RELATION BETWEEN PERIOD OF RESIDENCE AND EARNING ABILITY. The degree, if any, to which length of residence in the United States affects the wage-earning ability of the various races is disclosed in the following table, which shows the per cent of foreign-born male employees 18 years of age or over earning each specified amount per week by race and length of residence in the United States: TABLE 357.-Per cent of foreign-born male employees 18 years of age or over earning each specified amount per week, by race and length of residence in the United States.* (STUDY OF EMPLOYEES.) [By years in the United States is meant years since first arrival in the United States. This table includes only races with 200 or more males reporting.] *This table shows wages or earnings for the period indicated, but no account is taken of voluntary lost time or lost time from shutdowns or other causes. In the various tables in this report showing annual earnings allowance is made for time lost during the year. Not computed, owing to small number involved. As a rule the proportion of a race earning each specified amount per week increases with the length of residence in the United States. In other words, the lowest level of earnings is among those who have been in this country under five years, and the highest is among those who have been here at least ten years. There is, moreover, a more marked difference between the earnings of the under-five-year and five-to-nine-year groups than between the earnings of those in the United States five to nine years and those here ten years or over. The table next submitted shows the comparative earnings per week of foreign-born male employees 18 years of age or over, by race and length of residence in the United States: TABLE 358.-Comparative earnings per week of foreign-born male employees 18 years of age or over, by race and length of residence in the United States. (STUDY OF EMPLOYEES.) [By years in the United States is meant years since first arrival in the United States. This table includes only races with 200 or more males reporting.] This table shows wages or earnings for the period indicated, but no account is taken of voluntary lost time or lost time from shutdowns or other causes. In the various tables in this report showing annual earnings allowance is made for time lost during the year. Not computed, owing to small number involved. Of those of each race with a period of residence of less than five years, the proportion earning $15 or over a week ranges from 19 per cent of the German to 1.7 per cent of the North Italian, while the proportion of each race with a period of residence of from five to nine years earning the same amount ranges from 38.8 per cent of the Germans to 7.1 per cent of the North Italians, and the proportion of each with a period of residence of ten years or over ranges from 44.8 per cent of the Germans to 12 per cent of the Croatians. Less than 6 per cent of any race with a period of residence under ten years earn as high as $20, while 14.9 per cent of the German and 10.8 per cent of the Polish with a period of residence of ten years or over earn $20 or over a week. The German, North Italian, and Slovak are the only races showing a proportion in excess of 1 per cent earning $25 or over a week, this proportion being made up of those with a period of residence of ten years or over. ANNUAL EARNINGS OF MALE HEADS OF FAMILIES STUDIED. The table next presented gives the results of the household study as regards the number of husbands at work and their average annual earnings, by general nativity and race: TABLE 359.-Husbands at work, by general nativity and race of individual. a For selection of families, see Vol. II, p. 272. Of the 374 selected families included in the foregoing table, 365 report the husband present. The creditable proportion of 99.2 per cent of the husbands are at work, one being idle among the 29 American whites, and only two, a North Italian and a Slovak, being idle among the 325 foreigners. All the husbands reported as nativeborn of foreign father are at work. The average annual earnings of the husbands reporting are $486. Those who are native-born of native father earn $894 and those who are native-born of foreign father earn $804, but as there are 330 foreign-born as against 44 native-born, and the foreigners' average is only $440, the high earnings of the native-born have little effect on the grand total. The highest earnings among the foreign-born are $592, the average of both Irish and Polish, followed by $562 for the South Italians. The others range from $488 for the Germans to $271 for the Servians. Expressed in terms of a month instead of a year, the general averages of husbands' earnings are as follows: Grand total for all races, $40.50; foreign-born, $36.67; native-born of foreign father, $67; native-born of native father, $74.50. General nativity and race of individual. The annual earnings of the foreign-born races, divided by 12 for this comparison, give monthly averages as follows: Croatians, $40.33; Germans, $40.67; Irish, $49.33; North Italians, $35.83; South Italians, $46.83; Magyars, $26.42; Poles, $49.33; Roumanians, $32.75; Ruthenians, $39.33; Servians, $22.58; Slovaks, $40.58. The following table goes further into detail regarding the annual earnings of the male heads of families discussed in the table last presented, by showing, according to general nativity and race of head of household, the range in annual earnings: TABLE 360.-Earnings per year of male heads of families, by general nativity and race of individual. (STUDY OF HOUSEHOLDS.) [This table includes only male heads of selected families. For selection of families, see Vol. II, p. 272.] Assuming $600 to be, for the purposes of this comparison, a fair annual income, we find 78.9 per cent of the foreign-born heads of families, in contrast with 17.9 per cent of the American white, earning less than that amount. In other words, 82.1 per cent of the employees native-born of native father, and only 21.1 per cent of the foreign-born, earn as much as $600 a year. The employees native-born of foreign father report in very small numbers, but 8 of the 11 earn at least $600 annually, 4 earn at least $800, and 1 earns $1,000 or more. The grand total indicates that the income most commonly reported is between $400 and $600, 35.7 per cent of all the husbands having annual earnings between those figures. The next largest group, 23.5 per cent, have incomes between $200 and $400 and the next, 19 per cent, between $600 and $800. Thirteen and one-half per cent earn less than $200 and 8.3 per cent earn $800 or more. The American whites, shown to have the highest average income, report less than one-half their number earning under $800, and only 60.7 per cent earning under $1,000. The Servians, on the other hand, who report a lower average income than any other race, show their entire number to be earning less than $600, and 75 per cent less Under $200. Under $400. Under $600. Under $800. Under $1,000. than $400. No Magyars and no Slovaks earn as much as $800. As stated, in most of the foreign races a majority of the heads of households earn between $400 and $600 a year, but the Magyars, Roumanians, and Servians show a majority earning less than $400. The foreign-born Irish and Polish each show 1 male earning at least $1,000 a year. ANNUAL EARNINGS OF MALES 18 YEARS OF AGE OR OVER IN THE HOUSEHOLDS STUDIED. In addition to the information as to the income of male heads of families, returns were made regarding the yearly earnings of all the males in the households studied 18 years of age or over, working for wages. These data are here presented, by general nativity and race of individual: TABLE 361.— Yearly earnings (approximate) of males 18 years of age or over, by general nativity and race of individual. This classification including, as it does, all males 18 years of age or over, results in average annual earnings different from those arrived at in the tabulation of heads of families. For example, the average of all persons reporting is $458, for the foreign-born $417, for the native-born of native father $763, and for the native-born of foreign father $806. These averages, with the exception of that for the second generation, are all considerably lower than the corresponding figures in Table 360. The small group of persons native-born of foreign father makes the most creditable showing, none of them earning less than $200, only 5 per cent earning under $400, and 30 per cent under $600, |