I want to set out a list of various jobs, professions i.e. Doctors, teachers, policemen, skilled tradesmen, farm workers, office workers etc and set out their average wage / salary. I would like to do this from 1940 to present day. Similarly I want to take a cross section of goods / services and tabulate their costs over the same period. Things like bread, milk, beer, cigarettes, houses, travel, cinema tickets, entry to football matches,TV, clothing etc. From these it should be interesting to relate how much things 'really cost' in terms of proportion of income.
Can you suggest any useful sites or related reading matter?
The Answer
I doubt if a single source will give you all this information, but recommend starting with Clair Brown's _American Standards of Living_ (Blackwell Publ., 1994). Also take a look at _Pursuing Happiness: American Consumers in the Twentieth Century_ by Stanley Lebergott. Finally, check the Dallas Federal Reserve website, they've recently published a couple of surveys along these lines. You may also try the Consumer Price Index-W for this. The CPI can be found at the Bureau of Labor Statistics web site and goes back to 1913.
Send comments and questions to admin@eh.net
