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129
usual irony of circumstances it is most frequently the families
with the larger families and lower income per head who carry
the heavier burden.
Incidental to the economic enquiry, the size of the families
in the various income groups has been ascertained and the following
figures reveal the extraordinary inversion of the ratio of
income to the size of family.
Gross income per head
Under 5/- 5/-to 6/3 6/3 to 7/6 7/6 to 10/- Over 10/Average
size * 7.6 6.3 5.1 4.4
of family.
*There was only one family in this group with 11 members but this of course
cannot be taken as representative.
The profound effect of size of family and rental upon the
amount available for food per head is insufficiently appreciated.
Two sample families may be taken to illustrate this : one with the
low income of 30/- but only three members and 7/11 rent, while
another with an income of 65/- had 9 members and a rent of 19/9.
A little calculation will shown that despite the smallness of the
gross income in the first case there was actually available 7/4
per head for food, etc., as against only 5/- per head in the (superficially)
better off family.