total foreign-born, 19.4 per cent of the Croatian and 18.2 per cent of the North Italians report an income less than $300 a year.

Of the Ruthenian families 23.1 per cent receive an income between $300 and $500, and 61.5 per cent an income between $500 and $750 annually. Only 2.6 per cent of the families of this race have an income in excess of $750 a year. Of the Russian families 57.2 per cent have an income ranging between $300 and $500, and 25.7 per cent an income between $500 and $750, with no families receiving more than $1,000 a year. Of the Polish families 37.9 per cent receive an income between $300 and $500, 40.7 per cent between $500 and $750, and 14.8 per cent an income greater than $750 a year. Of the Magyar households 42.6 per cent have an income between $300 and $500, and 30.1 per cent have between $500 and $750 annually. Of the Lithuanians 57.9 per cent are below $500 of annual income and 84.2 per cent below $750. Of the Croatian families 34.7 per cent depend upon an income which is between $300 and $500 and an equal per cent upon an income between $500 and $750 a year. Only 11.2 per cent of the Croatian households have an income in excess of $750 a year. Of the North Italians 17.5 per cent also have an income above $750 annually, while 28.5 per cent are between $500 and $750 and 35.8 per cent between $300 and $500. Of the South Italians 18.6 per cent have a family income above $750 a year, while 32.2 per cent of the families of the same race receive an income between $500 and $750 a year and 40.7 per cent between $300 and $500 a year.

WIVES AT WORK.

The extent to which the families of the different races have yearly incomes of specified amounts has now been set forth. The following table shows the extent to which the wives of mine employees are engaged in regular paid employment and the average income of those at work:

TABLE 185.-Wives at work, by general nativity and race of head of family.
(STUDY OF HOUSEHOLDS.)

The highest percentage of wives employed, it will be noticed, occurs among the native white families, among which 3.8 per cent are at work. The conclusion to be drawn from the table as a whole is obviously that practically none of the wives of the mine workers are employed for wages. One native-born wife out of 26, and 6 foreignborn out of 1,194, or less than 1 per cent of the total number of wives, are at work. This condition is due, as has been previously stated, to the fact that there is little or no opportunity in the mining villages for wives to work outside of the home. The wife of native birth receives an annual income of $338, and the 6 foreign-born wives earn an average annual wage of $100.

ANNUAL EARNINGS OF FEMALES 18 YEARS OF AGE OR OVER IN THE HOUSEHOLDS STUDIED.

The situation becomes more apparent when all the females 18 years of age or over in the households studied, who are working for wages, are considered. The next table, which is submitted below, shows the number of such females who are earning specified amounts, as well as their average annual earnings:

TABLE 186.— Yearly earnings (approximate) of females 18 years of age or over, by general nativity and race of individual.

Upon examining the above table it is seen that only 20 females report themselves as working for wages. Of this total, 13 are native-born and only 7 are of foreign birth. Of the 13 native-born, however, 10 are Irish, German, English, Bohemian, and Slovak women of the second generation, most of whom are doubtless employed as domestic servants. Their average annual earnings are $317, and the average earnings of the foreign-born are $264. The conclusion, in short, is obvious that a very small number of the women of the households of coal-mining employees are working for wages, and the earnings of the small percentage thus engaged scarcely constitute any appreciable part of the family incomes.

RELATION BETWEEN THE EARNINGS OF HUSBANDS AND THE PRACTICE OF WIVES OF KEEPING BOARDERS OR LODGERS.

Although very few wives are working for wages in regular occupations outside the homes, a very considerable number derive an income from keeping boarders or lodgers. One of the principal factors responsible for the extent to which boarders and lodgers are found is the comparatively low earnings of the heads of families of foreign birth. The extent to which this factor is operative is indicated in detail in the following tables, which show the relationship between the income of the husband and the tendency on the part of the wife to find employment or to keep boarders or lodgers, according to general nativity and race of head of family.

TABLE 187.-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.

a For selection of families, see Vol. II, p. 284.

> This column includes 2 families in which husband's earnings are reported as "none."

TABLE 188.-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 For selection of families, see Vol. II, p. 284. Of the selected families only those which have both husband and wife present appear in this table.]

races.

In considering the foregoing tables, the point already established, to the effect that practically no wives have outside regular employment, should be constantly borne in mind, together with the resultant inference that almost all the wives referred to as either having employment or keeping boarders or lodgers are, in fact, keeping boarders and lodgers. It is apparent that foreign-born families show a much greater tendency to supplement the family income than do the native-born families. In general, the highest percentage of wives keeping boarders and lodgers occurs in the families the heads of which earn less than $600 a year. In families where the husband earns more than this amount, there are usually relatively fewer wives so occupied. It will be noted that the Croatian and Lithuanian families exhibit the greatest tendency, as compared with all other races, to keep boarders and lodgers. In part, at least, this is due to the fact that these races are both of more recent immigration than either of the Italian races, the Slovaks, Magyars, or Poles, and among them there are relatively more single men seeking board and lodging. They naturally prefer to live in families belonging to their own race. This percentage is also raised by the fact that these races seem to have less objection to turning the family into a boarding group. Both show a decreased percentage where the income of the husband exceeds $600 a year. In the North Italian families, relatively fewer wives keep boarders and lodgers than in the South Italian, and this difference becomes more marked as the husband's income increases. This is due almost entirely to the generally higher standard of life among the families of the former race, the result of which is a tendency not to keep boarders and lodgers unless such work be necessary to augment the family income. Of the Magyar, Slovak, and Polish families, the last named show the strongest inclination to keep boarders and lodgers. This is pos

Where

sibly due to the lower regard for independent family life, and perhaps also to a stronger feeling on the part of this race that the wife should also contribute to the family income than exists among the two other races mentioned. This is borne out by the significant fact that the highest percentage of Polish families keeping boarders or lodgers occurs among those in which the husband earns $600 or over a year. In general, it may be said on the basis of these tables that the tendency of the wives to keep boarders and lodgers increases as the earnings of the husbands decrease. By comparing the totals for the foreign-born this tendency becomes evident. the husbands earn less than $400 each year slightly more than one-half of those of foreign birth have boarders and lodgers; 53.9 per cent of those whose husbands earn between $400 and $600 annually, also keep boarders and lodgers. After $600 of annual earnings has been secured by the husbands, the proportion of foreign-born wives having boarders and lodgers drops to 44.3 per cent, indicating that, although there is a uniform and constant tendency on the part of the foreignborn families to have boarders and lodgers as a supplementary source of income, many of the wives who would not otherwise do so are forced into keeping boarders and lodgers because of the small amounts earned at the mines by their husbands.

It now remains to be seen what are the other sources of family income in addition to the earnings of the husband, the regular employment of wives, and the keeping of boarders and lodgers, and also to ascertain the relative importance of each source of income. All these points are covered by the following series of tables, which show the different sources of income and the weight to be attached to each source.

SOURCES OF FAMILY INCOME.

The following table shows the per cent of families having an income from husband, wife, children, boarders or lodgers, and other sources, by general nativity and race of head of family:

TABLE 189.-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.] Per cent of families having an income from