The two pie charts illustrate how household spending in a country changed between 1920 and 2000.
Overall, it is clear that the proportion of money spent on food fell dramatically, while the amount spent on recreation, travel and communication increased significantly over the period.
In 1920, food made up by far the largest share of household expenditure, accounting for almost three-quarters (71.9%) of total spending. In contrast, very small amounts of money were spent on housing (1.3%), education (1.7%), and medical care (1.9%). Recreation and other items together represented 7.7%.
By 2000, the pattern of spending had become much more balanced. The percentage of spending on food dropped sharply to 21.8%. Meanwhile, there was a big rise in recreation and other items, which reached 34.2%. Travelling and communication also became a more important part of the budget, rising from only 3.3% to 14.3%. In comparison, spending on housing, education, and clothing all increased slightly, while the share for fuel and light remained almost the same.
In summary, households in 2000 spent a smaller proportion of their income on basic needs such as food and a larger amount on leisure and communication, showing an improvement in living standards.