The Cost of Living Among Wage-Earners Fall River, Massachusetts, October, 1919, Research Report Number 22, November, 1919

"The Cost of Living Among Wage-Earners" by the National Industrial Conference Board is a report that looks closely at how much it cost working families to live in Fall River, Massachusetts, right after World War I. It shows the money needed to run a home at different levels of comfort during a time when the economy was changing. The report investigates how much families spent each week and year on must-haves like food, housing, clothes, and fuel, figuring out what it took for a family of five to live decently, or even comfortably. The study uncovers that living costs had gone up a lot in just five years, with expenses jumping by 73% since 1914. This report paints a picture of the hard times working families faced after the war and gives useful information about the money problems they dealt with.