TABLE 61.-Per cent of persons in each conjugal condition, by sex, age groups, and general nativity and race of individual-Continued. Grand total..... 8, 755 19.7 79.5 .7 7,267 3.7 93.4 2.8 3,134 1.4 78.3 20. 319, 156 10.784.6 4.7 Total native-born. 589 13.1 84.2 2.7 1,895 46 1 52.7 1. 2 1, 197 10.0 86.7 3.3 Total foreign-born....... 204 5.9 82.811. 3 2,007 37.0 60.3 2.7 535 3.4 79.617.0 3,627 27.9 67.9 4.2 6,860 12.4 87.0 .6 6,070 2.5 94.7 2.8 2,599 1.0 78.021.015, 529 6.688.5 4.8 a Not computed, owing to small number involved, 48296°-VOL 19-11-12 27 3.7 88.9 7.4 348 .0 98.3 1.7 352 9.4 87.2 3.4 277 .7 97.1 2.2 582.9 96.9 2.2 280 3.2 95. 4 1.4 215 54 362 1.7 94. 2 4. 1 81 .0 8 (a) (a)(a) 204 52 112 12 316 .0 82. 117.9 .0 79.7 20.3 .0 87.3 12.7 38 .0 76.323.7 474 5.590.3 4.2 TABLE 61.-Per cent of persons in each conjugal condition, by sex, age groups, and general nativity and race of individual-Continued. Upon referring to the totals in the preceding table it is seen that a larger proportion of foreign-born persons were married during the age period 20 to 29 years than of native-born. The difference between the two nativity groups decreases in the next age classification, 30 to 44 years, and among those 45 years of age or over about the same proportion of both native-born and foreign-born persons were married. Of the total number 20 years of age or over, only 17.1 per cent of the persons of foreign birth were unmarried, as contrasted with 32.4 per cent of those of native birth. The same general tendencies are exhibited by the totals for both males and females as are shown by the grand totals. As a general rule, among the races of recent immigration from southern and eastern Europe, a larger proportion of unmarried males is found than among the races from Great Britain and northern Europe; while in the case of the females this situation is reversed, there being a larger percentage of unmarried women among races of past immigration as compared with those of recent years. This situation is probably due to the fact that most of the women in the households the heads of which were recent immigrants were either married before their husbands came to the United States or were sent for by present husbands who married them immediately upon their arrival in this country. CHAPTER VII. GENERAL PROGRESS AND ASSIMILATION. Ownership of homes-Status of children in the households studied-Citizenship-Ability to speak English-[Text Tables 62 to 73 and General Tables 47 to 55]. OWNERSHIP OF HOMES. On Under favorable conditions the tendencies exhibited by families, the heads of which were of foreign birth and employed in the industries of the United States, toward acquiring their own homes may be taken as an indication of progress toward assimilation and of an intention to permanently settle in this country. It may be true that the wage-earner is living and working in a large industrial center where the acquisition of property is beyond his resources. the other hand, it is also true that in many industrial localities, especially in those connected with the mining industry, the so-called 'company house" system prevails, under which the industrial worker is practically not permitted to buy a home, but must live in a house owned by the operating company and rented to him. Under these and similar conditions, therefore, racial inclinations toward the acquisition of property can not have full play, and statistics as to home ownership based on returns from heads of families engaged in different industrial pursuits and in widely separated industrial localities must be accepted with some qualification. As a consequence, some reservations must be made in the case of the figures in the table which immediately follows, and an absolutely accurate treatment can be secured only by reference to the separate industrial studies. The tabulation, however, showing as it does, by general nativity and race of head of family, the number and percentage of families owning their homes, is indicative of racial tendencies within certain limitations. The families, the heads of which were native-born of native or of foreign father, were studied for purposes of comparison with those the heads of which were foreign-born. The table and accompanying chart, which is based upon an investigation of 17,628 families, the heads of which were employed in the principal divisions of mining and manufacturing enterprise, are next submitted. 175 |