Of the total number of households 76.8 per cent have one or more persons per room; 29 per cent have two or more. These figures closely reflect the persons per room in foreign-born households, all but 36 of the total 630 being of that type. Of the households of the native-born of foreign father only 30.6 per cent have one or more persons per room and 0.0 per cent have two or more. Excepting the German and Irish every race most commonly has one or more persons per room and the Ruthenians most commonly have two or more. addition to the German and Irish the English have a relatively small proportion of households having one or more persons per room, as compared with the other races.

In

The table next presented shows, by general nativity and race of head of household, the persons per sleeping room:

TABLE 251.-Persons per sleeping room, by general nativity and race of head of household. (STUDY OF HOUSEHOLDS.)

These

Of the total number of households 81 per cent have two or more persons per sleeping room; 34.1 per cent have three or more. figures are representative of the persons per sleeping room in foreignborn households, all but 36 of the total 630 being of that class. Of the households of the native-born of foreign father only a slight majority have two or more.persons per sleeping room and only 16.7 per cent have three or more. The greatest degree of congestion in sleeping rooms is in the households of the Hebrews, South Italians, Magyars, Ruthenians and Slovaks. The smallest degree of crowding in sleeping rooms is in Irish households; only 54.3 per cent having two or more persons per sleeping room and only 2.9 per cent having three

or more.

The final table of the series, which is next presented, indicates the effect upon living arrangements of congestion within the households studied by showing, according to general nativity and race of head of household, the number and percentage of households regularly sleeping in all except each specified number of rooms:

TABLE 252.-Number and per cent of households regularly sleeping in all except each specified number of rooms, by general nativity and race of head of household.

Of the total number of households 7.9 per cent regularly sleep in all rooms, 43 per cent in all rooms except one and 26.2 per cent in all rooms except two. Households of the foreign-born and of the nativeborn of foreign father exhibit strikingly different practices in respect to the proportions regularly sleeping in all rooms or in all except one or two. Of the native-born of foreign father 0.0 per cent sleep in all rooms, only 8.3 per cent in all rooms, except one and only 11.1 per cent in all rooms except two. Slightly less than half of the foreignborn households sleep in all rooms except one and in addition 27.1 per cent sleep in all rooms except two. The English, German and Irish households least frequently sleep in all rooms, or in all rooms except one. The Ruthenians, on the contrary, sleep in all rooms or in all rooms except one more commonly than any other race.

CHAPTER VII.

SALIENT CHARACTERISTICS.

Literacy-Conjugal condition-Age classification of households studied-[Text Tables 253 to 259 and General Tables 194 to 198].

LITERACY.

The general literacy of the persons in the households studie ind Community D is exhibited by the following table. This table shows, by sex and by general nativity and race of individual, the per cent of persons 10 years of age or over, in the households studied, who were able to read and the percentage who were able to both read and write.

TABLE 253.-Per cent of persons 10 years of age or over who read and per cent who read and write, by sex and general nativity and race of individual.

(STUDY OF HOUSEHOLDS.)

[This table includes only races with 40 or more persons reporting. The totals, however, are for all races.]

Of the total number of persons 10 years of age or over 84.9 per cent read and a slightly smaller proportion read and write. Of the native-born of native father 100 per cent read and write; of the native-born of foreign father 99.2 per cent read and write. Of the

foreign-born, however, only 80.1 per cent read and write. There is a marked variation in the extent to which literacy is prevalent among the specified races of foreign-born. Ability to read and to read and write is most general among the English, Germans, Irish, North Italians, and Magyars. Moreover, the greater part of every other specified race, except the South Italian, is literate. Of the South Italians, however, only 35.1 per cent can read and write. Both the native-born of foreign father and the foreign-born show a greater proportion of males literate than of females. This is likewise characteristic with one exception of every specified race. The Hebrews, South Italians, Polish, and Ruthenians show the greatest variation in the literacy of the sexes.

The degree of literacy prevailing among persons of foreign birth, in the households studied, after designated periods of residence in this country may be understood from the table next presented. This table shows, by race of individual and by years in the United States, the percentage of foreign-born persons 10 years of age or over who were able to read and the percentage who were able to both read and write.

TABLE 254.-Per cent of foreign-born persons 10 years of age or over who read and per cent who read and write, by years in the United States and race of individual.

(STUDY OF HOUSEHOLDS.)

[By years in the United States is meant years since first arrival in the United States. This table includes only races with 40 or more persons reporting. The total, however, is for all foreign-born.]

Of the 2,019 individuals included in the preceding table, it is seen that the proportion with ability to read increases gradually with the period of residence. The proportion who have been in the United States each specified number of years and who have ability both to read and to write is slightly lower than the proportion who read only. Of those of each race with a period of residence under five years the English and German show 100 per cent each and the South Italians 34 per cent who read, while the same proportion of English and German both read and write, as compared with 32.7 per cent of the South Italians. In addition to the South Italians the Polish and Ruthenians each show a small proportion in this group who read but

do not write. As regards those with a period of residence of from to five nine years as well as ten years or over, approximately the same relative positions are maintained by the several races.

The literacy of foreign-born persons in the households studied, according to age at time of coming to the United States, is exhibited in the following table, which shows, by race of individual and by age at time of arrival in this country, the percentage of foreign-born persons 10 years of age or over who were able to read and the per cent who were able to both read and write.

per

cent

TABLE 255.-Per cent of foreign-born persons 10 years of age or over who read and 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 the groups of foreign-born persons 10 years of age or over who were under 14 at time of coming to the United States, 93.7 per cent read; of the group who were 14 or over at time of coming, 79.3 per cent read. Similarly a larger proportion in the under 14 group read and write than in the group 14 or over. Furthermore, among every specified race literacy is more prevalent among those who were under 14 at time of coming to this country than among those who were 14 or over. Age at time of coming has the most marked effect upon the degree to which literacy is prevalent among the South Italians and Polish.

CONJUGAL CONDITION.

The table next submitted shows, by sex, age groups, and by general nativity and race of individual, the percentage of persons in the households studied, in each conjugal condition.