Major necessities and minor luxuries: Workers as consumers in Finland at the turn of the twentieth century

Abstract

This article examines consumption in Finland in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The emphasis of the article is on worker households, the consumption of which is described on the basis of household-budget studies. Long-term macro time-series are used to check the views derived from cross-sectional consumption enquiries. These two kinds of data are compared also by comparing the income elasticities of consumption. It is shown that the Finnish consumption structure was at the turn of the century quite traditional, food and other necessities making up the major part of consumption. Modest change towards a somewhat more diversified consumption had, however, already taken place. Furthermore, the inner structure of the broad categories of consumption had also changed. The development of consumption supports the assumption of rising living standards.