Business: How Inflation Hits Three Families

INFLATION discriminates among its victims. It hurts the life styles of some families more than others, depending on their size, income, and even their personal tastes. Sample effects on three families in different income brackets:

Upper-Middle Income. The aptly named Costley family of Rockville, Md.—Nancy, 35, Wayne, 37, and five children aged five to ten—do not feel that they are going broke on $25,000 a year, but neither are they getting anywhere. Wayne, a vice president of Consultec, a management-consulting firm, earns $10,000 a year more than he did in 1964. "But even with steady increases in salary," he says, "I don't...