None of the Hebrews, South Italians, or Ruthenians and less than 7 per cent of the North Italians, Slovaks, or Magyars get $1,500 or over, as compared with from 15.6 per cent to 30 per cent of each of the other races, the native-born of Irish father reporting the highest proportion. The average incomes of the old immigrant races range from $985 to $1,302, the native-born of foreign father reporting $1,252, as compared with from $421 to $862 of the other races. Summarizing, small proportions of the old immigrant races and native-born of foreign father and large proportions of other races report in the under $300, $500, and $750 groups, the reverse being true from this point on. WIVES AT WORK. The tendency on the part of wives to engage in occupations outside the home in order to supplement the earnings of their husbands is indicated by the following table. This table shows, by general nativity and race of head of family, the proportion of wives at work. TABLE 232.—Wives at work, by general nativity and race of head of family. In the above table 14.2 per cent of the 614 wives studied are employed at an average wage of $250 yearly. A slightly higher proportion of the foreign-born wives are working, the average earnings being exactly the same, but of the native-born of foreign father only 2.9 per cent of the wives are working. Much variation from these figures is noted in the case of the several races. Thus none of the Irish, less than 3 per cent of the Germans and Hebrews, 7.7 per cent of the English, and a slightly lower proportion of the native-born of Irish father report wives working, while the proportions of the more recent immigrant races range from the 13.8 per cent reported by the North Italians to the 25.5 per cent of the Slovaks. The earnings, also, range from the $158 of the South Italians to the $275 of the Magyars. RELATION BETWEEN THE EARNINGS OF HUSBANDS AND THE PRACTICE OF WIVES OF KEEPING BOARDERS OR LODGERS. It has been seen that only a small proportion of the wives in the families studied were regularly employed for wages outside the home. On the other hand, a considerable proportion of the wives supplements the earnings of the heads by keeping boarders or lodgers. The extent to which this is done is indicated by the following table, which shows, by yearly earnings of husbands and by general nativity and race of head of family, the per cent of families in which wife has employment or keeps boarders or lodgers. TABLE 233.-Number of families in which wife has employment or keeps boarders or lodgers, by yearly earnings of husband and by general nativity and race of head of family. (STUDY OF HOUSEHOLDS.) [The families here represented are only those where both husband and wife are present.] a For selection of families, see Vol. II, p. 6. This column includes 15 families in which husbands' earnings are reported as "none." c This column includes 9 families in which husbands' earnings are reported as "none." 5 38 TABLE 234.-Per cent of families in which wife has employment or keeps boarders or lodgers, by yearly earnings of husband and by general nativity and race of head of family. (STUDY OF HOUSEHOLDS.) [This table includes only races with 20 or more selected families reporting. The totals, however, are for all races. For selection of families see Vol. II, p. 6. Of the selected families, only those which have husband and wife present appear in this table.] This column includes 9 families in which husbands' earnings are reported as “none.” In the above table 58 per cent of the wives whose husbands earn less than $400, 57.4 per cent of those whose husbands earn $400 to $600, and 22.8 per cent of the remaining wives are at work. It will be noted that as a rule the proportion of income-bearing wives decreases as the pay of the husband increases. Thus, with the exception of the Germans, each race reports the smallest proportion of wives working in the $600 or over group. Over 50 per cent of the North Italian, Magyar, and Ruthenian wives, 25 per cent or over of the second generation Irish, English, Hebrew, South Italian, and Slovak, a somewhat lower proportion of the German, and but 8.3 per cent of the Irish wives have employment or keep boarders or lodgers. SOURCES OF FAMILY INCOME. The sources of family income are shown in detail by the table next presented. This table shows, by general nativity and race of head of family, the percentage of families having an income within the year from husband, wife, children, boarders or lodgers, and other sources. TABLE 235.-Per cent of families having an 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. One family is excluded which reports income as "none."] In the above table 88.2 per cent of the 617 families have income from the husbands; 37.3 per cent from boarders and lodgers, a considerably lower proportion from children, but 10.2 from unspecified sources, and a slightly greater proportion from the wives. These figures closely reflect the proportions of the foreign-born, but the proportions of families of native head of foreign father getting income from husband and children are slightly larger, from unspecified sources much larger, while but 2.9 per cent get income from wives and 17.1 per cent from boarders or lodgers. It will be noted that in every case, except the Irish, the husband is the main support of the family, the proportion of 71 per cent being much lower than the report of any other race. From 25 per cent to 56.2 per cent of the recent immigration races report income from the boarders or lodgers, as compared with 20 per cent or less of the races of past immigration, but still greater proportions of the latter receive income from children, less than 27 per cent of the former reporting this source. From the table it may be inferred that the native-born families of foreign father and those of the past immigrant races depend mostly upon the husband, children, and unspecified sources of income, while the more recent immigrant races depend principally upon the husbands and boarders or lodgers and to a lesser degree upon the wives. In the table next presented, in which the sources of family income are again shown in detail, each source specified is exclusive of all other sources. In other words, the proportion of families appearing under each designated source have their entire income from that source. TABLE 236.-Source of family income in detail, 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. One family is excluded which reports income as "none."] In the above table, 33.7 per cent of the 617 families studied get their entire income from the husband, 25.6 per cent from husband and boarders or lodgers, and 16.4 per cent from unspecified sources or combination of sources. These figures closely reflect the proportions of the foreign-born, but the native-born of foreign father report 51.4 per cent supported entirely by the husband, 28.6 per cent by unspecified sources and 11.4 per cent by husband and children. It will be noted that the husband, either alone or in conjunction with the children or boarders or lodgers, is the principal income source of each race. Thus, the English and the Irish, both first and second generation, depend principally upon the husband and husband and children, while the other races depend principally upon the husband and husband and boarders or lodgers. A very small proportion of the Hebrews and from 11.8 per cent to 30 per cent of each of the other races get their entire family income from unspecified sources or combination of sources. RELATIVE IMPORTANCE OF DIFFERENT SOURCES OF FAMILY INCOME. The relative importance of the different sources of income of the families studied in the community may be seen from the table next submitted, which shows, by general nativity and race of head of family, the per cent of total yearly income from the husband, wife, children, boarders or lodgers, and other sources. |