teady income of $30.27 per week.

In neither of these estimates is any provision made for savings other
than insurance. It should be noted, however, that while allowance has
been made in the budget for medical care, recreation and insurance,
these are to a certain extent provided free if operatives care to
avail themselves of the facilities offered. Thus, life insurance
premiums are paid by many of the mills; social activities are
supported by a few and a nursing service by some. Although allowance
for parochial schools is included in the budget, there are good public
schools available in the city without cost. Taking these circumstances
into account the estimates of the sums needed to maintain an American
standard of living in Fall River in October, 1919, are as
representative as any which can be reached.

These sums provide for the maintenance of a family of five at an
American standard of living, where the father is the sole wage-earner.
It should be recognized, however, that the foreign families are
frequently larger and that in many of them there are several
wage-earners. Their standard of living, on the other hand, is
intrinsically lower.

These averages may be compared with the results of an investigation
made by a totally different method by the United States Bureau of
Labor Statistics in Fall River in 1918 when the average cost of living
of 158 families earning roughly from $900 to $2,500 per year was found
to be $1,320.84.[3] For 12 of these families, yearly expenses averaged
$826.23; for 56, they were $1,058.30; for 48, they were $1,292.54.
Thus, nearly three-quarters of the families were spending about the
same amount or less than that determined by the National Industrial
Conference Board to represent the minimum cost of living. Making
allowance for increases in cost since the Bureau's study was made, the
results of the two investigations are seen to be in substantial
agreement.

[3] _Monthly Labor Review_, May, 1919, p. 154.

TABLE 5: AVERAGE COST OF LIVING FOR A MAN, WIFE AND THREE CHILDREN
UNDER FOURTEEN YEARS OF AGE IN FALL RIVER, MASSACHUSETTS, OCTOBER,
1919

(National Industrial Conference Board)

------------------------+----------------------------------------
| Minimum standard | More liberal
| | standard
|--------+----------+---------+----------
Budget Item