Of the foreign-born males in the preceding table, 15.3 per cent are single, 84.2 per cent married, and 0.5 per cent widowed, as compared with 25.5, 70.2, and 4.3 per cent, respectively, of the white nativeborn of native father, and 97.2 per cent single and 2.8 per cent married of the native-born of foreign father. Among person 20 years of age or over, only four races report a percentage of their number widowed; the native whites report the largest, 4.3 per cent, as compared with less than 1 per cent each of the Poles, Slovaks, and Magyars. A fraction over one-fourth of the native whites are single, and 70.2 per cent are married, showing a smaller per cent married than any other race. Among the foreign-born groups, and following closely the native whites, are the Ruthenians and South Italians, between whom there is very little difference; the former report 25 per cent of their number single and 75 per cent married, as compared with the latter's 24.5 per cent single and 75.5 per cent married. The Magyars report the largest percentage, 92.9, of married persons, while the Slovaks, North Italians, Croatians, Lithuanians, and Poles follow, in the order named, the last-mentioned race reporting 77.7 per cent married. Of the 767 males between 20 and 29 years of age, 36.4 per cent are single, and 63.5 per cent are married. Of the foreign-born between 20 and 29 years of age, 67 per cent are married, as compared with 43.8 per cent of the whites native-born of native father and only 2.8 per cent of the persons native-born of foreign father. The very high percentage of the Magyars who are married in the same age group is of special interest, the proportion being 85.9 per cent, while the Slovaks, who rank second, show 75.6 per cent of their number married. The Croatians and North Italians follow the Slovaks with 71.3 and 65 per cent married, respectively. The Ruthenians report a smaller percentage married than that of any other race of foreign-born persons. Nine hundred and nine males between 30 and 44 years of age report 5.5 per cent single, 94.2 per cent married, and 0.3 per cent widowed. Of this number, 897 are foreign-born and 12 native-born; the former report 94.5 per cent married and 0.2 per cent widowed, as compared with 66.7 per cent married and 8.3 per cent widowed among the nativeborn. The native whites report 66.7 per cent of their number married, a smaller per cent than any other race, while the Slovaks, with 97.3 per cent married, report the highest. Following the Slovaks are the Magyars, South Italians, and North Italians, each reporting over 95 per cent of their number married. The other races range from 93 per cent, on the part of the Poles, to 85.3 per cent of the Lithuanians. Only 1.5 per cent of the 275 who are 45 years of age or over are single, while 95.6 per cent are married, and the remaining 2.9 per cent are widowed. Of the 275 in this group, 256 are foreign-born and 19 are nativeborn; the former report 1.6 per cent single, 95.7 per cent married, and 2.7 per cent widowed, as compared with 94.7 per cent married and 5.3 per cent widowed of the native whites. With the exception of the Slovaks, the native whites who are 45 years of age or over report a smaller per cent married than any other race. The Slovaks report 93.2 per cent married, and 5.5 per cent widowed. The Croatians, South Italians, Lithuanians, Magyars, and Ruthenians each report their entire number 45 years of age or over married. Of the foreign-born females 20 years of age or over, 0.5 per cent are single, 98.7 per cent married, and 0.8 per cent widowed, as compared with 18 per cent single, 80 per cent married, and 2 per cent widowed among the whites native-born of native father, and 26.5 per cent single, 71.4 per cent married, and 2 per cent widowed of the nativeborn of foreign father. All females 20 years of age or over among the Magyars and Ruthenians are married, while the proportion of married females of the other foreign-born races ranges from 99.3 per cent of the North Italians to 97 per cent of the Croatians. Only three, the Lithuanians, Slovaks, and Poles, report any part of their number single, the former reporting 1.3 per cent, as compared with less than 1 per cent each of the others. The Croatians report 3 per cent widowed, the largest per cent shown by any one race. The native whites report 80 per cent married, the lowest percentage of married females reported, and 2 per cent widowed. Reports from 644 females between 20 and 29 years of age show that 3.9 per cent are single and 96 per cent married. Of this number 586 are foreign-born, 58 native-born of native father, and 43 native-born of foreign father. The foreign-born report 0.9 per cent single and 99.1 per cent married, while the native-born of native father report 46.7 per cent single and 53.3 per cent married, and the native-born of foreign father 30.2 per cent single and 67.4 per cent married. Of the eight foreign-born races reporting, the Croatians, North and South Italians, Magyars, and Ruthenians report their entire number married, while the Poles, Slovaks, and Lithuanians report 98.9, 98.8, and 97.6 per cent, respectively. Of the 542 females between the age of 30 and 44, 514 are foreignborn, reporting 0.2 per cent single and 99.2 per cent married; 23 are native-born of native father, and report 8.7 per cent single and 91.3 per cent married. The native whites report the smallest percentage married. With the exception of the Croatian and Slovak races, the other foreign-born report 100 per cent married. Of the 133 females 45 years of age or over, 94 per cent are married and 6 per cent widowed; the foreign-born of this number report 94.2 per cent married and the remaining number widowed, as compared with 91.7 per cent married and 8.3 per cent widowed of the nativeborn of native father, while the only native-born female of foreign father reporting is married. It is apparent from this table that the foreign-born females marry much younger than do the native-born, whether of native or foreign father. The first of the two tables next presented shows the percentage of wives of foreign-born males in the United States and the percentage abroad. The second part shows the percentage of foreign-born males reporting wives abroad, according to period of residence in the United States. TABLE 229.-Per cent of foreign-born husbands who report wife in the United States and per cent who report wife abroad, by race of husband. (STUDY OF EMPLOYEES.) [This table includes only races with 40 or more husbands reporting. The total, however, is for all foreign born.] TABLE 230.-Per cent of foreign-born husbands who report wife abroad, by race of husband and by years husband has been in the United States. (STUDY OF EMPLOYEES.) [By years in the United States is meant years since first arrival in the United States. only races with 200 or more husbands reporting.] Number having been in United States This table includes Per cent having been in United States each specified number of years who report wife abroad. Race of husband. The above data were secured from 23,233 foreign males reporting complete data in regard to residence of wife. Of this total, 69.3 per cent have their wives in the United States and 30.7 per cent have their wives abroad. After the Irish, who report 98.2 per cent with wives in the United States, follow the Swedish, Scotch, English, Welsh, Germans, French, and Bohemians and Moravians, these races having at least 90 per cent of their number reporting wife in the United States. The Roumanians have the largest proportion, or 83.1 per cent, who have left their wives abroad. The Croatians, whose corresponding percentage is 57, rank next. The Russians and Magyars report 47.1 per cent and 46.8 per cent, respectively, with wives abroad. The North Italians, the South Italians, and the Ruthenians form another class with slightly lower percentages. This table shows chiefly that the races composing what is termed recent immigration have a greater tendency to leave their wives at home than have the races which made up the old immigration. This fact, shown by the totals, is also seen to be true for each period of residence, whether here under five years or ten years or more. An examination of Table 230, which shows the per cent of wives abroad by years husband has been in the United States, reveals the fact that it is usual for the Scotch, the Irish, and the English to bring their wives with them or at least send for them shortly after coming themselves. The French, the Germans, and the Bohemians and Moravians show like tendencies. The Russians, Croatians, and Magyars usually leave their wives at home when they first come to the United States. Of the Russians in the United States under five years, 80.8 per cent report wives abroad; of those here from five to nine years, 25.1 per cent report a similar condition, as do also 11.8 per cent of those who have lived in this country ten years or over. Of the Croatians who have lived here less than five years, 78.1 per cent report their wives abroad, as do 43.1 per cent of those whose period of residence is from five to nine years, and 26.3 per cent of those who have been here ten years or over. Although all races report that the wives are more generally brought to the United States during the first five years' residence of the husbands, a larger number of the Croatians, the North Italians, the South Italians, and the Russians bring their wives during the residence period of from five to nine years than during any other. VISITS ABROAD. The larger part of the industrial population which is made up of races of recent immigration is of a fluctuating character. A considerable proportion of the immigrant mine workers, being unmarried and without property, can move with little inconvenience from one mining locality to another. This they do quite frequently, as the conditions of employment or their own self-interest may lead them. They also tend to move often from one company or mine to another within the different bituminous mining areas. It is also true that seasonal or other labor may attract them away from the mines for a time, or the knowledge gained from neighbors or labor agents, or through reading, may impel the immigrant mine employees to migrate to other mining regions, even though the distance may be great from the locality in which they are working. There is, therefore, a constant movement in progress among the mine workers of different races, which is accentuated in times of industrial depression by an exodus from the affected districts and by concentration upon the localities where work may still be had. In addition to the migratory movements within the industry, however, there is a tendency among all races to visit their native countries. This tendency under normal conditions usually means what the word "visit" implies, but often may mean a return for a residence of a year or longer. Such visits are especially significant in connection with industrial depression as indicating the unsettled and temporary character of the bulk of recent immigration. One of the first results of a general shutting down of mines, or curtailment of mining operations, is seen in the outward movement of immigrant mine workers who have saved sufficient money to pay their passage. An industrial depression is usually accompanied by a movement to the regions where the mines are still in operation, and, finally, when work becomes hard to secure generally, a second movement out of the United States is noticeable. The mine workers of recent immigration who have accumulated any savings usually decide that the expenses of a visit abroad will be less than their living expenses in this country until work is resumed, and consequently return to their native lands to await the resumption of mining operations. A considerable number remain in this country, especially those who have emigrated from countries where political and social conditions are unsatisfactory, and subsist on their savings or are helped by their fellow-countrymen or the mining companies, and from charitable or public sources, until work may again be had. In this connection the table which is submitted below will be found to be of value. It shows, by races and by specified periods of residence in the United States, the number and per cent of immigrants reporting one or more visits abroad. Table 231.— Visits abroad made by foreign-born male employees, by years in the United States and race. (STUDY OF EMPLOYEES.) [By years in the United States is meant years since first arrival in United States. This table includes only races with 100 or more males reporting. The total, however, is for all foreign-born.] |