Housewives were asked whether they bought and/or baked cakes, buns etc.
Table 1
No. who buy and/or bake
%
Bakes and buys
59
Bakes, but does not buy
15
Buys, but does not bake
21
Neither buys nor bakes
5
Sample:
2372
The same figures expressed as the percentage of the total sample who buy and who bake, give the following two tables.
Table 2
Do you ever bake cakes, pastries etc?
Do you ever buy cakes?
%
%
Yes
74
Yes
80
No
26
No
20
Sample: 2372
Sample: 2372
Only 5% of the housewives in the sample never buy or bake cakes.
One-fourth never bakes
One-fifth never buys.
3
Why cakes are not bought or baked
Table 3
Reasons for not baking:
% of those who do not bake (26% of total sample)
% of total sample
Can’t get ingredients
71
18
Have not enough time to bake
10
3
Have no facilities to bake
8
2
We don’t eat cakes
5
1
Can buy what I need
2
1
Miscellaneous
7
1
No answer
4
1
Those who bake
-
74
Sample:
479
2372
Table 4
Reasons for not buying:
% of those who do not buy (20% of total sample).
% of total sample
Do not like wartime quality of cakes
31
6
Never liked bought cakes, or cakes at all
16
3
Can’t afford cakes
11
2
Can’t queue, or don’t like queueing
8
2
Miscellaneous
8
2
No answer
6
1
Those who buy
-
80
Sample:
463
2372
The main reason for not baking cakes is lack of ingredients; more than two-thirds of the housewives who do not bake, and nearly one-sixth of the whole sample give this reason.
Half of those who do not buy, or a tenth of the sample, do not do so because they dislike the quality of wartime cakes, or of bought cakes generally.
Frequency of baking and buying
Table 5
Frequency of baking:
% of those who bake
% of sample
Twice a week or more
10
8
Once a week
51
38
Once a fortnight
16
12
Less than once a fortnight
21
15
Not answered
2
2
Do not bake
-
26
Sample:
1762
2372
Nearly half the housewives in the sample bake at least once a week.
Table 6
Frequency of buying
(Cakes bought the week before the interview)
% of those who buy
% of sample
Three times a week or more
16
13
Twice a week
17
13
Once a week
41
33
Not last week
23
19
Last week, but how often not known
3
2
Do not buy
-
20
Sample:
1909
2372
77% of those who buy cakes at all and 62% of the whole sample, buy cakes at least once a week. A quarter of the sample, or a third of those who buy cakes at all, bought twice or more during the week before the interview.
