[sunkensheep]

$1.50 per day is about $45 per month, $80 per month would be 175% of income, so I'd hope that there was a second income earner in the family.

[acjacobson]

I think the error is the 'per month' part. $80 per year matches pretty well with a daily wage of $1.50, and a monthly housing cost of $6. It would work out to over 20% of their annual budget being allocated to food, which while higher than today, historically seems to match.