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

Although a considerable proportion of the wives of the families the heads of which were employed in the hardware and cutlery manufacturing industry, as well as other female members of the families, seek regular employment outside the home as a means of contributing to the family support, a much larger proportion of the wives add to the earnings of their husbands by taking boarders or lodgers into the home. The extent to which the wives of the families find it necessary to supplement in this way the earnings of their husbands is set forth in the following tables, which show the number and percentage of families in which wife has employment or keeps boarders or lodgers, according to yearly earnings and general nativity and race of head of family:

TABLE 117.-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 1 family in which husband's earnings are reported as "none."

TABLE 118.-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. The families here represented are only those where both husband and wife are present.]

a This column includes 1 family in which husband's earnings are reported as "none."
Not computed, owing to small number involved.

Of the families where the husband's earnings are under $400 per annum, 27.2 per cent of the wives have employment or keep boarders or lodgers, while of the families where the husband's earnings are $400 and under $600 per annum 22.7 per cent of the wives have employment or keep boarders or lodgers, and of those where the husband's earnings are $600 or over, 11 per cent of the wives have employment or keep boarders or lodgers. The families the heads of which are foreign-born and earn under $600 per annum show a larger proportion of wives having employment or keeping boarders or lodgers than those the heads of which are native-born of foreign father and earn the same amount. The position of the nativity groups is reversed as regards the families where husband's earnings are $600 or over. The families the heads of which are South Italians or Poles are the only ones showing a proportion of wives having employment or keeping boarders or lodgers where husband's earnings are under $400. A certain proportion of the wives of the families the heads of which are of each race and whose earnings are $400 and under $600 have employment or keep boarders or lodgers-those the heads of which are Poles showing the largest and those the heads of which are South Italians showing the smallest proportion. Of the families the heads of which are of each race, except the South Italian, and whose earnings are $600 or over, the proportion of wives having employment or keeping boarders or lodgers ranges from 16.7 per cent of those the heads of which are Poles to 10.3 per cent of those the heads of which are Canadian French, those the heads of which are South Italian showing

none.

SOURCES OF FAMILY INCOME.

The two tables next presented exhibit the sources of family income in detail. The first of these, which immediately follows, shows, by general nativity and race of head of family, the per cent of families 48296°- -VOL 17--11-11

who had an income within the year from husband, wife, children, boarders, or lodgers, and other sources. The past year referred to in the table means the twelve months immediately preceding the collection of the data.

TABLE 119.—Per cent of families having an income within the year from husband, wife, children, boarders or lodgers, and other sources, by general nativitý 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. Öne family is excluded which reports income as "none."]

Slightly less than 95 per cent of the 390 families that are included in the above table had an income during the year from earnings of the husband. The proportion having an income from earnings of the wife is less than 5 per cent. Over 30 per cent had income from the contributions of children and 16.7 per cent had income from the payments of boarders or lodgers. The proportion having income from other sources than those specified is 12.6 per cent. When compared with households the heads of which are native-born of foreign father, the households the heads of which are foreign-born show a smaller proportion of families that have income from the earnings of husband and a much larger proportion having income from the contributions of children and from the payments of boarders or lodgers. Considering the families the heads of which are foreign-born it is seen that 100 per cent of the Polish have income from earnings of husband and that 38.6 per cent of the families of that race have income from the payments of boarders or lodgers. (In each of these instances the proportion shown by the Poles is larger than that shown by any other foreign-born race.) Over 95 per cent each of the South Italian and Swedish families have income from the earnings of husband, as compared with 83.3 per cent of the Germans and 88 per cent of the French Canadians. None of the German or South Italians have income from the earnings of wife, whereas the proportion of French Canadian families that have an income from that source is 10 per cent and of the Swedes it is 6.6 per cent. The Germans show the largest proportion of families having income from the contributions of children and from sources other than those specified. Next to the Poles who show the

largest proportion of families having income from payments of boarders or lodgers come the Swedes, of whose families 13.2 per cent have an income from that source.

The table next presented also shows the source of family income, according to general nativity and race of head of family, but differs from the preceding table in that each specified source is exclusive of all other sources.

TABLE 120.-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 all, 390 families were selected for study of family income in detail. Of that number 47.2 per cent have entire income from husband, 20.5 per cent from husband and children, 15.1 per cent from sources or combination of sources not specified, 11.3 per cent from husband and boarders or lodgers, and 1.5 per cent each from husband and wife and from children. Less than 1 per cent of the total number of families studied have entire income from any one of the following sources: Husband, wife, and children; wife; wife and children; wife and boarders or lodgers. None of the families studied have entire income from boarders or lodgers. When compared with households the heads of which are native-born of foreign father, the households the heads of which are foreign-born show a smaller proportion that have entire income from husband or from wife and a larger proportion that have entire income from husband and children, husband and boarders or lodgers and from children. Of the households the heads of which are foreign-born the South Italians show the largest proportion that have entire income from husband. The Swedes show a proportion that is almost as large, followed by the Poles and the French Canadians. None of the foreign-born families have entire income from any one of the following sources: Husband, wife, and children; wife; boarders or lodgers. The Poles show the largest pro

portion of the foreign-born races of families that have entire income from husband and boarders or lodgers. Less than 10 per cent of any foreign-born race has entire income from any one of the following sources: Wife and children; wife and boarders or lodgers; children; children and boarders or lodgers.

RELATIVE IMPORTANCE OF DIFFERENT SOURCES OF FAMILY INCOME.

The extent to which the families studied depend upon the designated sources of income is set forth in the table next submitted, which shows, by general nativity and race of head of family, the per cent of total yearly income from husband, wife, children, boarders or lodgers, and other sources:

TABLE 121.-Per cent of total family 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."]

Nearly 75 per cent of the total income of the 390 families that are included in the above table is derived from the earnings of the husband. Less than 1 per cent is derived from the earnings of the wife. Slightly less than 20 per cent comes from the contributions of children and less than 5 per cent from the payments of boarders or lodgers. When compared with the families the heads of which are native-born of foreign father, the families the heads of which are foreign-born show the smallest proportion of income derived from the earnings of the husband or from the earnings of the wife. The increase is in the contributions of children and in the payments of boarders or lodgers. Of the families the heads of which are foreignborn, the Polish show the largest proportion of income from earnings of husband and the Germans the smallest. Slightly more than 50 per cent of the income of the German families is from husband's earnings. None of the German or South Italian and less than 1 per cent of the Polish and Swedish family income is derived from the earnings of the wife. The Poles show a smaller proportion of income derived from contributions of children than does any other foreignborn race.