What portion of income went to food in 1936?

In 1936, Dutch families spent an average 29 percent of their income on food and drinks. Today this is a lot less: 13 percent on average according to the 2020 CBS Budget Survey.

Differences between households were much larger in 1936 than they are now. The lower the income, the larger the share spent on food. In 1936, families with the lowest incomes spent 44 percent of their disposable income on food. For those with the highest incomes this was no more than 12 percent.

Differences in spending on housing and energy

Today, disparities between income groups in terms of food budgets are smaller. The lowest incomes spend 19 percent of their income on food, the highest 14 percent. Food also includes alcoholic beverages and tobacco products.

Differences between income groups are now mainly evident in spending on housing and energy. The poorest households spend 41 percent of their income on this category, the richest only 26 percent. Also, the more money a household has, the more it relatively spends on transport and recreation.

Show datatableHousehold expenditure, 2020 (% of total expenditure)Hide datatableHousehold expenditure, 2020 (% of total expenditure)

Household expenditure, 2020 (% of total expenditure)

Inkomensgroep	Food, beverages and tobacco	Housing, water and energy	Transport, recreation and accommodation and food services	Clothing, footwear, home furnishings and household appliances	Other
1st 10% group (low income)	19.2	40.9	15.9	7.5	16.6
2nd	18.8	43.1	15.5	7.9	14.5
3rd	18.0	40.6	17.5	8.5	15.4
4th	15.6	38.6	20.6	9.3	15.8
5th	16.1	37.1	22.6	8.6	15.6
6th	16.2	35.3	23.0	9.4	16.1
7th	15.9	32.5	24.6	10.5	16.5
8th	15.2	30.1	26.6	11.6	16.4
9th	15.2	28.2	28.7	11.8	16.2
10th 10% group (high income)	14.1	25.6	31.2	13.0	16.1

Difficult to compare

Data for 1936 cannot be directly compared with those for 2020. Only 539 families took part in the 1936 Budget Survey, and nobody who lived alone. Added to this, many of the families who participated were precisely those with large numbers of children; there were hardly any with no children. Families from the big cities did not participate at all.

In 2020, over ten thousand households from across the Netherlands took part in the Budget Survey. All types of households were included, people who lived alone or lived together, and both large and small families.

The questions

1. What keeps people from eating healthier?
2. What is working people’s income?
3. How much of the energy we consume is renewable?
4. What percentage wears glasses?
5. How are the dragonflies and butterflies doing?
6. How many housing units are there?
7. How does home burglary affect people?
8. In what occupations do most people work from home?
9. How much more expensive did food get?
10. How many babies were born to unmarried mothers?
11. From which countries do most immigrants come?
12. How many centenarians are there?
13. How do fathers and mothers divide work and care?
14. How many cars are there?
15. How much milk does a cow produce?
16. What portion of income went to food in 1936?
17. How many pigs were there in 1910?
18. How many cattle and pigs in the Netherlands?
19. What do we import from China?
20. What type of shop is seen less and less?
21. How many nights are spent in Dutch hotels?
22. How often do older people have contact with neighbours?
23. How many adults comply with the physical activity guidelines?
24. Where do international students in the Netherlands come from?
25. What are the major religions?
26. How many litres of water do we use per day?
27. How many millionaires in the Netherlands?
28. How many inhabitants in the Netherlands??
29. Where can we ride our bikes?
30. At what age do workers retire?
31. Which day has the most birthdays?
32. How many people have a student debt?
33. How does CBS handle your privacy?