State of the factory worker, Ontario, early 20th C

The real earnings index in the right column was derived from the Department of Labour's calculations of expenses representing 100 on the scale, meaning the wage earner earned about 75% of a typical families needs. Pretty tough life.

The table below lists a "typical family's needs" in 1921.

Taken from The Condition of the Working Class in Toronto 1900 to 1921 by Michael Piva

University of Ottawa Press, 1979