The bar chart delineates the weekly income expenditure of families in one country on eight different categories over 50 years, in 1968, and 2018. Overall, at the start, food, housing, clothing, and footwear were the major sectors households spent the most money. In stark contrast, leisure was the most common category for families’ weekly income spending towards the end of the period.
In terms of increases, in 1968, the proportion of expenditure on housing comprised 10%, and it was followed by a considerable growth to almost 20% in 2018. Similarly, household spending on transport facilities constituted approximately 10%, after which it rose noticeably to just under 15% in 2018. As for leisure, it experienced the highest increase from around 10% to about 22%, becoming the largest segment of expenditure among all in 2018.
Regarding decreases, starting at 35%, the food sector led the list, but it witnessed a dramatic drop to approximately 17% in 2018. Family spending on clothing and footwear accounted for 10% in 1968, and decreased by half to 5% in 2018. In 1968, fuel and power were one of the smallest fractions at around 6%, the figure that then declined marginally to just under 5% in 2018. The same trajectory was true for personal goods, with a slight decrease from around 7% in 1968 and about 4% in 2018. Household goods, on the other hand, were the only category that remained unchanged in both years, equally at around 8%.