TO AMERICAN DEMOCRACY
 

CHAPTER VI
STANDARD OF LIVING

INTRODUCTION—The "Standard of Living" is a
phrase that has been variously defined. Streighthoff says
that "the standard of living consists of what men ac¬
tually enjoy."* Chapin, in a study bearing directly on
conditions in New York City holds that the problem of
the standard of living presents both an absolute and a
relative aspect, namely (1) "a reliable presentation of
actual data for a given time, place, and class" and (2)
"a comparison with the standards of different times,
places, and classes."** Morimoto in the most recent
study on this subject says that "the standard of living
is the controlling element in economic activities."!
Franklin H. Giddings says "the commodities that a la¬
boring class consumes are not its standard of living.
They are merely an index of its standard. The real
standard of living is a certain conception of economic
life which regulates beliefs and new ideas in varying
proportions and changes as these factors change."$

It may seem strange that in studying Americans of
Italian extraction we should concern ourselves with so-
ciologicaj data that are preeminently Italian. This fol¬
lows though necessarily from the fact that Ihe first and
even the second generations of Americans of Italian
blood are never absolutely removed from the influences
and physical environment of the Italian parent. For
twenty years, and more in very many cases, the Ameri¬
can of Italian extraction has been under the shaping in¬
fluences of a home,that in many cases is more Italian
than American, §

* Streighthoff, F. H. "The Standard of Living" p. 2ff.
** Chapin, R. C. "The Standard of Living Among Working-
men's Families in New York City" passim.

t Morimoto Kokichi, "Standard of Living in Japan, John
Hopkins Univ. Studies," 1918. p. 11.

t Giddings, Franklin H. "Descriptive and Historical Sociol¬
ogy", p. 253.

§ See explanation, supra, p. 29.