The pie charts illustrate changes in spending habits of people in the UK between 1971 and 30 years later, 2001.
Overall, the decreasing amounts of money on food and books was followed by a significant increase in spending on cars, computers and restaurants.
In detail, food and car were the items, which showed the biggest expenses in both years. Together they captured over half of people’s spending in the UK. Food accounted for 44% of spending in 1971, but this dropped to 14% in 2001. However, the outlay on cars doubled, rising from 22% in 1971 to 43% in 2001.
Moving on to other categories, spending on eating out doubled, reaching from 7% to 14%. The proportion of expenditures on computers increased dramatically, from 2% in 1971 to 12% in 2001. Moreover, the proportion of furniture witnessed a slight decrease from 9% in 1971 to 8% in 2001. However, as computer expenses rose, the percentage of outlay on books plunged from 6% to 1%.
