WHEN I WAS YOUR AGE.......
When I was a kid (now be kind, that wasn't too long ago, I'm only 26) I use to be able to buy a five cent mixture. This was a small bag of lollies that you could either choose yourself or buy already made up. You used to get between 15 and 20 sweets for five cents and ice blocks used to cost 4c.
As for nowadays, forget any five cent mixtures - you would be lucky to find a single lolly worth 5c let alone a bag of them!
What is the world coming to! Why do things cost so much more today? Or do they?
Stats NZ also does projects for schools. You can check out some of this stuff on their web site because they have provided us with a hot link, so go forth and surf stats!
But before I lose you totally to our history painted in numbers let's get back to that question that's bugging me.
Was my Dad an awesome bargain hunter in his day or are we getting ripped off?
I think I will leave finding the answer to that question to you people:- let me know what you think.
While you are thinking about that, have a go at filling in the tables below, they will probably help you come up with an answer (hint, hint). It'll probably be easiest if you print out this page so that you can fill in the answers offline - ah the wonders of pen and paper!
Fill in the following table using information from the Statsweb InterLink page. You will probably need to ask your teacher, friends and family to help you with the other figures.
*You can find this information on the Statsweb InterLink page.
When my Dad was a kid in New Zealand he used to be able to buy a penny ice cream (about a cent today), a loaf of bread for a shilling (nearly 12 cents) and a huge bag of lollies for threepence (around 3 cents). What a bargain!
This is where Statistics New Zealand comes in, they have a long history of keeping.....well, keeping ........statistics! They keep a track of the number of people who live in different areas at different times, what people do for a living and how much people earn - not to mention a whole lot of other stuff. You can find out more about Statistics NZ here.
| New Zealand Statistics | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | 1946 | 1949 | 1985 | 1996 |
| Average weekly wage males* |
$ | $ | $ | $ |
| Average weekly wage females* |
$ | $ | $ | $ |
| Cost of: | ||||
| - a loaf of bread | $ | $ | $ | $ |
| - a pair of jeans | $ | $ | $ | $ |
| - going to the movies | $ | $ | $ | $ |
| - a book | $ | $ | $ | $ |
| - travel between NZ and the UK (one way) | $ | $ | $ | $ |
OK - once you've filled in this table you will be able to see how the prices of things have changed over the years - but it still doesn't really tell me if my dad was getting an absolute bargain - why?
Let's try something different to work out this answer.
How much of my Dad's income would he have spent on buying a loaf of bread? How much of our income, or what percentage of our income today do we spent on a loaf of bread?
That is if I earn $250 per week then a loaf of bread costing $2.50 is 1% of my income or if my income is $500 per week then a loaf of bread costing $2.50 is 0.5% of my income.
Get it?!?
Now fill out the following chart. Again, you can use information from the Statsweb InterLink page as well as asking your friends and family.
| New Zealand Statistics | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | 1946 | 1949 | 1985 | 1996 |
| Average weekly wage males* |
$ | $ | $ | $ |
| Average weekly wage females* |
$ | $ | $ | $ |
| Percentage of weekly wage used to buy: | ||||
| - a loaf of bread | % | % | % | % |
| - a pair of jeans | % | % | % | % |
| - going to the movies | % | % | % | % |
| - a book | % | % | % | % |
| - travel between NZ and the UK (one way) | % | % | % | % |
What does this tell us about how much my Dad was paying and how much we pay for things today?
Were things cheaper in Dad's day?
Check out the Statistics NZ site and see what other things you can find out using the tables. I have written some questions for you to have a think about on the site, let us know what you discover. Also check out the info on CPI - what is CPI? I hear you asking, well, I'm not going to tell you, you will have to find that out for yourself. Stats NZ has also put some questions beside their CPI info so have a surf around in there to see what they are after.
In the meantime, here is a bit of an extension activity for all those fast workers out there.
Find something really quirky/bizarre/weird/interesting that existed 100 years ago and still exists today (teachers don't count!). Find out the cost of the item 100 years ago and its cost today.
The most interesting find will win the major prize - the latest "NZ Official Year Book - Te Pukapuka Houanga Whaimana o Aotearoa" from Statistics New Zealand.
It's an amazing book - with facts and figures on every aspect of New Zealand - from geography to government, population to prices, agriculture to the arts. It's a snapshot of a year in New Zealand and will be a valuable resource for any school. Thanks very much to Statistics New Zealand for giving us a copy to give away!
| National Curriculum areas covered: | ||
| New Zealand - Level 4 | ||
| Social studies | English | Maths |
| Resources and economic activities Time, continuity and change Social organisation and processes |
Written language Reading 2,3,4,5 |
Number 4,5,6,7,8,9,11 Statistics 1,2,3,4,5,6,7 |
| Britain - Stage 3 | ||
| English | History | Maths |
| Reading 1ef, 2ac | Unit 4 + key elements | Using and applying 1abc, 2abcd, 3a-e, 4a-e Number 2ab, 3abcdef, 4abcd Algebra 1abc, 2ab, 3ab Data handling 1a-e, 2a-h, 3a-f |
