CHAPTER XVII.

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 217 to 228 and General Tables 136 to 148].

RENT IN ITS RELATION TO STANDARD OF LIVING.

The rent payments of the households, the heads of which were employed in the shoe manufacturing industry in Community B, are chiefly significant in their bearing upon standards of living because of congestion within the households arising from the practice, especially among households the heads of which were of recent immigration, to crowd their apartments in order to reduce the per capita outlay for rent. The first table submitted in this connection shows the average monthly rent payment per apartment per room and per person, according to general nativity and race of head of household.

TABLE 217.-Average rent per month, by general nativity and race of head of household. (STUDY OF HOUSEHOLDS.)

In the households in this locality for which information was secured, the monthly rental paid averages $9.26 per apartment, $2.01 per room, and $1.67 per person. A considerably higher average monthly rental per apartment and per room, and a very much higher monthly rental per person is paid by the native-born households than by the foreign-born households. Among the foreign-born, the Hebrew, Greek, and French Canadian households pay the largest,

and the Lithuanian and Polish households the smallest monthly rental per apartment, and the North Italian and Hebrew households pay the largest, and the Polish and French Canadian households the smallest average monthly rental per room, while the monthly rental per person is largest for the Greek, Hebrew, and French Canadian households, in the order mentioned, and smallest for the Lithuanian and Polish households.

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

TABLE 218.-Per cent of households paying each specified rent per month per apartment, by general nativity and race of head of household.

(STUDY OF HOUSEHOLDS.)

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

Of 208 households studied in this locality, 1.9 per cent pay under $5 rent per month per apartment, 20.2 per cent pay under $7.50, 60.6 per cent pay under $10, and 89.9 per cent pay under $12.50. The average rent per month per apartment for all households studied is $9.26.

The average rent in households the heads of which are native-born is $12.44 as contrasted with $8.97, which is the average monthly rent per apartment in households the heads of which are of foreign birth.

Among the households the heads of which are of foreign birth those whose heads are South Italians show the highest per cent paying under $5. The households the heads of which are Lithuanians follow, while no households the heads of which are Hebrews or French Canadians pay under the above-mentioned amount. The households the heads of which are South Italians show the highest per cent and those whose heads are Hebrews the lowest per cent paying under $7.50 and under $10. The households the heads of which are Lithuanians show the highest per cent and those whose heads are French Canadians the lowest per cent paying under $12.50 rent per month per apartment.

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

TABLE 219.-Per cent of households paying each specified rent per month per room, by general nativity and race of head of household.

(STUDY OF HOUSEHOLDS.)

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

The above table shows that of the households in this locality for which information was secured only a very small proportion pay rental at the rate of under $1 per month per room; that 38 per cent of the households pay under $2 per month per room, 97.1 per cent under $3 per month per room, and all households under $4 per month per room. The proportion of foreign-born households paying under $2 is largest in the case of the French Canadians and South Italians and smallest in the case of the Hebrews, while the French Canadians and Hebrews in the order mentioned have the largest and the South Italians the smallest proportion of households paying under $3.

In the following table the real situation relative to congestion is set forth, the crowding within the households being indicated by the large proportion of households having a low rent payment per capita. The following table shows, by general nativity and race of head of household, the percentage of households paying each specified rent per month per person.

TABLE 220.-Per cent of households paying each specified rent per month per person, by general nativity and race of head of household.

(STUDY OF HOUSEHOLDS.)

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

The data presented in the preceding table show that of the households for which information was secured only about 10 per cent paid rent at a rate of less than $1 per month per person, while 92.8 per cent paid under $4 per month per person. The proportion of households paying under $2 was 57.7 per cent and the proportion paying under $3 was 79.8 per cent. Of the different races the Lithuanians and South Italians had the largest and the Hebrews the smallest proportion of households paying under $2 per month per person, while the Lithuanians and Hebrews, in the order mentioned, had the largest and the French Canadians the smallest proportion of households paying under $3. All of the Hebrews and Lithuanian households and a larger proportion of the South Italian than of the French Canadian households paid rent at a rate of less than $4 per month per

person.

BOARDERS AND LODGERS.

The practice of wives of immigrant employees in keeping boarders or lodgers, in order to supplement the earnings of their husbands has already been discussed, and the extent of this practice and its effects upon living arrangements is set forth in the following series of tables. The first table which immediately follows shows, by general nativity and race of head of household, the number and percentage of households keeping boarders or lodgers.

Table 221.—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.]

The preceding table shows that 31.6 per cent of all the households in this locality for which information was secured keep boarders or lodgers, and that the proportion of households keeping boarders or lodgers is larger for the foreign-born than for the native-born of native father. Among the foreign-born, the Poles, Lithuanians, and South Italians, in the order mentioned, have the largest and the