REAL INCOMES IN AMERICA

Southland Times, Issue 23647, 24 October 1938, Page 8

REAL INCOMES IN AMERICA

REPORT BY NATIONAL COMMITTEE THIRD OF FAMILIES RECEIVE LESS THAN 780 DOLLARS One-third of the families in the United States had incomes of less than 780 dollars in the year 1935-36, says a report issued by the National Resources Committee. This poorest third of the consuming population received about one-tenth of the 59,000,000,000 dollars national income that year—which was just about the same amount as that received by the richest onetenth of 1 per cent, states The Christian Science Monitor in an editorial. To carry the line a little higher, one finds, if the committee’s figures have been correctly drawn, that the income of the average family in that year was about 1070 dollars. In terms of dollars, the American standard of living is not so high as some may have supposed. Not only did 13,000,000 consumers receive less than 780 dollars, but more than half of this number lived on less than 500 dollars for the year, more than two-thirds got along without depending on relief. —. . This may indicate two things: First, that there is still a great capacity for self-reliance and thrifty management on the part of many Americans. Secqnd, that there are many factors apart from money that enter into the actual income and living standards of people. The committee recognizes this by emphasizing in its report that real incomes cannot be fully measured m dollars and cents. GOODS AND SERVICE One family may manage snugly on 1000 dollars a year, while another is miserable on twice as much. Even materially it is not alone money, but rather the goods and satisfactions obtainable, either by monev or by direct efforts, that constitute a scale of living. In this respect one of the most cheering and wholesome developments in months is that by which the “real income” of American workers has taken a turn upward. The American Federation of Labour estimates that the increase of 31,000,000 dollars in workers’ income during July was worth 37,000,000 dollars in buying power when the slight decline in living costs during the same period is also taken into account.

In the last analysis it is only in terms of goods and services, not in terms of money or printed paper, that the standard of living in any nation rises or falls. Though the report of the National Resources Committee may not present as pleasant a picture as all would like, Americans may well remember that they probably obtain a larger income in terms of usable goods and comforts than the people in any other civilization the world has yet developed. The great question tacitly raised by this report is whether that income is being fairly distributed. This is not to say it should be evenly or equally distributed. Rather, it should be divided according as it is earned and deserved. One chart shows that the upper tenth in income range received eighteen times as much for their services as did the lowest tenth. Were, they worth this much more? Should they have received, considering income taxes, perhaps an even wider differential? Or is the disparity wider than the actual difference in the value of their services to humanity?