CHAPTER III. ECONOMIC STATUS. Industrial condition abroad of members of the immigrant households studied-General occupation of males at the present time in the households studied-General occupation of women at the present time in the households studied-Occupations of first and second generation compared-Annual earnings of male heads of families studied-Annual earnings of males 18 years of age or over in the households studiedAnnual earnings of females 18 years of age or over in the households studiedAnnual family income-Wives at work-Relation between the earnings of husbands and the practice of wives of keeping boarders or lodgers Sources of family income-Relative importance of the different sources of family income―[Text Tables 275 to 292 and General Tables 208 to 217.] INDUSTRIAL CONDITION ABROAD OF MEMBERS OF THE IMMIGRANT HOUSEHOLDS STUDIED. Before entering into a discussion of the economic status in this country of employees and members of their households in Community E, the industrial condition and principal occupation of the foreign-born workers and members of their households while abroad are set forth. The first table submitted in this connection, which immediately follows, shows, by race of individual, the industrial condition before coming to the United States of foreign-born males in the households studied who were 16 years of age or over at time of arrival in this country. TABLE 275.—Industrial condition before coming to the United States of foreign-born males who were 16 years of age or over at time of coming, by race of individual. (STUDY OF HOUSEHOLDS.) [This table includes only races with 20 or more males reporting. The total, however, is for all foreign-born.] Of 562 males in this locality, concerning whom information was obtained, the largest proportion, or 55.7 per cent, worked for wages before coming to the United States, 29.2 per cent for profit, and 14.4 per cent worked without wages, while less than 1 per cent were without occupation. Among those working for wages, the Welsh, with 48296-VOL 17-11-25 375 96 per cent, show the largest proportion and the Poles, with 45 per cent, show the smallest proportion. Following the Welsh are the Swedes who show a considerably larger proportion than the Slovaks and a much larger proportion than the Magyars or the South Italians. The Welsh, on the other hand, report the smallest proportion, or 4 per cent, who worked without wages abroad, while the Poles, with 25 per cent, show a slightly larger proportion than do the Slovaks or Magyars and a considerably larger proportion than do the South Italians or the Swedes. No Welsh worked for profit, while the South Italians, with 41.9 per cent, show a considerably larger proportion than the Poles or the Magyars and a much larger proportion than the Slovaks or Swedes-the last named reporting but 6.5 per cent. No Magyars, Slovaks, or Welsh and only very small proportions of the other races were without occupation abroad. The table next presented shows, by race of individual, the occupation before coming to the United States of foreign-born males who were 16 years of age or over at time of coming. TABLE 276.-Occupation before coming to the United States of foreign-born males who were 16 years of age or over at time of coming, by race of individual. (STUDY OF HOUSEHOLDS.) [This table includes only races with 20 or more males reporting. The total, however, is for all foreign-born.] Of 562 foreign-born males employed in anthracite coal mining a larger proportion were employed as farm laborers for wages than any other occupation, and considerably more than 50 per cent, or 65.8 per cent, were on farms either as farm laborers for wages, or without, or as farmers for themselves; 8.4 per cent were employed in mining; 8.9 per cent were employed in hand trades, while 11.4 per cent were working for wages in other occupations. Among the different races reporting more than 50 per cent of the Slovaks and Swedes were employed as farm laborers for wages, while a very low proportion, or 4 per cent, of the Welsh, were engaged in that occupation. Of the Welsh, however, 64 per cent were employed in mining and less than 10 per cent of all other races except the South Italian were engaged in that occupation. The proportions who were engaged in general labor are small, while the Poles and Swedes show considerably higher proportions than the other races who were employed as factory operatives. The Welsh show the largest proportion in hand trades, and the Slovaks the smallest. Considerably more than per cent of all races except the Welsh were engaged in some form of agriculture, while only 8 per cent of the members of this race were so employed. 50 In the following table the industrial conditions before coming to the United States of foreign-born females in the households studied who were 16 years of age or over at the time of coming is shown by race of individual. TABLE 277.-Industrial condition before coming to the United States of foreign-born females who were 16 years of age or over at time of coming, by race of individual. (STUDY OF HOUSEHOLDS.) [This table includes only races with 20 or more females reporting. The total, however, is for all foreign born.] Race of individual. Number reporting complete Without Working Working Without Working Working From the above table it will be noted that of the 287 females for whom information was obtained, only 13.6 per cent worked for wages before coming to the United States and 17.1 per cent worked without wages, the remaining 69.3 per cent having been without occupation abroad. With the exception of 4.2 per cent working for wages, the Welsh were without occupation before coming to the United States. The next largest proportion, or 81.1 per cent, without occupation is shown by the South Italians. This, it will be noted, slightly exceeds the proportion of Magyars and very largely exceeds that of the Swedes, who show but 44.4 per cent. On the other hand, the very large proportion of Swedes, or 33.3 per cent, is in striking contrast to the proportions of the other races who worked for wages abroad. The Swedes also show the largest proportion working without wages, a proportion slightly in excess of that shown by the Magyars and considerably in excess of that shown by the South Italians. The table next submitted shows, by race of individual, the occupation before coming to the United States of foreign-born females in the households studied who were 16 years of age or over at time of arrival, TABLE 278.-Occupation before coming to the United States of foreign-born females who were 16 years of age or over at time of coming, by race of individual. (STUDY OF HOUSEHOLDS.) [This table includes only races with 20 or more females reporting. The total, however, is for all foreign born.] It appears from the above table that 13.6 per cent of the foreignborn females for whom information was secured worked abroad for wages and that 17.1 per cent worked without wages as farm laborers. The proportion of females who were in domestic service is 7.7 per cent, while 3.8 per cent were farm laborers working for wages. Only a very small proportion of all females were factory operatives or in the hand trades. The proportion of females who were in domestic service or who worked as farm laborers, either with or without wages, is much larger for the Swedes than for the females for any other race. GENERAL OCCUPATION OF MALES AT THE PRESENT TIME IN THE HOUSEHOLDS STUDIED. In the table next presented the general occupation of males 16 years of age or over in the households studied is shown according to general nativity and race of individual. TABLE 279.-General occupation of males 16 years of age or over, by general nativity and race of individual. (STUDY OF HOUSEHOLDS.) [This table includes only races with 20 or more males reporting. The totals, however, are for all races.] From the above table it appears that 61.9 per cent of the males 16 years of age or over from whom information was secured are employed in coal mining, that 22.3 per cent are employed in manufacturing pursuits, that 10.2 per cent are employed in transportation, and that only a very small proportion are otherwise employed or are at home or at school. The proportion of males employed in coal mining is largest for the foreign-born and slightly larger for the native-born of native father than for the native-born of foreign father; the proportion of males employed in manufacturing and mechanical pursuits is slightly larger for the native-born of native father than for the native-born of foreign father and is smallest for the foreign-born; and the proportion of males employed in transportation is larger for the foreign-born than for the native-born of native father and larger for the latter than for the native-born of foreign father. Of the foreign-born the South Italians, Welsh, and Magyars, in the order mentioned, have the largest and the Slovaks the smallest proportion of males employed in coal mining, and the Slovaks, Swedes, and Poles, in the order mentioned, have the largest and the Magyars and South Italians the smallest proportion of males employed in manufacturing and mechanical pursuits. The proportion of males employed in transportation is largest for the Slovaks, Magyars, and Poles in the order mentioned. |