LESS WORK, MORE FOOD.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIX, Issue 119, 23 May 1938, Page 8

LESS WORK, MORE FOOD.

The average American workman who labours only 18 minutes for a pound of bacon would have to work at least twice that time to make a similar purchase in almost any foreign country, a survey of comparative buying power and wages has shown. For example, the Englishman would have to work 45 minutes at the prevailing British wage; the German 89 minutes, and the Belgian 156 minutes. Almost the same ratio applies to all standard foodstuffs. In this respect a market basket filled with one pound of bacon, one pound of beef, one pound of butter, one pound of bread, one pound of potatoes, one dozen eggs, one quart of milk and one pound of sugar would represent li hours of labour by an American industrial worker at the prevailing wage average. For the same grocery order the Englishman would work 3| hours, the German 7 hours and the Belgian 14 hours.