NEW YORK (CNNfn) - A wage increase for dancing ladies will make it more expensive for your true love to give to thee the gifts contained in the song "The 12 Days of Christmas."
While inflation may be pretty tame in the overall economy, the cost of the 364 gifts listed in the song will rise 6.02 percent this year to a grand total of $58,405.09, according to the PNC Bank, which compiles these costs yearly. The government's Consumer Price Index inflation rate currently stands at 1.5 percent.
The one-time cost of buying gifts (the whole song would require your true love to buy two turtle doves for 11 days..etc) rose 6.53 percent from last year to a total of $14,214.90.
Gains made by ladies dancing were a major contributor to the higher costs. Pay inequity for these women became less of a factor as they received a 20.69 percent wage increase to $3,932.72.
Because of this salary hike, the ladies dancing now make more than the men in the carol, including the 10 lords-a-leaping, 11 pipers piping and 12 drummers drumming. Unfortunately, not all women in the song benefited. The eight maids-a-milking, whose compensation depends on the minimum wage, are also being slowly phased out due to automation. They cost $41.20 this year. The overall cost of the carol was also pushed higher by an increase in the price of pear trees, which rose 133.31 percent to $89.99. However, the partridge contained therein stayed the same at $15.
The costs of each verse are:
Partridge in a pear tree:...........$104.99
Two turtle doves:...................$50
Three French hens:..................$15
Four calling birds:.................$280
Five gold rings:....................$250
Six geese-a-laying:.................$150
Seven swans-a-swimming:.............$3,500
Eight maids-a-milking:..............$41.20
Nine ladies dancing:................$3,932.72
10 lords-a-leaping:.................$3,433.99
11 pipers piping:...................$1,179.36
12 drummers drumming:...............$1,277.64
Total: $14,214.90
Not every item in the song increased in price. The Christmas price index also reflected a trend among women's taste in jewelry. Increasingly, women are turning away from simple gold bands to those mounted with diamonds or other gems. It is this shift in taste which brought the price of five gold rings down 23.08 percent to $250.
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