cost of living

cost of living
the average cost of food, clothing, and other necessary or usual goods and services paid by a person, family, etc., or considered as a standard by the members of a group.
[1895-1900]

* * *

Monetary cost of maintaining a particular standard of living, usually measured by calculating the average cost of a number of goods and services.

Measurement of the cost of a minimum standard of living is essential in determining relief payments, social-insurance benefits, and minimum wages. The cost of living is customarily measured by a price index such as the consumer price index. Measurements of change in the cost of living are important in wage negotiations. Cost-of-living measurements are also used to compare the cost of maintaining similar living standards in different areas. See also social insurance.

* * *

      monetary cost of maintaining a particular standard of living, usually measured by calculating the average cost of a number of specific goods and services required by a particular group. The goods and services used as indexes may be the minimum necessary to preserve health or may be what is considered average for a given income group, depending on the purposes of the index.

      Measurement of the cost of a minimum standard of living is essential in determining relief payments, social-insurance benefits, family allowances, tax exemptions, and minimum wages. Measurements of change in the cost of living are important in wage negotiations. It is difficult, however, to make precise comparisons over time, because consumer tastes and the availability of products change.

      Cost-of-living measurements are also used to compare the cost of maintaining similar living standards in different areas. See also consumer price index.

* * *


Universalium. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем сделать НИР

Look at other dictionaries:

  • cost of living — ˌcost of ˈliving noun ECONOMICS the cost of living the average amount of money people in a particular place spend on food, clothes, or a place to live: • The cost of living rose by over 2.5% in the first half of this year. * * * cost of living UK …   Financial and business terms

  • cost of living — cost of liv·ing: the cost of purchasing those goods and services which are included in an accepted standard level of consumption Merriam Webster’s Dictionary of Law. Merriam Webster. 1996. cost of living …   Law dictionary

  • cost of living — n the cost of living the amount of money you need to pay for the food, clothes etc you need to live ▪ Average wages have increased in line with the cost of living …   Dictionary of contemporary English

  • cost-of-living — adjective a cost of living allowance Thesaurus: prices and costssynonym types of prices and describing prices and costshyponym Main entry: cost of living …   Useful english dictionary

  • cost of living — n. the average cost of the necessities of life, such as food, shelter, clothes and medical expenses …   English World dictionary

  • Cost of living — For other uses, see The Cost of Living (disambiguation). Cost of living is the cost of maintaining a certain standard of living. Changes in the cost of living over time are often operationalized in a cost of living index. Cost of living… …   Wikipedia

  • cost of living — noun average cost of basic necessities of life (as food and shelter and clothing) (Freq. 3) a rise in the cost of living reflects the rate of inflation • Hypernyms: ↑cost * * * noun, pl costs of living [count] : the amount of money that is… …   Useful english dictionary

  • Cost of Living — The amount of money needed to sustain a certain level of living, including basic expenses such as housing, food, taxes, and healthcare. Cost of living is often used when comparing how expensive it is to live in one city versus another. Cost of… …   Investment dictionary

  • cost of living — Synonyms and related words: budget, budget items, burden of expenditure, carrying charge, charges, consumer price index, cost, cost of living allowance, cost of living index, costs, direct costs, disbursals, distributed costs, expense, expense… …   Moby Thesaurus

  • cost of living — N SING The cost of living is the average amount of money that people in a particular place need in order to be able to afford basic food, housing, and clothing. The cost of living has increased dramatically... Companies are moving jobs to towns… …   English dictionary

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
… Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”