Of the races with a residence less than five years the Servians, Slovaks, Roumanians, and Magyars show a high rate of literacy, ranging from 73.9 per cent in the case of the first named race to 82.2 per cent of the last, who can read. A small proportion of the Slovaks who can read can not write. The majority of the Ruthenians, North Italians, Croatians, Poles, and South Italians can neither read nor write, the proportions ranging in the order given from 71.4 per cent to 52.8 per cent. A small proportion of the Croatians and Poles who can read can not write, but in the case of the other races, those who can read can also write. In the case of the Croatians, Slovaks, and Magyars with a residence of from five to nine years in the United States, a very slight proportional decrease in literacy as compared with those of the shorter residence period is noted. In the case of the Servians and Roumanians, however, the decrease is very marked, the proportion dropping in the case of the former from 73.9 per cent who were literate among those less than five years in the United States to 55.6 per cent of those here from five to nine years. In the case of the Ruthenians, South Italians, Poles, and North Italians, however, there is a correspondingly proportionate increase among those five to nine years in the United States. Of those races with a residence of ten years or over in the United States, the Italians, North and South, and the Slovaks show a decrease in literacy as compared with those in the five to nine year period. The Croatians, Ruthenians, Poles, and Magyars, on the other hand, show very greatly increased proportions of those able to read or both read and write. An indication of the progress made by younger, as compared with older, immigrants in acquiring the ability to read and write is afforded by the following table, which shows, by age at time of coming to the United States and race of individual, the percentage of foreign-born persons in the households studied who are ten years of age or over and who are able to read and the percentage of those who are able to read and write: TABLE 214.-Per cent of foreign-born persons 10 years of age or over who read, and per cent who read and write, by age at time of coming to the United States, and race of individual. (STUDY OF HOUSEHOLDS.) [This table includes only races with 40 or more persons reporting. The total, however, is for all foreign-born.] Of those persons who were under 14 years of age when they came to the United States 82.2 per cent can read; of those who were 14 years or over only 65.1 per cent can read. The proportion which both read and write is the same as the proportion that can read for those in the younger group. For the group 14 years of age or over, however, the proportion able to read and write is slightly less than the proportion who can only read. Among those under 14 years of age when they came to the United States, the Bohemians and Moravians, the Croatians, the Germans, and the Irish can both read and write in every instance. With the exception of the Croatians, these races show also a relatively high degree of literacy in the group who were 14 years or older at the time of arrival in this country. The Croatians, however, among those who were 14 or over at the time of coming rank second from the bottom of the scale, both in ability to read and to read and write. The Ruthenians appear to be the least literate for the foreignborn persons under discussion. None of those who were under 14 years of age and only 39.3 per cent of those 14 or over at time of their arrival in the United States can read. The South Italians are also relatively backward in the ability to read and write as compared with other races. Of those who were under 14 years of age when they came to the United States only 64.7 per cent can read and read and write, and of those who were at least 14 years of age at the time of their arrival only 45.4 per cent are literate. CONJUGAL CONDITION. The table next submitted shows, by general nativity and race, the per cent of male employees 20 years of age or over in each conjugal condition. TABLE 215.-Per cent of male employees 20 years of age or over in each conjugal condition, by general nativity and race. (STUDY OF EMPLOYEES.) [This table includes only races with 40 or more males reporting. The totals, however, are for all races.] TABLE 215.—Per cent of male employees 20 years of age or over in each conjugal condition, by general nativity and race- -Continued. Of the males 20 years of age or over for whom information was secured, 67.2 per cent are married and only 2.2 per cent are widowed. The proportion of married employees is slightly larger for foreignborn employees than for whites, native-born of native father or negroes native-born of native father, and is smallest for persons. native-born of foreign father. A much larger proportion of the negroes native-born of native father than of the individuals of any other group are widowed. Of the foreign-born, the Germans, followed by the Welsh, Slovaks, and English, in the order mentioned, have the largest, and the Greeks the smallest, proportion of married employees. The following table shows, by age groups and general nativity and race, the percentage of male employees in each conjugal condition: TABLE 216.-Per cent of male employees in each conjugal condition, by age groups and general nativity and race. (STUDY OF EMPLOYEES.) [This table includes only races with 100 or more males reporting. The totals, however, are for all races.] 20 to 29 years of 30 to 44 years of 45 years of age or 20 years of age or over. Per cent who are Single. Married. Widowed. Number reporting complete data. Single. Married. Widowed. Number reporting complete data. TABLE 216.-Per cent of male employees in each conjugal condition, by age groups and general nativity and race-Continued. Of a total of 48,605 male employees 20 years of age or over studied in the above table, 30.6 per cent are single and 2.2 per cent widowed. The foreign-born employees, as well as those who were native-born of foreign father and those whites who were native-born of native father, show a larger proportion of those who are from 20 to 29 years of age than any other specified age, who are single, and a larger proportion of those who are 45 years of age or over than those of any other specified age, who are married, as well as widowed. The native-born negroes differ only in that they show a larger proportion of those who are from 30 to 44 than any other specified age, who are married. The table next presented shows, for the households studied, the percentage of persons in each conjugal condition, by sex and age groups, and by general nativity and race of individual. |