TABLE 227.—Persons per sleeping room, by general nativity and race of head of household. household. of of persons house- per sleep holds. ing room. 2 or 3 or 6 or Of the total number of households 62.8 per cent have 2 or more persons per sleeping room; 18.6 per cent have 3 or more. Figures for the total number of households closely reflect conditions in the foreign-born households. Of the households of the native whites of native father only 29.2 per cent have 2 or more persons per room, and none have 3 or more. It should be noted that congestion in sleeping rooms is less frequent in French Canadian households than in the households of any other race for which percentages are computed. The effect of congestion within the households upon living arrangements may be seen from the final table of this series, which immediately follows. It shows, by general nativity and race of head of household, the number and percentage of households regularly using for sleeping purposes all except each specified number of rooms. TABLE 228.-Number and per cent of households regularly sleeping in all except each specified number of rooms, by general nativity and race of head of household. The above table shows that in the households for which information was secured the average number of rooms per household is larger for the native-born of native father than for the foreign-born, and larger for the Irish and French Canadians than for any other foreign race, while the average number of sleeping rooms per household is larger for the foreign-born than for the native-born of native father and larger for the Irish and Poles than for any other foreign race. A much larger proportion of foreign-born households than of the households of native-born of native father use for sleeping purposes all rooms, all rooms except one, and all rooms except two, respectively. CHAPTER XVIII. SALIENT CHARACTERISTICS. Literacy-Conjugal condition-Age classification of members of households studied— [Text Tables 229 to 233 and General Tables 149 to 153]. LITERACY. The series of tabulations which follow set forth not only the degree of literacy which prevails among shoe-manufacturing employees in Community B, at the present time, but also indicate the elements of progress evidenced by the foreign-born after their arrival in this country. The table first presented, which immediately follows shows, by sex and general nativity and race of individual, the percentage of persons in the households studied, 10 years of age or over, who were able to read and the percentage who were able to both read and write. TABLE 229.-Per cent of persons 10 years of age or over who read and per cent who read and write, by sex and general nativity and race of individual. (STUDY OF HOUSEHOLDS.) [This table includes only races with 40 or more persons reporting. The totals, however, are for all races.] The preceding table shows that of the individuals in this locality for whom information was secured 88.7 per cent of the males and 80.2 per cent of the females can read only, and 83.8 per cent of the males and 75.3 per cent of the females can both read and write. It appears that all of the persons native-born of native father, both males and females, can read and write, and that among the nativeborn of foreign father all of the males and 98.0 per cent of the females can both read and read and write. Among the foreign-born races the Greeks, followed by the Hebrews, Poles, and Armenians, have the largest, and the South Italians the smallest proportion of males who are able to read only, and the Hebrews, followed by the French Canadians and Poles, have the largest and the South Italians and Greeks the smallest proportion of females. The proportion of males who can both read and write is largest in the case of the Greeks, Hebrews, and Armenians, and smallest in the case of the Lithuanians, while the proportion of females who can both read and write is largest in the case of the Hebrews, French Canadians, and Poles and smallest in the case of the South Italians and Lithuanians. It will be noted that among the South Italians and Lithuanians the proportion of literates is much higher for the males than for the females. The relation between literacy and period of residence in this country is set forth in the following table, which shows, according to years in the United States and race of individual, the percentage of foreignborn persons 10 years of age or over who read and percentage who both read and write. TABLE 230.-Per cent of foreign-born persons 10 years of age or over who read and per cent who read and write, by years in the United States and race of individual. (STUDY OF HOUSEHOLDS.) [By years in the United States is meant years since first arrival in the United States. This table includes only races with 40 or more persons reporting. The total, however, is for all foreign-born.] The preceding table shows that all of the Hebrews for whom information was secured, irrespective of length of residence in the United States, are able to read and to write. Of the other foreign-born races, the Poles, Greeks, and French Canadians have the largest proportion of individuals who have been in the United States under five years who are able to read, and the Greeks, Poles, and Armenians have the largest proportion of individuals who have been here under five years who are able both to read and to write, and the largest proportion of individuals who have been here from five to nine years who are able both to read and to read and to write. The proportion of literates is much smaller among the South Italians than among the individuals of any other foreign race. The table next submitted is of interest as indicating the progress manifested by the younger immigrants as compared with the older. It shows, according to age at time of coming to the United States and race of individual, the percentage of foreign-born persons 10 years of age or over who read and per cent who both read and write. TABLE 231.-Per cent of foreign-born persons 10 years of age or over who read and per cent who read and write, by age at time of coming to the United States and race of individual. (STUDY OF HOUSEHOLDS.) [This table includes only races with 40 or more persons reporting. The total, however, is for all foreign-born.] Of the foreign-born persons in this locality 10 years of age or over for whom information was secured, 92.9 per cent of those who came here when under 14 years of age are able to read only, and 91.3 per cent are able to read and to write. Of the individuals who came to this country when 14 or over, 78.1 per cent are able to read only and 70.8 per cent are able to read and to write. All of the Hebrews, irrespective of age at the time of coming to the United States, are able to read and to write. Of the individuals who came here when under 14, a larger proportion of the French Canadians than of the South Italians are able to read and to write, while the proportion of individuals who came here when 14 or over who can read and write is much larger for the Armenians, French Canadians, Greeks, and Poles than for the South Italians and Lithuanians. CONJUGAL CONDITION. In the next table presented the conjugal condition of persons in the households studied is shown, according to sex, age groups, and general nativity and race of individual. 48296°-VOL 12-11-32 |