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BOARDERS AND LODGERS

Overcrowding is perhaps most frequently shown by the keeping of boarders or lodgers. In the cities investigated, 26 per cent. of all the households visited kept boarders or lodgers. In New York, the largest city, the proportion was 25 per cent. In Milwaukee it was 16.6 per cent. In Chicago the largest number was found-30 per cent. Boston ranks next with 29.5 per cent. Among the natives studied, 10.2 per cent. of the families keep boarders; among the foreignborn, 27.2 per cent. Of all the Lithuanian immigrant families 70.3 per cent. keep boarders or lodgers, as do 47.3 per cent. of the Hungarians, 42.9 per cent. of the North Italians, 37.2 per cent. of the Swedes, 41 per cent. of the Slovaks, and 35.5 per cent. of the Poles. On the other hand, only 9.5 per cent. of the Germans, 5.3 per cent. of the Syrians, 16.7 per cent. of the Irish and 13.1 per cent. of the Bohemians and Moravians, keep boarders and lodgers. It would thus appear that on the whole it is the new immigrants that take these boarders, and there seems to be a considerable difference among the races in this regard.

RENT

The matter of overcrowding is likewise in part a question of rent. Naturally this large factor in the living expenses is considerably higher in the Atlantic coast cities than in those on the Great Lakes. The rents are highest in New York, where the average rent per room is $3.89 per month; lowest in Cleveland, where the average per room is $2.03 per month. The average number of persons to 100 rooms is about the same in the two cities, 139 in New York, 140 in

Cleveland. The household of immigrants, as compared with the native-born wage-earners, pays, generally speaking, the same if not higher rent per room, but lower rent per person, as among the immigrants there is, generally speaking, a much larger number of persons per room. This depends also, often, upon the fact that the immigrants take a greater number of boarders and lodgers, as has already been shown.

The average rent per room paid by the different races is a matter of interest-the native-born white paying $2.51 on the average, the foreign-born $2.90. The native-born negroes pay $3.00, the foreign-born negroes $3.38. The highest average rent per room per month is paid by the Greeks, $4.59. The Russian Hebrews pay $3.51, other Hebrews $3.52. The Poles pay the lowest average rent per room, $1.60; the Slovenians $2.20; the South Italians $3.28.

Quite different is the average rent per person both as regards location and nationality. In New York City the average rent per person per month is $2.59, in Cleveland only $1.37, in Boston $2.12, in Chicago $1.74. It is a matter of surprize to many that the native-born negro pays $3.11 per person, while the native-born white pays only $2.60. Among the foreign-born, also, the negro pays the highest rent per person, $3.25. Next ranks the Greek with $2.75, the Swede with $2.60, the Hebrews other than Russian, $2.55. The lowest rent per person is paid by the immigrant Slovenian, $1.29; next ranks the immigrant Pole, $1.34; the Pole of foreign father, but nativeborn, $1.35; the Slovak, $1.37. The South Italians. pay $1.91, the Russian Hebrews $2.33. In all these cases the effort is clearly and successfully made to reduce rent per person by increasing the number of

persons per room, in many cases by taking in boarders and lodgers.

HOME OWNERSHIP

It will be a surprize to note that approximately onetenth of all the families studied own their homes. The proportion of the home owners among the nativeborn whites is considerably less than half as great as among immigrants, in many cases. On the average of those studied, 5.7 per cent. of the native-born own their homes, as likewise do 10.4 per cent. of the foreign-born.

Among the different races of immigrants, 25.8 per cent. of the Germans-the race with the best showing -own their homes. The Swedes rank high with 19.4 per cent., the Irish with 12.5 per cent., the Poles with 17 per cent., and the Slovenians with 11.1 per cent. On the other hand, not enough of the immigrant negroes, or of the Greeks, to record, have purchased homes; while but 6.4 per cent. of the Russian Hebrews, only 0.6 per cent. of the Syrians, and 4.6 of the Magyars have been thus provident.

This difference among the races is due in part to occupation, which leads the immigrant into different cities. In New York, which is a large tenement-house district, comparatively few can own their homes, only 0.5 per cent; whereas in Milwaukee, where smaller houses are found, 19.8 per cent. own their homes, and in Buffalo 17.5 per cent. Even in Chicago 16.3 per cent. own homes; in Boston, on the other hand, only 4.4 per cent., and in Philadelphia, with its many rows of small houses, only 7.4 per cent.-a surprizingly small proportion indeed.

OCCUPATIONS

Nearly half, or 49.1 per cent., of the foreign-born males investigated in these large cities were engaged in manufacturing; about 15.3 per cent. in trade; 8.6 per cent. in transportation, and 13.2 per cent. in general labor. Of course, as the investigation was made in the cities, mining and agriculture were scarcely represented. The tendency of the Syrians, Greeks and Hebrews is clearly to engage in trade. Generally speaking, however, the foreign-born appear in ordinary unskilled labor and in manufacturing to a greater extent than the native-born. Among the foreign-born Hebrews 34.4 per cent., and of the second generation 42 per cent., are in trade, as are 55.4 per cent. of the Syrians, and 32.6 per cent. of the Greeks. Of the Irish, only 6.5 per cent.; of the Poles, 6.4 per cent.; of the Magyars, 1.1 per cent. are engaged in trade.

Of the immigrant negroes 56.6 per cent. are engaged in domestic and personal service. Next in rank come the Greeks with 31.4 per cent.; and next to them rank the Lithuanians with, however, only 10 per cent. Lowest in this scale are the Russian Hebrews with 2.5 per cent., the Bohemians and Moravians with 3.2 per cent., the Magyars with 3 per cent., the Slovenians with 2.2 per cent., the Slovaks with 2.7 per cent., and the Poles with only 3.8 per cent. The native-born whites in this occupation are 8 per cent. of their total number, the native-born negroes 34.8 per cent.

CARE OF HOME: SANITATION

The living conditions are shown likewise to a considerable extent by the care and equipment of the home. An attempt was made to classify the care of

the apartment into four different grades: good, fair, bad, and very bad. The agents took great pains to see that the same standard was maintained in all of the different cities. It is a matter of interest to note that of the entire number studied, foreign and native, 45.2 per cent. of the apartments were considered kept in good condition, 39 per cent. were fair, 12.9 per cent. bad, and only 2.9 per cent. in very bad condition. The native-born rank rather better than the foreign-born in this regard, 56.6 per cent. of the former and only 44.2 per cent. of the latter having their apartments rated as good. The American ranking is higher still if the distinction is made between the whites and the negroes in the native-born, 58.3 of the whites, and 34.5 of the negroes having their apartments ranked as good. Among the foreign-born there seems to be all through a very marked distinction; in this regard the Swedes rank highest, 75.7 per cent. of their apartments being rated as good. The Germans are next with 71.5 per cent.; then Bohemians and Moravians with 65.8 per cent. Among the lowest were the Greeks, with only 12.2 per cent.; the Syrians, 26.1 per cent.; the South Italians, 30.9 per cent.; Slovenians, 30.2 per cent. The North Italians again ranked above the average, with 49.3 per cent., and the Russian Hebrews barely above, with 45.5 per cent.

WATER SUPPLY

The care of the homes, of course, depends largely upon the water supply, and this is a matter generally determined by the city authorities and not by the residents. The question of sewerage is also important. The districts investigated in Philadelphia and Cleveland make the least satisfactory showing in regard to

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