十八世紀末期イングランドにおける消費水準と賃金水準 : 推計の試み

抄録

This ARTICLE offers an alternative approach to the investigation of the material life of wage labourers in eighteenth-century England. The emphasis will be on the importance of 'income in kind' in assessing the standard of living of agricultural labourers. In other words, it win be argued that the non-monetary aspects of income should be included when calculating living standards. First, evidence from contemporary literature, using figures from family budgets and wage surveys, indicates that Engel's coefficient of workers was very high (over 73%), and moreover that expenditure on food was income elastic. Secondly, 'income in kind' amounted to 26% of the average wage rate without board, and was equivalent to 20% of the average family income. Finally, when allowance is made for 'income in kind', the regional variance in wage rates becomes wider than previous estimates have indicated. Until recently, most estimates of workers' living standards have been based solely on calculations of the real wage rates of adult males. However, during the last decade, this approach has been criticised. For example, wage rates do not reveal annual income levels because they do not take into consideration under-employment or seasonal unemployment. Similarly, it is not possible to talk about household income if the earnings of women and children are ignored. The present ARTICLE calls attention to the fact that workers in the eighteenth-century had many non-monetary alternative sources with which to supplement their livelihood. For example, they could collect peat, or graze livestock on communally owned pasture. While the existence of 'income in kind' is broadly acknowledged, few efforts have been made to investigate its impact on the overall standard of living of agricultural labourers.