CHAPTER V.

HOUSING AND LIVING CONDITIONS.

Rent in its relation to standard of living-Boarders and lodgers-Size of apartments occupied-Size of households studied-Congestion-[Text Tables 46 to 58 and General Tables 23 to 34].

RENT IN ITS RELATION TO STANDARD OF LIVING,

The rent payments of the households the heads of which were employed in the silk industry are chiefly significant in their bearing upon standards of living because of congestion within the households arising from the practice, especially among households the heads of which were of recent immigration, to crowd their apartments in order to reduce the per capita outlay for rent. The first table submitted in this connection shows the average monthly rent payment per apartment, per room, and per person, according to general nativity and race of head of household.

TABLE 46.-Average rent per month, by general nativity and race of head of household. (STUDY OF HOUSEHOLDS.)

This table shows that the average monthly rent paid by 247 households connected with the silk industry was $9.30 per apartment, $2.34 per room, and $2.03 per person. The races which show the most variations from these averages are the Armenians and Hebrews, who pay more than the average per apartment, and the South Italians and Poles, who pay somewhat less than the average.

The range of monthly rents for apartments is set forth in the following table, which shows, by general nativity and race of head of

household, the percentage of households paying each specified rent per month per apartment:

TABLE 47.-Per cent of households paying each specified rent per month per apartment, by general nativity and race of head of household.

(STUDY OF HOUSEHOLDS.)

[This table includes only races with 20 or more households reporting. The totals, however, are for all

The average rent per month per apartment of the 247 households included in the foregoing table is $9.30, 1.2 per cent paying under $5, 20.2 per cent under $7.50, 59.5 per cent under $10, and 90.3 per cent under $12.50.

The average rent of the households the heads of which are nativeborn is slightly higher than that of those the heads of which are foreign-born.

Considering the households the heads of which are foreign-born, by race, it is seen that those the heads of which are North Italian or Polish are the only ones showing a proportion paying under $5 rent per month per apartment. Over 20 per cent of those of each race except Hebrew or Armenian, pay under $7.50. Those the heads of which are Armenian or Hebrew show the smallest proportion paying under $10 or under $12.50, the average rent of these households being above $10, while the average rent of the households of each other race except Syrian is below $9.

The table next presented exhibits, by general nativity and race of head of household, the percentage of households paying each specified rent per month per room.

TABLE 48.—Per cent of households paying each specified rent per month per room, by general nativity and race of head of household.

(STUDY OF HOUSEHOLDS.)

[This table includes only races with 20 or more households reporting. The totals, however, are for all

General nativity and race of head of

household.

races.]

The greater proportions of foreign-born households pay under $3 per month per room; all of the households pay under $4. The North Italians and Poles show relatively large proportions of families paying under $2. Comparatively high rent per room is most frequent in Hebrew families, which show the smallest proportion paying under $3.

In the following table, which shows the per cent of households paying each specified rent per month per person, the real situation relative to congestion is set forth, the crowding within the households being indicated by the large proportion of households having a low rent payment per capita:

TABLE 49.-Per cent of households paying each specified rent per month per person, by general nativity and race of head of household.

(STUDY OF HOUSEHOLDS.)

[This table includes only races with 20 or more households reporting. The totals, however, are for all

Of the foreign-born families, 80.5 per cent pay under $3 per month per person. A relatively large proportion, 42 per cent, pay under $2. All of the specified races show the greater proportion of families paying under $3 per month per person, and the greater proportion of the South Italian and Polish families pay under $2.

BOARDERS AND LODGERS.

The practice of wives of immigrant employees of keeping boarders or lodgers in order to supplement the earnings of their husbands has already been discussed, and the extent of this practice and its effects upon living arrangements is set forth in the following series of tables. The first table which follows shows by general nativity and race of head of household the number and percentage of households keeping boarders or lodgers:

TABLE 50.-Number and per cent of households keeping boarders or lodgers, by general nativity and race of head of household.

(STUDY OF HOUSEHOLDS.)

[Information relating to boarders or lodgers covers only immediate time of taking schedule and not the entire year. Boarders are persons who receive both board and lodging.]

Of the 272 households studied in this industry, 15.4 per cent keep boarders or lodgers, the households the heads of which are foreignborn reporting 16.3 per cent as compared with 4.8 per cent of the households the heads of which are native whites born of native father. Among the households the heads of which are foreign-born a much larger proportion of the Polish households than of the households of any other race keep boarders or lodgers.

The following table shows, by general nativity and race of head of household, the average number of boarders or lodgers per household. The averages are computed (1) on the total number of households studied and (2) on the number keeping boarders or lodgers.