Source
I. Household budgets of families of workers, white-collar workers, and civil servants1: Income
Occupation of the head of the household | Number of households | Average Income in Marks and (%)2 | |||||||
Total | Husband’s earned income | Husband’s side income | Wife’s income | Childrens’ contribution | Rent from tenants | Other cash income | Earnings in kind | ||
All households | 852 | 2,192.08 | 1,805.35 (82.4) | 51.10 (2.3) | 60.26 (2.7) | 36.79 (1.7) | 44.07 (2.0) | 174.93 (8.0) | 19.58 (0.9) |
Among them: | |||||||||
A. Workers | 522 | 1,835.38 | 1,507.92 (82.2) | 41.05 (2.2) | 79.24 (4.3) | 44.49 (2.4) | 52.98 (2.9) | 102.19 (5.6) | 7.51 (0.4) |
I. Commercial | 436 | 1,865.96 | 1,536.46 (82,3) | 43.05 (2.3) | 73.94 (4.0) | 42.88 (2.3) | 55.96 (3.0) | 105.69 (5.7) | 7.98 (0.4) |
a) skilled | 382 | 1,885.68 | 1,569.46 (83.2) | 44.65 (2.4) | 65.57 (3.5) | 42.46 (2.2) | 52.17 (2.8) | 104.77 (5.6) | 6.60 (0.3) |
b) unskilled | 54 | 1,726.51 | 1,303.01 (75.5) | 31.80 (1,8) | 133.19 (7.7) | 45.85 (2.7) | 82.72 (4.8) | 112.20 (6.5) | 17.74 (1.0) |
II. Workers in trade and commerce | 53 | 1,737.31 | 1,374.20 (79.1) | 27.54 (1.6) | 111.18 (6.4) | 66.19 (3.8) | 45.78 (2.6) | 104.18 (6.0) | 8.24 (0.5) |
III. Workers without a more detailed designation | 33 | 1,588.81 | 1,345.65 (84.7) | 36.32 (2.3) | 97.93 (6.2) | 30.93 (1.9) | 25.31 (1.6) | 52.67 (3.3) | - - |
B. Private employees | 36 | 2,441.69 | 2,012.11 (82.4) | 32.30 (1.3) | 79.69 (3.3) | 33.08 (1.4) | 25.67 (1.0) | 248.63 (10,2) | 10.21 (0.4) |
C. Teachers | 79 | 3,294.32 | 2,753.05 (83.6) | 180.30 (5.5) | 7.03 (0.2) | - - | 5.69 (0.2) | 281.37 (8.5) | 66.88 (2.0) |
D. Mid-level civil servants | 139 | 2,861.72 | 2,376.71 (83.1) | 27.20 (0.9) | 10.19 (0.4) | 13.99 (0.5) | 34.64 (1.2) | 369.11 (12.9) | 29.88 (1.0) |
E. Lower-level civil servants | 67 | 2,084.31 | 1,693,96 (81.3) | 41.11 (2.0) | 24.71 (1.2) | 69.77 (3.3) | 44.59 (2.1) | 171.64 (8,2) | 38.58 (1.9) |
II. Household budgets of families of workers, white-collar workers, and civil servants1: Expenses
Occupation of the head of the household | Number of households | Average expenses in Marks and (%)2 | |||||
Total | Food | Clothing | Housing | Heat and lighing | Other3 | ||
All households | 852 | 2,234.02 | 1,017.52 (45.5) | 282.44 (12.6) | 401.27 (18.0) | 90.83 (4.1) | 441.96 (19.8) |
Among them: | |||||||
A. Workers | 522 | 1,835.06 | 955.06 (52.0) | 204.67 (11.2) | 312.52 (17.0) | 77.99 (4.3) | 284.82 (15.5) |
I. Commercial | 436 | 1,861.56 | 961.30 (51.6) | 206.37 (11.1) | 316.41 (17.0) | 77.87 (4.2) | 299.61 (16.1) |
a) skilled | 382 | 1,881.95 | 969.10 (51.5) | 209.78 (11.2) | 316.46 (16.8) | 79.00 (4.2) | 307.61 (16.3) |
b) unskilled | 54 | 1,717.31 | 906.08 (52.8) | 182.20 (10.6) | 316.12 (18.4) | 69.84 (4.1) | 243.07 (14.1) |
II. Workers in trade and commerce | 53 | 1,752.37 | 935.10 (53.4) | 210.69 (12.0) | 300.31 (17.2) | 80.65 (4.6) | 225.62 (12.8) |
III. Workers without a more detailed designation | 33 | 1,617.71 | 904.58 (55.9) | 172.52 (10.7) | 280.64 (17.3) | 75.38 (4.7) | 184.59 (11.4) |
B. Private employees | 36 | 2,405.06 | 983.31 (40.9) | 306.44 (12.7) | 449.94 (18.7) | 83.34 (3.5) | 582.03 (24.2) |
C. Teachers | 79 | 3,426.76 | 1,189.30 (34.7) | 506.43 (14.8) | 719.18 (21.0) | 127.17 (3.7) | 884.68 (25.8) |
D. Mid-level civil servants | 139 | 3,052.03 | 1,156.50 (37.9) | 434.26 (14.2) | 549.21 (18.0) | 120.01 (3.9) | 792.05 (26.0) |
E. Lower-level civil servants | 67 | 2,116.35 | 1,036.97 (49.0) | 293.15 (13.9) | 384.24 (18.2) | 89.45 (4.2) | 312.54 (14.7) |
1 The data on the income and expenses of poorer families, which is based on the household budgets that were kept for one year according to standardized budget books by 852 families with a total of 3,952 members, was collected between February 1, 1907 and the end of January, 1908 by the Imperial Statistical Office in Berlin, in collaboration with 26 urban statistical offices, in larger cities of the German Empire. (Of the 852 families that were polled, 701 lived in large cities, 81 in mid-sized cities, and 70 in cities with a population of less than 20,000). The studies were not limited to workers’ households, but included also families of salaried employees and civil servants up to an upper income level of ca. 3,000 Marks per year for the head of the household, not counting side income. The polled families varied in size: 421 families with 2–4 persons, 317 families with 5 and 6 persons, 114 families with more than 6 persons.
2 The percentages in the various columns are in parentheses.
3 Chart c) provides a further breakdown of the category “Other” in chart b).
Source: Second special edition of Reichsarbeitsblatt: Erhebung von Wirtschaftsrechnungen minderbemittelter Familien im Deutschen Reiche. Published by the Reich Office of Statistics, Division for Workers’ Statistics. Berlin 1909, pp. 44–45, 48; published in Gerd Hohorst, Jürgen Kocka and Gerhard Ritter, eds., Sozialgeschichtliches Arbeitsbuch: Materialien zur Statistik des Kaiserreichs 1870–1914. Munich: C.H. Beck, 1975, vol. 2, pp. 112–14.