Lapas attēli
PDF
ePub

but under eighteen years of age. In the first agegroup are 138,378 wage-earners and in the second 7,363.

Upon comparing the wage-earners eighteen years of age or over according to industries, it is seen that native-born whites of native father have the highest average daily earnings in the oil-refining establishments, followed, in the order named, by those engaged in construction work, bituminous coal mining, slaughtering and meat packing, and cigar and tobacco manufacturing. Of the industrial workers native-born of foreign father, the highest average daily earnings are shown in construction work, followed by oil-refining, bituminous coal mining, slaughtering and meat packing, and cigar and tobacco manufacturing in the order named. In the case of the foreign-born industrial workers, the highest earnings are exhibited by those employed in oil-refining, followed in consecutive order by those employed in the manufacture of cigars and tobacco, bituminous coal mining, slaughtering and meat packing, and construction work. Of those employed in cigar and tobacco factories, the foreignborn show an average daily wage of $2.21, as compared with $1.97 for the native white of native father, and $2.20 for the native-born of foreign father. In the case of the bituminous coal-mine workers, an average daily wage of $2.19 is shown for the whole industry, $2.16 for the foreign-born workers, $2.38 for the native-born of foreign father, and $2.31 for the white of native birth and of native father. In the oil-refining plants and slaughtering and meat packing establishments, the native-born wage-earners show considerably higher average daily earnings than do those of foreign birth.

Of the employees fourteen and under eighteen years of age, the foreign-born exhibit the highest average daily earnings, $1.65, in the bituminous coal mines, and the lowest, $1.22, in the oil-refineries. The total native-born also exhibit the highest average daily earnings, amounting to $1.51 in the bituminous coal mines, and the lowest, $0.93 per day, in the manufacture of cigars and tobacco.

The following table shows, by general nativity, for the same industries, the average daily earnings of 14,416 female employees eighteen years of age or over, and of 4,224 who were fourteen and under eighteen years of age.

The average daily earnings exhibited by the female industrial workers eighteen years of age or over are

AVERAGE AMOUNT OF DAILY EARNINGS OF FEMALE EMPLOYEES, BY GENERAL NATIVITY AND INDUSTRY* 18 years of age or over.

[blocks in formation]

a Not computed, owing to small number involved.

This table shows wages or earnings for the period indicated, but no account is taken of voluntary lost time or lost time from shut-downs or other causes. In the various tables in this report showing annual earnings allowance is made for time lost during the year.

$1.16. The native-born women show their highest average daily earnings, $1.37, in connection with the oil-refining industry, and the lowest, $1.13, among those employed in cigar and tobacco factories. The average for the total number of women of foreign birth is $1.20 a day in the two branches of manufacturing for which the averages have been computed.

As regards the female wage-earners fourteen and under eighteen years of age, the average daily earnings are $0.93. maximum for the native-born females is $1.11, earned by those employed in oil refineries, and the minimum is $0.89, earned by employees of cigar and tobacco factories. The foreign-born females in this age-group show maximum daily earnings of $1.10 in the slaughtering and meat-packing industry, the minimum, of $1.05, being in the manufacture of cigars and tobacco.

Annual Earnings, According to Race, Age and Sex

The earnings of recent immigrants and other industrial workers which have already been shown represent, as it were, an instantaneous view of the situation. They cover only a short period and no allowance is made for lost time arising from causes affecting the individual workman or the industry in which he may be employed. The wage-earner, or some member of his family, may be ill, or he may meet with an accident which may cause an absence from work. Employment may be curtailed through business depression, labor dissensions, or other causes. For these reasons it is only when an extended period of time is taken into consideration that the real status of the industrial worker may be ascertained. The

following table is therefore presented, which shows, by general nativity, the approximate average annual earnings of 26,616 adult wage-earners who were engaged in different branches of mining and manufacturing.

[blocks in formation]

Upon comparing the totals of the nativity groups, it is seen that the average annual earnings of the 22,938 adult foreign-born wage-earners were only $455, as contrasted with average yearly earnings of $566 for the 2,059 industrial workers of native birth but of foreign father, and of $666 for the 1,454 native-born white American wage-earners. Only a small percentage of the last-named group were earning under $400 annually, while the greater proportion were earning between $600 and $1,000 per year. On the other hand, the greater number of wage-earners, either of native birth and of foreign father or of foreign birth, were receiving as a result of their labor less than $600 per annum. It is a striking fact that of the total number of foreign-born wage-earners 77.9 per cent. were receiving under $600 per year, and 43.5 per cent. under $400. Only 1.9 per cent. of the foreign-born earned more than $1,000 a year, as contrasted with 6.6 per cent. of the native-born wageearners of foreign father, and 11.4 per cent. of the

native-born white persons of native father, or native Americans. The earning ability of the foreign-born wage-earners of past immigration from Great Britain and northern Europe is considerably greater than that of recent immigrants from southern and eastern Europe.

The yearly earnings of the female industrial workers are considerably lower than those of the men. This fact is set forth in the next table, which shows, by general nativity, the approximate average annual earnings of 3,609 females who were eighteen years of age or over and who were employed for wages outside the home:

[blocks in formation]

The average annual earnings, as shown in the foregoing table, for the 3,609 females who were working for wages, were $304. The earnings of the foreignborn women were much lower than those of the nativeborn, and the earnings of the native-born white women of native father were somewhat higher than those of the native-born of foreign father. A large proportion of the foreign-born women, or 26.4 per cent., earned less than $200 per annum, and the greater number of female wage-earners of foreign birth, or 54.8 per cent., earned under $300 annually. Only 19.1 per cent. of

« iepriekšējāTurpināt »