The three pie charts illustrate changes in the proportion of annual expenditure by a UK school in 1981, 1991, and 2001. Overall, teachers’ salaries consistently represented the largest share of spending, while insurance accounted for the smallest. Over the period, spending on salaries for teachers and other staff moved in opposite directions, resources and furniture fluctuated sharply, and insurance rose steadily.
In 1981, teachers’ salaries made up 40% of the school’s budget, increasing to exactly half by 1991, before falling slightly to 45% in 2001. By contrast, other workers’ salaries declined continuously from 28% in 1981 to 22% in 1991, and then to 15% in 2001.
Expenditure on resources such as books stood at 15% in 1981, rose to 20% a decade later, but then dropped significantly to just 9% by 2001. A similar but more dramatic fluctuation can be seen in spending on furniture and equipment, which fell from 15% in 1981 to only 5% in 1991, before surging to nearly a quarter of the budget (23%) in 2001.
Insurance represented the smallest share throughout the period, but unlike other categories, it increased consistently. The proportion allocated rose marginally from 2% in 1981 to 3% in 1991, and then more than doubled to 8% by 2001.