rcent. of a »nul geste ers ] + n | da at US ill ments pend i. i ippro goal Ippor gidly. them ments living com- r, tor roac h satis- ur en ar with of in he ber: (1) that the maximum salary fo hers in any community be at least twice the ial cost of necessities for an experienced her who maintains a home and has the age number of dependents; (2) that the imum salary be at least one and one-third nes the annual cost of necessities for an in- xperienced teacher who has no dependents 1 who lives apart from relatives but does maintain a home; (3) that if the salaries determined are significantly less than the erage incomes obtainable by persons of simi- lar ability, training, and experience in other occupations, they be increased as necessary to ttract people of the calibre needed in teaching ; ind (4) that salary increments be so arranged that a teacher may progress from the minimum to the maximum salary in about ten years, pro- vided ke (or she) obtains the maximum amount of training recognized in the salary schedule. The Committee on the Economic Status of the Teacher strongly recommends that the methods suggested in this chapter be generally utilized to improve the economic position of the teaching profession. More adequate salary schedules will eliminate much mental unrest and worry on the part of teachers, while the use of an objective and reasonable procedure in determining such schedules will help to obtain the understanding and approval of taxpayers. It is essential, however, that the wise manage of the adoption of better salary schedules if teachers ment income by teachers accompany in general are to attain and maintain a satis- factory economic status. _ WORKER should follow a definite plan of expenditure based on genuine needs and modified in accordance with his income. The person who spends his income without regard for such a plan runs a dangerous risk. Unless he enjoys an unusually large income he is likely to exceed it at any time and to contract unnecessary debt. Moreover, he and his dependents are likely to suffer from a poorly balanced program of living, with too much emphasis upon the superficial, less essential aspects, and too little emphasis upon self-improvement and cultural development. Again, such a person ordinarily makes little or no provision fot future contingencies, and what provision he does make is usually of the hit-or-miss variety. He saves what is left, and too frequently there is nothing left. Economic Welfare of Teachers, Sixth Yearbook, T he Department of Classroom Teachers, National Education Association, 1931, p. 15-16. CHAPTER X General Summary and Recommendations In the preceding chapters of this report the Committee on the Economic Status of the Teacher has presented detailed information on the following topics: (1) the sources of teach- ers’ incomes; (2) the extent of current bor- rowing and reduction of debt among teachers; (3) the financial assets and liabilities of teach- ers in relation to length of service in teaching ; (+) the amounts of income used for various purposes by teachers at different income levels and under varying circumstances with respect to sex, marital status, number of dependents, and general living conditions; (5) trends in cost of living and in the purchasing power of teachers’ salaries during the depression; (6) recent trends in the average incomes of other important occupational groups; and (7) ways of improving the economic status of teachers, including suggestions for better personal man- agement of money and for the development of more adequate salary schedules. It remains for this chapter to summarize the Committee’s principal findings and recommendations. Sources of income—The incomes of teachers consist largely of salary from the school systems in which they are employed. About 94 percent of the income received by 2358 city teachers in 1932-33 came from this source. The larger the total income, however, the smaller was the per- cent of income from school salary, generally speaking. Current borrowing and reduction of debt— On the average, the amount of borrowing and reduction of debt among the reporting teachers in 1932-33 was not significant. There was less borrowing or greater reduction of outstanding debt at the higher income levels than at the lower. Among teachers with similar incomes, those having greater responsibility for depend- ents incurred more debt than did those with fewer dependents. Net assets accumulated—Reports from the city teachers cooperating in this survey indicate that after thirty-five or forty years of teaching service under conditions such as these persons have experienced and following similar prac- tises of saving and investment, single women might expect to accumulate about $10,000, on the average, while married men might expect to have as much as $17,000, on the averave These amounts are distinctly inadequate to | vide, at age sixty, retirement incomes equal the average current expenditures reported all men and all women teachers in this sur\ They are also much smaller than the $26,61' recommended by the American Provident 5; ciety as a suitable reserve at age sixty for pe: sons who will reach an income of about $310) at the peak of their earning power. Distribution of income among major item: budget—The average income of the 2358 cit) teachers reporting in 1932-33 was $2043. Oj this amount, 16 percent was devoted to saving 13 percent to giving, 65 percent to necessities and 6 percent to betterments. This distribution compares unfavorably with the apportionment proposed as a reasonable and desirable goa namely, 20 percent of income allotted to savin; 10 percent to giving, 50 percent to necessities and 20 percent to betterments. The teachers detailed expenditures indicate that their failure to keep the average expenditures for necessities within 50 percent of income was due primari|\ to inadequacy of income rather than to unwise management of income. On the other hand, the lack of balance between the average amount saved and the average amount spent for bette ments indicates a need for better judgment ot relative values among teachers as a group. Incomes needed to maintain desirable stand ards of living—Other factors being equal, the percent of income required for necessities de creases as income increases. ‘Io attain the tenta tive goal of only 50 percent for necessities in 1932-33, the unmarried women teachers w!i were not maintaining homes evidently needed an income somewhere between $2500 and $3500 on the average, while both the unmarried women and the married men who were main taining homes needed incomes upward of $400) on the average. These figures are based on re turns from the larger cities only, and do not necessarily apply to teachers in small towns and rural areas. They are in sharp contrast, how ever, to the median salary of $2199 reported as paid to all classroom teachers in sixty-five cities over 100,000 in population in 1932-33. [ 254] iverage, to pro qual to rted by survey, 126,61) ent So or per $3100 tems of 58 city $.. OF saving Ssities bution nment > goal, saving, ssities, achers’ failure assities marily INWwise id, the nount etter ent of ’, stand 4 the 2S de trenta ies in who eeded and irried nain 4000 nm re » not ; and how ed as cities 3 - i H e a A : J Income status of teachers and other occupa- signal groups—A comparison of teachers’ aver- age salaries with the estimated incomes of other occupational groups from 1929 to 1933 shows that thruout this period teachers in general oc cupied an unfavorable economic position in re- lation to most other groups with ability and training comparable to those needed by teachers in the modern school. In 1933 (the latest year for which figures on incomes in most other oc- cupations are available), the estimated average salary of all public school teachers, principals, and supervisors in the United States was $1316. This amount was somewhat higher than the pre- liminary estimates of average income for state and county employees other than those in educa- tion. On the other hand, the teachers’ average salary was lower than the preliminary estimates for (1) city employees other than those in edu- cation, (2) federal government employees, (3) clergymen, (4) physicians and surgeons in pri- vate practise, (5) dentists in private practise, (6) lawyers in private practise, (7) consulting engineers, and (8) salaried employees in the mining, manufacturing, construction, steam railroad, Pullman, railway express, and water transportation industries. In the same year the average salary of class- room teachers in sixty-five cities over 100,000 in population was $2199, which was lower than the estimated average incomes of (1) physicians and surgeons, (2) dentists, (3) lawyers, and (+) consulting engineers. Recent trends in incomes of teachers and other groups—By 1934 the average salary of all public school teachers in the nation is esti mated to have fallen 12 percent, and that of teachers in sixty-five large cities about 7 per- cent, below their 1929 levels (with evidence of a very slight average upturn in 1935). These figures refer, of course, only to the salaries of those who kept their jobs. The number of teachers who were dropped from service and whose salaries therefore fell 100 percent cannot be told from the data at hand. Between 1929 and 1933 the average incomes of employees in city, county, state, and federal governments showed trends similar to those for teachers, ranging from 3 to 7 percent lower in 1933 than in 1929. The decreases were much greater among most of the professional and pri- vately employed groups, ranging from 21 per- cent for salaried employees in seven industries to 62 percent tor consulting engineers. Yet, as already stated, the average incomes of all these groups except state and county employees re- mained higher in 1933 than the average salary of all public school teachers. Recent power of teachers’ salaries—During the early years of the trends in purchasing depression, the purchasing power of teachers’ average salaries increased markedly, because the decline in cost of living was greater than the decrease in average salaries received. In the school year 1932-33, the purchasing power of the average salary of teachers in the nation as a whole was about 22 percent greater than in 1928-29, and that of teachers in sixty-five large cities was about 27 percent greater than in 1928-29. In 1933-34, however, further reduc tions in salaries together with a small increase in total cost of living brought the average pur- chasing power of all teachers in the nation down to a level only 9 percent above that of 1928-29, and that of teachers in the sixty-five large cities to a level only 15 percent above that of 1928-29. While facts on cost of living are not yet avail- able for the entire year 1934-35, it is estimated that if living costs continue to rise at the same rate as between 1932-33 and 1933-34, the aver- age purchasing power of all teachers will have fallen to a level only 5 percent above that of 1928-29, and the purchasing power of the large city teachers to a level only 11 percent above that of 1928-29. Thus it is clear that the gains made during the first few years of the depres- sion may soon be lost entirely if the usual lag of salary adjustments behind changes in living costs is permitted to continue. Moreover, there is evidence for believing that the extra burdens placed upon many teachers since 1929 tended to offset the early favorable trend in the cost of living. The number of dependents upon teachers, both men and women, has undoubtedly increased during the depression. Variations among individual states and com- munities—It should be emphasized that the average figures for teachers given above do not represent the situation in all localities. The teachers in many communities have fared much worse during the depression, while others have fared better, than the national averages indicate. The need for adjustment of teachers’ salaries in the individual states and local communities can be determined only in the light of condi- tions in each state and community. To study [ 255] these conditions and to discover the needs aris- ing therefrom are primarily the responsibility of state and local agencies. Basic principles for adjusting teachers’ sala- ries—Iwo general considerations should be kept paramount with respect to adjustments in teachers’ salaries: (1) To obtain and keep teachers with the natural ability, professional training, and general culture needed in a mod- ern program of education, the salaries paid must provide standards of living fully as attrac- tive as those enjoyed by persons of comparable ability and training in other fields of work ; and (2) in a nation having the natural wealth and productive power of the United States, the mere maintenance of present purchasing power for most of our people is socially indefensible ; the buying ability of all low and moderately paid groups, at least, should be continuously in- creased for many years to come. While teachers in general seem to have suffered no more than many comparable occupational groups during the depression (and less than some groups), the need for improvement in their economic status is great. This improvement should and will be achieved, not at the expense of, but in connec- tion with, the economic progress of our people as a whole. Determining appropriate salary levels—lIt is recommended (1) that wherever financial re- sources permit, the maximum salary for teachers be tentatively established at a figure not less than twice the annual local cost of suitable nec- essities for an experienced teacher—these neces- sities to include the maintenance of a home and adequate provision for the average number of persons dependent upon such teachers for support; (2) that the minimum salary be tenta- tively established at a figure not less than one and one-third times the annual local cost of suitable necessities for an inexperienced teacher without dependents and living apart from rela- tives but not maintaining a home; (3) that if the salaries so determined are found to be sig- nificantly less than the average incomes obtain- able by persons of similar ability, training, experience in other lines of work, they be creased as necessary to attract people of calibre needed in teaching; and (4) that schedule of salary increments be so arran that a teacher may progress from the minim to the maximum salary in about ten years, | vided he (or she) obtains the maximum am: of training recognized in the schedule. Suggestions for the management of incom: There is evidence that teachers need to give creased attention to the problem of perso: money management. This need is especial] parent in the lack of balance between teach: savings and their expenditures for bettermen As a guide to better management, Chapter | \ has presented an outline of fundamental |i: values and has suggested a general goal of portionment toward which everyone may wo: The chapter has also suggested three series intermediate goals for teachers at different come levels and in various living conditio: None of the proposed apportionments should be followed slavishly. Individual teachers w need to modify them in accordance with varyi: incomes, living conditions, numbers of depend ents, and living costs. The important thing that each teacher should strive to approach t ultimate goal as closely as his circumstances permit. Wisdom and skill in money mana; ment must accompany the establishment more adequate salary schedules if teachers erally are to attain a satisfactory econon status. Need for stable economic conditions—I\n portant as are better salary schedules and bet management of income, they alone cannot gua antee the financial stability and security whi teachers (like all other groups) should ha: To assure such stability and security, the ec nomic system of the nation must be so order: as to maintain the safety and productivene of personal investments, and to prevent maj: changes in the purchasing power of money. [ 256] ition hou! l 5 Wi ryit pend ing h t! sw nag APPENDIX Tables Showing Average Distributions of Income for All Specific Groups of Teachers Complete List of Commodities Priced in Constructing the Cost-of- Living Index of the U. S. 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JaU PUB Sjuepusdep 0} ZuIpio.0B sdnoiy » SHNOH ONILNaAY SHYAHOVAL NAW GAIAAVW AO SdNOAD SNOIAVA Ad AWOONI AO SNOILNAIALSIG ADVAAAV—'bt’ ATIAVL TABLE 45.—AVERAGE DISTRIBUTIONS OF INCOME BY VARIOUS GROUPS orf SINGLE WOMEN TEACHERS SHARING EXPENSES WITH NON-RELATIVES Groups according to net income Total group ——_—___— ~—-—-- =~ - — Items of budget (127 teachers) Under $1500 $1500-1999 $2000-2499 $2500-2999 $3000 and (13 teachers) (67 teachers) (29teachers) (12 teachers) (6 teache 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Food jcnaeubads sbetann seca $215» $1654 $211¢ $2096 $235 $348 0 ee ee eer eee eee 223¢ 1674 227% 2276 219 32 House op2ration........see+e+s 1295 754 108e¢ 1386 215 23 Food, rent, and house operation 567 407 546 574 670 90 auc sch sdeneereen tne 210 167 200 232 196 32 , 0 ES ae b> Se ee 34 40 24 36 55 9 0 ee eer ee 33 19 27 26 72 91 ee eee ee 86 51 92 90 77 10 Transportation........ wdipectnre 128 118 124 109 141 26¢ Aid to dependents..... tnacnes 174 121 145 188 282 332 Gifts and donations............ 182 77 168 178 314 320 Education and recreation....... 115 72 96 132 143 26¢ Miscellaneous............ hinds 64 62 65 60 63 81 Surplus or saving®........... 7 401 211 293 570 649 703 Total net income........ $1,994 $1,345 $1,780 $2,195 $2,662 $3,478 Read table thus: The total group of single women sharing expenses with non-relatives received an average income of $ and spent, on the average, $215 for food, $223 for rent, $129 for house operation, etc. Similarly read figures for the variou groups according to size of income. * Living with others (not relatives) and sharing expenses for at least eight months of the year. » Estimated on basis of only 115 cases in which this item was reported separately. © Estimated on basis of only 116 cases in which this item was reported separately. @ Estimated on basis of only 8 cases in which this item was reported separately. ¢ Estimated on basis of only 61 cases in which this item was reported separately. f Estimated on basis of only 62 cases in which this item was reported separately. ® Estimated on basis of only 28 cases in which this ‘**m was reported separately. » Excess of income over current expenditures. TABLE 46.—AVERAGE DISTRIBUTIONS OF INCOME BY ALL COOPERATING TEACHERS IN TEN SELECTED CITIES Pitts- Roches- Cincin- Cieve- Kansas Minne- Louis- burgh, ter, nati, land, City, apolis, St.Louis, Dallas, ville, Denver Items of budget Pa, N. Y. oO. oO. Mo. Minn, Mo. Tex. Ky. Colo (170 (141 (209 (100 (147 (161 (105 (185 (120 (12 teachers) teachers) teachers) teachers) teachers) teachers) teachers) teachers) teachers) teach: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Food inediedeta $4140 $320» $3ile $2584 $252¢ $265° $363« $234» $290: $3 Rent. rrr cir. 2848 2005 252¢ 2234 169e 214¢ 2268 1415 165: 1 House operation... .. ‘ 2588 210% 223¢ 1354 174¢ 163! 3008 V44e 170: Food, rent, and house operation....... . 956 730 786 616 595 642 889 519 625 COR ac ctpanane ‘ 256 203 228 178 176 201 260 227 193 Taxes we dataneae : 80 74 39 52 61 47 71 47 35 DEON. cc vaeceGen@ene 74 80 42 38 61 26 91 34 30 i ee 145 82 106 78 99 87 126 108 96 | Transportation........ 221 198 160 133 128 129 166 124 149 ) Aid to dependents... .. 135 86 102 114 100 125 161 116 78 1 Gitts and donations.... 188 142 174 127 131 128 188 138 121 1 Education and recreation 162 131 148 114 96 93 177 104 127 15 Miscellaneous......... 84 64 70 61 70 69 72 73 65 84 Surplus or saving*..... 332 277 390 295 398 294 464 331 211 43 Total net income $2,633 $2,067 $2,245 $1,806 $1,915 $1,841 $2,665 $1,821 $1,730 $2,435 Read table thus: The reporting teachers in Pittsburgh, Pa., received an average income of $2,633, and spent an averaé $414 for food, $284 for rent, $258 for house operation, etc. Similarly read figures for the other nine cities. * Estimated on basis of only 152 cases in which this item was reported separately. » Estimated on basis of only 104 cases in which this item was reported separately. © Estimated on basis of only 159 cases in which this item was reported separately. 4 Estimated on basis of only 82 cases in which this item was reported separately. * Estimated on basis of only 118 cases in which this item was reported separately. t Estimated on basis of only 133 cases in which this item was reported separately. ® Estimated on basis of only 66 cases in which this item was reported separately. » Estimated on basis of only 149 cases in which this item was reported separately. ' Estimated on basis of only 79 cases in which this item was reported separately. 1 Estimated on basis of only 106 cases in which this item was reported separately. * Excess of income over current expenditures. [ 264 ] and acher lou COMPLETE LIST OF COMMODITIES PRICED IN CONSTRUCTING THE COST-OF-LIVING INDEX OF THE U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS (From report forms used by the Bureau) Food (42 items): sirloin steak, round steak, roast (bone in), chuck roast (bone in), plate ng beef (not corned), pork chops (loin), bacon ear, smoked, sliced), ham (smoked, sliced), leg imb (yearling), hens (year or more old, dressed, drawn), salmon (Red Alaska, tall), bread, milk esh, bottled), milk (evaporated, unsweetened), tter (creamery, extra), margarine (animal and vegetable fats), cheese (American, whole milk), rd (pure, loose), vegetable lard substitute, eggs strictly fresh), wheat flour, corn meal, rolled oats, rn flakes, wheat cereal (uncooked), macaroni, rice (whole), beans (small, white navy, hand picked), potatoes (Irish or white), onions (yellow), cabbage, pork and beans, corn (standard), peas standard), tomatoes (standard), sugar (granu lated), tea, coffee, prunes (California), raisins seeded), bananas, oranges. 2. Clothing (73 items): For men and boys (35 items)—felt hats, caps, overalls or work trousers, cotton socks, cotton shirts, pajamas or nightshirts, collars, neckties, rubbers, caps (12-year), wool suits (12-year), cotton stock- ings (12-year), cotton shirts or blouses (12-year), pajamas or nightshirts (12-year), neckties (12- year), high shoes (12-year), straw hats, summer suits (palm beach, mohair, etc.), athletic union suits, low shoes, cotton trousers (12-year), athletic union suits (12-year), winter suits, overcoats, winter union suits, high shoes, wool trousers (12-year), over coats (12-year), winter union suits (12-year), light weight suits, light weight union suits, light weight inion suits (12-year), whole soles and_ heels sewed), half soles and heels (sewed), half soles and heels (12-year). For women and girls (38 items)—house dresses chemise, etc., princess slips, nightgowns or pajamas, corsets or corselettes, brassieres, silk stockings, cot ton or rayon stockings, cotton or rayon stockings or socks (6-year), underwaists (6-year), low shoes, rubbers, rubbers (6-year), gingham or prints (per yard), percale or apron gingham (per yard), sum- mer kimonos, summer union suits, summer union suits (6-year), summer bloomers or drawers (6- year), summer nightgowns or pajamas (6-year), low shoes (6-year), voile (per yard), tub silk (per yard), silk (per yard), silk dresses, wool dresses wool coats, wool coats (6-year), winter kimonos winter union suits, winter bloomers, winter union suits (6-year), winter bloomers (6-year), winte nightgowns or pajamas (6-year), winter shoes high or low (6-year), serge or flannel (per yard), half soles and heels (sewed), rubber heels. 3. Rent: From 500 to 2500 unfurnished houses and apartments in each city. 4. Fuel and light (5 items): coal, wood, gas, electricity, and kerosene. 5. House furnishings (28 items): wool rug grass rug, linoleum, living room chair, dining chai library or living room table, dining table, kitchen table, sanitary couch or bed, dresser, chiffonier, buffet, bedstead, bed spring, mattress, baby carriage, pillowcase, sheet, tablecloth, cotton towel, cotton blankets, wool blankets, comfort, cook stove (coal, wood, gas, or oil), heating stove (coal, wood, gas, or oil), broom, sewing machine, refrigerator. 6. Miscellaneous (43 items): regular street car-fare (adult), movies (first floor, week night, adult), daily newspaper on street, Sunday news paper on street, visit to doctor's ofhce (usual charge), house visit by doctor (usual charge), ob stetrical case (usual charge), calomel tablets (one fourth grain, per dozen), aspirin tablets (5-grain, , per dozen), castor oil (2 ounces), quinine pills (per dozen), standard liquid prescription (2 ounces standard liquid prescription (4 ounces), standard capsule or pill prescription (3-grain mixture), hos pital pay ward (per week), dental filling (usual charge), dental crown (usual charge), dental plate full upper, usual charge), spectacles (gold-filled rims, flat spherical lens), single separate lens laundering men’s collars, plain shirts, sheets, turkish towels, and flat work, soap, laundry soap (6 to 12 ounces), soap powder (8 to 16 ounces), cleaning powder (14 to 18 ounces), man’s shave, haircut, toothbrush, toilet soap, shaving soap or cream, tooth powder or paste, talcum powder, vaseline (1 to 2 ounces), residence telephone service (per month), cigars, cigarettes, cigarette tobacco (1 to 2 ounces), pipe tobacco (1 to 2 ounces), plug tobacco 1 to 3 ounces). LIST OF TABLES Ta ble a a FYPRReK SCHON AwW se WD 26. 27. 28. 29. 30. 31. 32. 33. 34. 35. 36. 37. 38. . Average Amounts of Borrowing and Reduction of Debt Among Single Women Teachers . Number of Teachers in Each City Submitting Complete Reports for the Year.......... . Number of Teachers of Each Sex in Various Types of Living Conditions . Average Number of Persons Dependent upon Incomes of Teachers........ . Number of Dependency Units per Teacher... nc ccsccccccccc ccc ccccacccsceesens . Total Incomes Received by Teachers of Each Sex..........-.0.ceeeeeee eens Average Number of Dependency Units Among Teachers at Various Income Levels........ . Number of Cooperating Teachers in Each Type of School Position............ . Length of School Service Among Teachers of Each Sex................000 0c e eee eeu . Average Amounts of Income Received from Various Sources by Single Women Teachers...... . Average Amounts of Income Received from Various Sources by Married Men Teachers..... . Average Amounts of Borrowing and Reduction of Debt Among Teachers of Both Sexes...... Average Amounts of Borrowing and Reduction of Debt Among Married Men Teachers with ee si ick ac ed ceed SUE MES EUR EC maMGOE A delecicseseeaenbions at SE a a ie aaa wee nies enw Araceae A TRG Galle oie. setae’ Skala erecdare ® . Average Distributions of Income Among Specific Items of the Budget by Men and Women Teachers Percentage Distributions of Income Among Four Major Divisions of the Budget by Teachers in RE I I IO 6 ooo dees ehceWienaswcaseecneesesecnneweessvescess . Average Distributions of Income by Married Men Teachers Owning and Renting Homes on Ne ee tinh mn neredanspedaamavesponvartheeecess Average Distributions of Income by Single Women Teachers Receiving Incomes of $1500 to $1999, in Three Different Types of Living Conditions................06 0.0 ce ccc cece eee ene . Average Distributions of Income by Single Women Teachers at Different Income Levels..... . Average Percents of Income Spent for all Necessities Combined by Men and Women Teachers at es ee aides ak aise ara, aceon bidlind Maia SARE AO Od Ad