How Inflation Hits Three Families

INFLATION discriminates among its victims. It hurts the life styles of some families more than others, depending on their size, income, and even their personal tastes. Sample effects on three families in different income brackets:

Upper-Middle Income. The aptly named Costley family of Rockville, Md.--Nancy, 35, Wayne, 37, and five children aged five to ten--do not feel that they are going broke on $25,000 a year, but neither are they getting anywhere. Wayne, a vice president of Consultec, a management-consulting firm, earns $10,000 a year more than he did in 1964. "But even with steady increases in salary," he says, "I don't see any increase in buying power."

Mrs. Costley, a former TWA hostess who is a part-time religion teacher and Little League batting coach, is anything but extravagant. She asks her butcher to trim fat off meats so that she will not have to pay for it. Still, she spends $85 a week for food and other household items, or twice as much as four years ago. The Costleys not long ago added a porch, patio and basketball court to their ten-room, $46,000 house, at a cost of $4,200, or $1,200 more than they would have paid in 1967. "But I still don't have any dining-room chairs," says Mrs. Costley. "It is just something we have had to postpone." She tried recently to save on sneakers for her four boys by picking up two pairs for $4 each at a sale, but they soon "disintegrated" and she had to go back to buying sneakers at $9 a pair.

"Virtually nothing is going into the savings account," says Wayne Costley. "I'm still in my 30s, but I don't have the freedom to enjoy these years. There's no boat, there are no trips. I work hard, but it amounts to Nancy's going on vacation with the kids once in four years."

Middle-Income. The Munson family of Geneva, 111.--Judy, 27, Lester Jr., 28, and two sons aged nine weeks and 20 months--spends its income of about $16,000 on things that older people might consider luxuries but that the Munsons regard as necessities. They have greatly increased their living standards in the four years since they married. Munson is an associate in his father's law firm, and last September the family moved from a Chicago apartment to a $32,500 house in the exurbs.

Mrs. Munson protests the rising cost of plastic baby pants (69-c- a pair v. 29-c- less than two years ago) and of teen-agers who come in as "mother's helpers" four mornings a week (they now charge $1.25 an hour, up from 75-c- a year ago). She has furnished the house with used pieces rather than new furniture. She thought of economizing by making her own clothes, but concluded that there would be no saving "because the price of fabric has skyrocketed. To make an average dress, including lining, costs $25."

Entertainment is a must item for the Munsons. "When you're still young, and when you have two babies, this is one place where you don't want to cut down--if only for sanity's sake," says Mrs. Munson. She and her husband have substituted a local movie for their former weekly trip into Chicago, where they used to see plays. They hold one dinner party a week, even though Mrs. Munson complains that it costs an "absolute minimum" of $45.

Lower-Middle Income. The La-zorcaks of suburban Pittsburgh --Diane, 30, Paul, 33, and two sons, aged five and two--have found that, as Mrs. Lazorcak puts it, "only the wealthy can afford inflation." On a net income of $8,600 last year, which was $1,500 less than in 1967, the La-zorcaks certainly cannot afford it. Husband and wife work together in D's Pizza Shop, which they own. Mr. Lazorcak has raised his pizza prices from $1.50 to $2 in the last 18 months but cannot keep up with the climbing costs of such simple items as tomato paste. He confesses that his income may be falling because he is too discouraged to work as hard as he used to. "When you knock yourself out and discover that you're making less--well, you figure it's a losing battle," he says.

For the Lazorcaks, inflation is the killer of the dream. One reason, Lazorcak says, is rising rent--up $15 a month last year. His wife stretches the dollar by growing her own fruits and vegetables in a garden. The couple's last night out was on their sixth anniversary--and it cost them a prohibitive $40. Lazorcak, a high-school graduate, thinks only vaguely about going to college some day to study architecture. He has abandoned hopes of opening additional pizza shops because, unlike the heads of bigger businesses, he cannot raise money. Diane has dropped plans to enlarge their kitchen and add another room to the house because "it probably would cost something like $2,000." They do not feel that they can even protect themselves against illness by continuing Blue Cross coverage. "Six years ago, we paid $50 a quarter; now it's $95," says Diane. "We just had to cancel out and quit thinking about what will happen if one of us gets seriously sick."

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