CHAPTER X.

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 152 to 163 and General Tables 92 to 103].

RENT IN ITS RELATION TO STANDARD OF LIVING.

The monthly rent payments of households the heads of which were employed in the shoe-manufacturing industry are significant in their bearing upon the standard of living of the employees because of the practice of crowding persons in the apartments in order to reduce the per capita rent outlay. This condition is disclosed by the following series of tables, the first of which shows, by general nativity and race of head of household, the average rent per month, per apartment, per room, and per person:

TABLE 152.-Average rent per month, by general nativity and race of head of household. (STUDY OF HOUSEHOLDS.)

From 385 households paying rent and reporting the amount it is found that the average rent per apartment is $14.70, the average rent per room is $2.97, and the average rent per person per month is $2.89. Households the heads of which are native whites born of native father show the highest average rent per month per apartment, households the heads of which are native-born of foreign father follow with somewhat smaller averages, while households the heads of which are

foreign-born show a considerably lower average rent per month per apartment than the first two mentioned. The same order is observed for rent per room and per person per month, households the heads of which are native-born whites of native father showing the highest average and households the heads of which are foreign-born the lowest average. Among households the heads of which are of foreign birth, households the heads of which are Hebrews pay an average monthly rental per apartment of $16.11, households the heads of which are Irish, French Canadian, English, and South Italian, follow, paying between $14.63 and $15.64 rent per month per apartment. Households the heads of which are Armenians, Lithuanians, Poles, Greeks, or Syrians show between $9.14 and $13.34 rent per apartment per month. Households the heads of which are Hebrews, South Italians, and French Canadians show an average monthly rental per room of over $3 as contrasted with only $1.94 paid by households the heads of which are Syrians. Households the heads of which are English pay an average monthly rental per person of $4.35, households the heads of which are Irish pay $3.58, while no households the heads of which are of other specified races pay over $3 rent per person per month. Households the heads of which are Lithuanians pay only $1.69 and households the heads of which are Poles pay only $1.23 rent per person per month.

The range in monthly rent payments per apartment is indicated by the following table.

TABLE 153.—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 385 households studied, 0.3 per cent pay under $5 per month per apartment, 4.4 per cent pay under $7.50, 16.1 per cent pay under $10, and 32.5 per cent pay under $12.50 rent per month per apartment. The average rent per month per apartment for all households studied is $14.70. No households the heads of which are

native whites born of native father or foreign-born pay under $5, while 2.8 per cent of households the heads of which are native-born of foreign father pay under this rent per apartment per month. Households the heads of which are foreign-born show a higher percentage paying under $7.50, under $10, and under $12.50 rent per apartment per month than households the heads of which are nativeborn of foreign father, while the latter show larger proportions paying under each amount mentioned above than households the heads of which are native-born of native father. Households the heads of which are native-born of native father pay an average monthly rental per apartment of $16.74, households the heads of which are native-born of foreign father pay $15.37, and households the heads of which are foreign-born pay $13.88. Among households the heads of which are foreign-born, the Greeks show the highest per cent paying under $7.50 per month per apartment, while no households the heads of which are South Italian, English, or Armenian pay under this amount. Households the heads of which are Greek also show the highest per cent paying under $10 and English the lowest percentage paying under this amount of rent per month per apartment. Households the heads of which are Poles, Greeks, or Lithuanians show over 50 per cent paying under $12.50 rent per month per apartment, as contrasted with only 23.9 per cent of households the heads of which are Hebrews, and 10.6 per cent of households the heads of which are South Italians paying under this amount. Among households the heads of which are native-born of foreign father, those whose heads are of Irish parentage show 3.7 per cent paying under $5 rent per month per apartment, as contrasted with no households the heads of which are foreign-born paying under this amount.

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

TABLE 154.-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.]

Of 385 households studied, 0.5 per cent pay under $1 rent per month per room, 5.5 per cent pay under $2 rent per month per room, 43.1 per cent pay under $3, and 80.8 per cent pay under $4 rent per month per room. The average rent per month per room for all

households studied is $2.97. Households the heads of which are native-born of foreign father show the highest percentage paying under $1 rent per month per room; households the heads of which are foreign-born show very small proportions paying under this amount; and households the heads of which are native whites born of native father show no households paying under $1 rent per month per room. Households the heads of which are of foreign birth show the highest percentage paying under $2, under $3, and under $4 rent per month per room. Households the heads of which are native-born of foreign father follow with a somewhat smaller percentage paying under each amount, while households the heads of which are native whites born of native father show a considerably smaller proportion paying under $3 and under $4 rent per room per month and none paying under $2. Households the heads of which are native whites born of native father pay an average rent per room per month of $3.39, while households the heads of which are native-born of foreign father pay $3.04, and households the heads of which are foreign-born pay $2.88. Households the heads of which are French Canadians show a small proportion paying under $1 rent per room per month. No foreign-born households the heads of which are of other specified races pay under the above amount. No households the heads of which are Armenians, Hebrews, and South Italians pay under $2 rent per room per month, while households the heads of which are French Canadians show the highest percentage. Households the heads of which are English and Armenians show the highest percentage paying under $3, and households the heads of which are Hebrews the smallest per cent paying under this amount. Households the heads of which are Armenians show 96.9 per cent paying under $4, and households the heads of which are Greek only 70.8 per cent paying under this amount of rent per month per room.

The per capita rent payment is set forth in the table following, which shows, by general nativity and race of head of household, the percentage of households paying each specified rent per month per person.