The bar chart illustrates the percentage of weekly income spent by families on eight categories in 1968 and 2018.
Overall, spending patterns changed significantly over time, with a sharp decline in expenditure on food, while leisure, housing and transport accounted for larger shares in 2018. Food was the dominant category in 1968, whereas leisure became the largest in 2018.
In 1968, food accounted for the largest proportion of spending, at around 40%, which fell dramatically to just over 15% in 2018. Similarly, expenditure on clothing and footwear halved from about 10% to 5%. Spending on fuel and power and personal goods also declined slightly, both dropping to around 4-5% in 2018.
By contrast, spending on housing increased from approximately 10% in 1968 to nearly 20% in 2018. A similar trend can be seen in transport, which rose from about 8% to around 14%. Leisure experienced the most notable growth, more than doubling from under 10% to over 20%, making it the largest category in 2018. Meanwhile, expenditure on household goods remained relatively stable at around 7% in both years.