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Consumption and
Municipal Waste - Part 2 |
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How We Spend |
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Average Annual Expenditures in 2001 were $39,518 per household*
according to results from the Consumer Expenditure Survey released by the Bureau of Labor
Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor. This represented a 3.9 percent increase from
2000, against a 6.4 percent increase in income (before taxes). Expenditures on Personal
Insurance and Health Care, and Entertainment all rose more than the
overall average, ranging from 4.8 to 5.6 percent. Spending on Food and Transportation
also rose (3.2 and 2.9 % respectively), whereas spending on Apparel and Services
decreased by 6.1 percent. While changes like these occur within categories from year to
year, the distribution across expenditures tends to be relatively stable. For instance, in
1991, Cash Contributions were 3.2 percent of expenditures, the same as the 2001
rate. Total Housing expenditures in 1991 were 31.2% and 32.9% in 2001, and the
expenditure rate for Entertainment over the decade remained at about 5 percent. |
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On average, total expenditures in 2001 were 83 percent of income before
taxes, indicating lower spending as a percentage of income than in 1991 (see graph below
for breakdown by age group). |
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* The Bureau of Labor statistics actually uses a "consumer
unit" to measure expenditures. For our purposes the consumer unit resembles a
household closely enough to use as a reference point. |
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© COPYRIGHT 2008 PERCEPT GROUP, INC. |
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