As income rises, the share of income spent on food in the United States

• A. Rises
• B. Remains constant at 15 percent
• C. Falls
• D. Remains constant at 33 percent

Answer: (C)

As income rises, the share of income spent on food falls. This reflects Engel's law: food is a basic necessity, and while households may spend more on food in absolute dollars as they get richer, that increase is smaller than the growth in overall spending. So the portion of the budget devoted to food shrinks as income goes up, even though total food expenditure can rise. In the United States, spending on housing, services, and other goods grows faster than food, pulling the food share downward. The other options imply the budget share for food would stay the same or rise, which doesn’t align with observed spending patterns in higher-income economies.