The native-born white families report a small proportion, or 3.8 per cent, as having entire income from husband, wife, and children. The principal source of income for the families reporting is from the combined contributions of husband and boarders or lodgers. Of the Croatian families reporting, 65.3 per cent derive income from this source, and of the South Italians 66.1 per cent. These are the races showing the highest proportion, although they are followed closely by the Lithuanians, with 63.2 per cent, and the Ruthenians, with 61.5 per cent. The Russians, North Italians, Poles, and Magyars follow in the order named. Contrasted with the foreign-born races who, as shown above, report a large proportion of families having income from husband and boarders or lodgers, only 3.8 per cent of the American white families derive income from this source.

None of the families reporting have income from wife, or from wife and boarders or lodgers, entirely, while of those having entire income from wife and children the Slovaks report a proportion of less than 1 per cent.

Only two races report any families who have entire income from children. The Germans report 4.2 per cent of all families, and the Poles 0.5 per cent. The Croatians, North Italians, Russians, and Slovaks each report a small proportion of families who derive entire income from children and boarders or lodgers. None of the families reporting from any specific race have entire income from boarders or lodgers.

Of the families who derive income from "source or combination of sources not before specified" the Lithuanians report the largest proportion, or 13.2 per cent, followed by the Slovaks with 13 per cent, while the Germans and North Italians each report slightly over 12 per cent.

The following table shows the relative weight of family income from specified sources, by general nativity and race of head of family:

TABLE 191.-Per cent of total family income within the year from husband, wife, children, boarders or lodgers, and other sources, by general nativity and race of head of family.

(STUDY OF HOUSEHOLDS.)

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

In the preceding table it will be observed that, as already pointed out, the wife adds practically nothing to the family income from the proceeds of outside work. The earnings of children constitute a larger element in the incomes of the white native-born of native father and the foreign-born German families than in those of other races appearing in this table. This is due to three factors:

(1) These races live in or near larger cities in which their children find more opportunities for employment than do the children in the families of the other races, the greater number of which reside in isolated mining villages.

(2) The children of native-born and German families marry later in life than those of the other races, and are therefore able to contribute for a longer period of time to the family income.

(3) Many of the families of the races of recent immigration are young and their children have not yet reached an age at which they can seek employment. This is the most important factor in the case. The Slovak, Polish, Lithuanian, and Italian races have been residents longer than the other races of recent immigration, have more children of an age to work, and are thus able to secure a larger portion of the family income from the earnings of children than other races.

Among the foreign-born families the amounts derived from boarders and lodgers represent the part the wife plays in adding to the family income, and show that a considerable proportion is received from this source. Among the races of recent immigration the proportion of family income derived from boarders and lodgers corresponds roughly to the proportion received from the contributions of children among the native-born and German families; or, to make the statement more definite, the native-born families receive 21.4 per cent and the German families 27.8 per cent of the family income from the contributions of children, while the Croatian families receive 20.5 per cent, the North Italian 24.7 per cent, the Lithuanian 21.3 per cent, and the Magyar 15.3 per cent, from the contributions of boarders and lodgers. In other words, some addition to the earnings of the husbands being necessary, the natives and older immigrant races secure this amount from the earnings of their children, while the more recent immigrating races generally secure the major portion of the addition from the contributions of boarders and lodgers.

In addition to the preceding tabulations, which exhibit the various sources of the income of the bituminous coal miners of Pennsylvania, the following condensed table has been compiled, and affords a valuable study of comparisons, besides elaborating in more detail some points which have already been noted:

TABLE 192.-Means of support of family, by general nativity and race of head of family.

Although the numbers of families under consideration range from 24 of the German race to 347 of the Slovak, the statistics are comparable to a certain extent, as the families were carefully selected. The Magyars, Poles, and Slovaks of the foreign-born derive income from all the sources under discussion, but, taking into account the large number of families in these three races, the fact that 6 wives are in employment, 71 families have children at work, and 52 have incomes from sources not specified, suggests no extraordinary conditions. The Slovaks exceed the two other races combined in each item except the number of wives at work. In this the Poles, with three out of the six, outrank the Slovaks. The husbands provide 81.6 per cent, 80.1 per cent, and 83.1 per cent, respectively, of the total income of the Magyar, Polish, and Slovak families, the next most profitable source being the boarders and lodgers, from whom are derived 15.3 per cent of the Magyars' income, 10.2 per cent of that of the Poles, and 8.2 per cent of that of the Slovaks.

In the comparison of families supported solely by the husband, the Magyars, with 47.6 per cent of their 143 families entirely supported by the husband, and the Slovaks, with 43.2 per cent of their 347 families so maintained, make the most favorable showing. The Lithuanians report the lowest average earnings ($362) and the lowest percentage of families supported by the husband alone. The South Italians, on the other hand, have only 22 per cent supported by the husband alone, notwithstanding the fact that the average income is $462.

The German is the only race exhibiting any idle husbands, 2 of the 24 being thus reported. One of these families is supported by the children and the other has income of a kind not specified. Only one

other race, the Polish, reports a family supported entirely by the children, and in this instance there is no male head.

Only seven of the wives, as already shown, in the 1,223 families under consideration, contribute to the general support otherwise than by the keeping of boarders and lodgers. This condition is largely due to the absence of mills and other opportunities for employment, and must not be looked upon as indicative of any special racial characteristics. The mining towns are isolated, as already stated, and afford little or no opportunity for the employment of women. industries conducted in or near large industrial centers may more safely be taken as criteria as regards racial tendencies. Three of the women regularly employed are Poles, and all these have husbands at work; two are Slovaks, one of them being without a husband; one is of the Magyar race, and her husband is employed; and one is a native white, with husband and children also at work.

Other

In earnings of children, the Germans rank highest, with 41.7 per cent at work, supplying 27.8 per cent of the income. The Slovaks, ranking next in length of residence, have only 11.2 per cent of their young people employed, and these contribute but 7.3 per cent of the total income. The Magyars have only 4.2 per cent at work, contributing but 2.8 per cent of the total income; 5.7 per cent of the Russian children work, and they contribute 5.6 per cent of the income, exactly twice the proportion supplied by the Magyars. In the case of the Croatians, 6.1 per cent of the children contribute 6.8 per cent of the income. This is the only instance where the percentage of income exceeds that of children employed. The highest percentage reported for families keeping boarders or lodgers is 72.4, that of the Croatians and of the Lithuanians. The Croatians derive 20.5 per cent of their income and the Lithuanians 21.3 per cent from this source. Although 69.5 per cent of the South Italian families have boarders and lodgers, only 11.7 per cent of their total income is thus acquired. The North Italians, with 59.1 per cent of the families having boarders, obtain 24.7 per cent of their income, or practically one-fourth, by this means. Of the total income of the Germans 2.7 per cent is derived from boarders and lodgers in 8.3 per cent of the families. The Germans derive 2.5 per cent of their income from sources other than those specified. No other race derives as much as 2 per cent of its income from other sources, the lowest figure being 0.2 per cent of the income of the Croatians, said to be distributed among 3.1 per cent of their people.