July 11, 2000 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

Singles eat out more

Single persons spend a larger portion of their food budget on meals away from home than any other family type.

[Chart data—TXT]

In 1997, single persons allocated 36.7 percent of their total food expenditures to meals at eating places. Families consisting of husband and wife only spent 31.0 percent of their food budget on meals away from home, while families composed of husband and wife with their own children spent 29.2 percent.

Other husband and wife families (such as husband and wife raising a grandchild) devoted only 26.3 percent of their food expenditures to meals out. Single parents spent 26.2 percent of their food budget on meals away from home.

These data are a product of the BLS Consumer Expenditure Survey program. Find out more in "Let’s do lunch: expenditures on meals away from home," by Geoffrey D. Paulin, Monthly Labor Review, May 2000.