Information about How Families in One Country Spent Their Weekly Income - Task 1 Bar Chart Band 9

You should spend about 20 minutes on this task.

The chart below gives information about how families in one country spent their weekly income in 1968 and in 2018.

Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.

Write at least 150 words.

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Task 1 Bar Chart Band 9 Sample Report (1)

The bar graph depicts the data on how the average family in one country spent their weekly income in 1968 and 2018.

Overall, in the 50-year span, the significantly reduced expense for food and the substantially high spending for housing and leisure indicate that the preference for leisure and housing had overtaken food as the largest area of expenditure.

In 1968, the largest expenditure category was food, accounting for 35% of the weekly family income, followed by housing and clothing-footwear, each making up 10% expense of a family’s average income in a week. However, compared to 1968, the proportion of expenditure on food revealed a dramatic change in 2018, constituting only about 17% of weekly average family earning.

On the other hand, housing and leisure occupied the highest spending areas in 2018. These two categories, housing and leisure, had a dramatic shift in spending compared to the previous period, making up from 10% and 9% in 1968 to 19% and 22% in 2018, respectively. Furthermore, families spent only 8% of their weekly income for transportation in 1968, which significantly increased to 16% in 2018. In addition, clothing and footwear, fuel and power, and personal goods all experienced a lower spending share in 2018 in comparison with 1968.

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Task 1 Bar Chart Band 9 Sample Report (2)

The provided bar chart elucidates the average expenditure per week of families in a particular nation during the years 1968 and 2018.

Taking a comprehensive view, it is patently evident that although the costs for food, fuel and power, clothing and footware, and personal goods plummeted, the opposite was true for the remaining categories. Furthermore, the expense for household goods remained unchanged during the said period. While food was the leading expense in 1968, it is noteworthy that in 2018, leisure activities captured the bulk of the family budget, followed closely by housing costs.

In 1968, the family's average spending on food amounted to 35% of their weekly income, which was far more than the expenses for other budgetary concerns. In contrast, each of the other categories, such as fuel and power, clothing and footware, and personal goods, represented a mere 5% to 10% of the budget. Among these, fuel and power represented the lowest cost at 6%.

As time progressed, spending patterns altered significantly. In 2018, food represented a still considerable 17% of the budget, lagging behind housing at 19%, which experienced an overall rise of 9%, and leisure at 22%, which displayed a 13% increase. Additionally, transport also showed a noteworthy growth of 14%. Conversely, fuel and power, clothing and footware, and personal goods experienced a decline in expenditure to 4%, 5%, and 4%, respectively. The only expenditure that remained stagnant during the said period was household goods, accounting for 7% of the family's average weekly spending.

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Task 1 Bar Graph Band 9 Sample Report (3)

The bar chart provides a comparison of the average proportion of weekly family expenditure on various categories in an unspecified country at two distinct points in time: 1968 and 2018.

From an overarching perspective, it can be observed that food constituted the largest expenditure in 1968, while by 2018, families were allocating less to food but a significantly greater portion of their budgets to housing and recreational activities.

Diving into the specifics, in 1968, precisely 35% of total expenses were dedicated to food, representing over a third of all expenditures combined. However, this figure substantially dropped to approximately half over the next five decades. Similarly, the percentage allocated to clothing and footwear also saw a decrease, declining from 10% to 5%. Furthermore, a marginal reduction was evident in fuel and power spending, whereas there was a notable decrease in personal goods purchases over the same period.

In stark contrast, there was a significant upswing in the average spending on housing, escalating from a precise 10% to nearly double that figure. Leisure activities also followed a similar upward trend, starting from approximately 9% and then sharply soaring beyond 20% by 2018. Intriguingly, the chart reveals that expenditures on household goods remained consistent, showing no change over the fifty-year span.

Task 1 Bar Graph Band 8 Sample Report (1)

The bar graph examines the weekly expenditures of an average family across eight distinct industries from 1968 to 2018.

With the exception of housing and transportation, families tend to be substantially more frugal in their spending when it comes to their basic requirements.

The graph shows that in 1968, the largest amount of a family's weekly budget was allocated to food. This accounted for 35% of their total weekly income even though they had spent only a maximum of 10% on any other item. A typical household spent between 6% and 9% of weekly income on other costs, while spending exactly 10% of their income individually on housing, and “clothing and footwear”.

By 2018, just around 50% of weekly food expenditures remained, down from a rate of 35%. Similar decreases in spending were seen for apparel and footwear (down from 10% to 5%) and personal products (down from 8% to 4%). A drop of about 2-3% is also observed in weekly spending on fuel and power. The cost of housing, transportation, and leisure, on the other hand, went up roughly by 8%, 5%, and 12%, respectively.

Task 1 Bar Chart Band 8 Sample Report (2)

The bar graph presented in the analysis provides insights into the changing expenditure patterns of families in a nation across various categories of items, expressed as a percentage of their weekly income, in two distinct periods, 1968 and 2018.

In general, the most notable trend is the significant decline in spending on food items, while the most significant growth in spending was observed in leisurely activities, and the category that remained stagnant over the years was household goods.

Initially, the data reveals a decline in spending on several categories, such as food, fuel, power, clothing, footware, and personal goods. In particular, the most striking reduction in spending is observed in the food category, with a reduction from 35% to approximately 17%, followed by a noteworthy decrease in the clothing and footwear category, with numbers falling from 10% to 5%.

In contrast, categories such as housing, transport, and leisure have shown an increase in spending, with an increase of about 8%, 7%, and 15%, respectively. The most significant jump, however, is observed in the leisure category, which rose from around 9% to 22%.

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