” “Half the income of European families is used to pay for house bills and food; transport expenses are increasing, while expenses in culture remain moderate. But there are substantial differences between countries. This is confirmed by Eurostat in a publication on family income and investments based on 2005 statistics (the latest available). "One third of the families’ expenses writes the EU Statistics Office is allocated to the house, including gas, power and water bills". Mortgages or rents make up over 33% of the budget; 19% is spent on food, 12% on transport, 8% on leisure and culture, less than 6% on clothes. Bottom of the list are health (3%) and education (1%). The highest house expenses occur in Bulgaria and Luxembourg, the lowest ones in Romania and Malta. For food, instead, a Romanian family can get to spend one half of its income, 37% in Lithuania, only 12% in Great Britain and Sweden. Many facts are curious. As to spending on wines and spirits, for instance, Ireland comes top of the list (4% of one’s wages) and Cyprus bottom of the list. For meat, in Sweden a family spend less than 2% of their income, while in Romania 12%. Newspapers and books vary, from 0.6% in Bulgaria to 2.4% in Malta.
