CHAPTER IV.

WORKING CONDITIONS.

Regularity of employment-The immigrant and organized labor-[Text Tables 36 and 37 and General Table 19].

REGULARITY OF EMPLOYMENT.

The regularity of employment offered by the industry, as well as the relative industriousness of the several races, is exhibited by the following table, which sets forth, by general nativity and race of individual, the months worked during the past year by males in the households studied who were 16 years of age or over and who were employed away from home. The term "past year" in this connection means the twelve months immediately preceding the collection of the data.

TABLE 36.— Months worked during the past year by males 16 years of age or over employed away from home, 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.]

The table shows that 61.1 per cent of males reporting worked twelve months, 82.4 per cent worked nine months or over, 96.2 per cent worked six months or over, and 99.2 per cent worked three months or over. Germans show greatest proportion who worked the full twelve months, Poles following with a somewhat lower percentage, while Lithuanians show only 47.7 per cent who worked twelve months during the past year. The same order is preserved for the periods of nine months or over and six months or over. Germans continue to show the highest percentage of persons working three months or over, followed by Lithuanians and Poles, in the order named, in only slightly smaller proportions.

TABLE 37.—Months worked during the past year by females 16 years of age or over employed away from home, by general nativity and race of individual.

(STUDY OF HOUSEHOLDS.)

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

The preceding table shows that 87.8 per cent of the total number reporting worked the full twelve months of the past year, 97.6 per cent worked nine months or over, while 100 per cent worked six months or over.

THE IMMIGRANT AND ORGANIZED LABOR.

The industry is without labor organizations. Out of a total of 365 employees to whom the inquiry was made as to whether they were members of labor organizations, only 2 Poles answered in the affirmative.

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 38 to 50 and General Tables 20 to 31].

RENT IN ITS RELATION TO STANDARD OF LIVING.

The rent payments of the households whose heads are employed in the sugar-refining industry are chiefly significant in their bearing upon standards of living, because of congestion within the households arising from the practice, especially among households whose heads are of recent immigration, to crowd their apartments in order to reduce the per capita rent. The table first presented in this connection, which follows, shows, by general nativity and race of head of household, the average monthly rent paid per apartment, per room, and

per person.

TABLE 38.—Average rent per month, by general nativity and race of head of household. (STUDY OF HOUSEHOLDS.)

The data presented in the above table show that the foreign families for which information was secured pay an average monthly rental of $8.79 per apartment, $2.51 per room, and $1.81 per person. The German families pay the largest and the Polish families the smallest monthly rental per apartment and per room, while the German families pay the largest and the Lithuanian families pay the smallest monthly rental per person.

The range in monthly rents for apartments is set forth in the table next presented, which shows, by general nativity and race of head of household, the percentage of households paying each specified rent per month per apartment.

645

TABLE 39.-Per cent of households paying each specified rent per month per apartment, by general nativity and race of head of household.

Of 191 households paying rent and reporting the amount, 30.4 per cent pay under $7.50; 66.5 per cent under $10; 94.2 per cent under $12.50; 97.9 per cent under $15; and 100 per cent pay under $20 rent per month per apartment. The households whose heads are Poles show the highest percentage paying under each specified rent per month per apartment up to under $20, households whose heads are Lithuanians or Germans following in the order named, households whose heads are Germans showing comparatively small proportions paying under $7.50 and under $10 per month. Households whose heads are of each specified race show 100 per cent paying under $20 rent per month per apartment.

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

TABLE 40.-Per cent of households paying each specified rent per month per room, by general nativity and race of head of household.

From the data presented in the above table, it appears that none of the foreign families pay a rental of less than $1 per month a room, while almost all families pay under $4 per month per room. None of the German families, and a slightly larger proportion of the Poles than of the Lithuanian families, pay under $2 per month per The Lithuanians have the largest and the Germans the smallest proportion of families paying under $3, while the Poles have the largest and the Germans the smallest proportion paying under $4.

room.

The real situation relative to congestion is set forth in the following table, which indicates the extent of crowding within the households by showing, according to general nativity and race of head of household, the percentage of households paying each specified rent per month per person.

TABLE 41.—Per cent of households paying each specified rent per month per person, by general nativity and race of head of household.

The above table shows that of all the foreign households for which information was secured, only a very small proportion pay rentals at a rate of less than $1 per month per person, while 94.8 per cent of the households pay under $4 per month per person. The proportion of households paying less than each specified rate is much smaller for the Germans than for the Lithuanians and the Poles who represent the races of recent immigration.

BOARDERS AND LODGERS.

The practice of the wives of sugar-refining employees in supplementing the earnings of their husbands by taking boarders or lodgers into the home has been discussed in a preceding chapter. The extent of this practice and its bearing upon living conditions are considered in the two following tables, the first of which exhibits the number and percentage of households keeping boarders or lodgers, by general nativity and race of head of household.

TABLE 42.-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.]