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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.

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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.

races.

(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.]

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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

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 then 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. Where 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.

All

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. 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

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Upon information secured from 1,223 families in this locality it will be noted that almost the entire number, or 99.3 per cent, have an income from earnings of husband, 50.1 per cent from payments of boarders or lodgers, 12.3 per cent from contributions of children, 0.6 per cent from earnings of wife, and 7.4 per cent from some other

source.

All of the native-born families receive an income from the earnings of the husband, while 99.2 per cent of the foreign-born receive an income from this source. The Germans, with 91.7 per cent, and the Russians, with 97.1 per cent, are the only races showing less than 99 per cent of their families receiving an income from earnings of husband.

The proportions of families having an income from earnings of wife are too small for comparison, the native whites reporting only 3.8 per cent, and the Magyars, Poles, and Slovaks each reporting less than 2 per cent, while the other races report no proportions having an income from this source.

The native-born families show 38.5 per cent receiving an income from contributions of children, as compared with 11.7 per cent of the foreign-born. Among the foreign-born families having an income from this source the Germans show the largest proportion, or 41.7 per cent, while the proportions of the other races range from 14.3 per cent of the Poles to 4.2 per cent of the Magyars.

The whites native-born of native father and the Germans show very small proportions of their families receiving an income from payments of boarders or lodgers, or 3.8 per cent and 8.3 per cent, respectively. Of the foreign-born families, 51.1 per cent have an income from payments of boarders or lodgers. The Croatians and Lithuanians each report 72.4 per cent, while the Slovaks, with 41.5 per cent, show the smallest proportion among the races of recent immigration.

With the exception of the American whites, each race reports a certain proportion of families having an income from sources other than those specified in the preceding table, the proportions ranging from 3.1 per cent of the Croatian families to 12.5 per cent of the German

families.

RELATIVE IMPORTANCE OF THE DIFFERENT SOURCES OF FAMILY INCOME.

The following table shows the source of family income in detail, by general nativity and race of head of family:

TABLE 190.-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.] Per cent of families having entire income from

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Upon information obtained from 1,223 families in this locality, 45.2 per cent derive the entire family income from husband and boarders or lodgers, 36.3 per cent from husband alone, and 7.8 per cent from husband and children. None of the families reporting have their entire income from wife or from wife and boarders or lodgers, and only 0.1 per cent derive the entire family income from husband, wife, and children, or from wife and children, or from boarders or lodgers. Of all Magyar families reporting, 47.6 per cent have their entire income from husband's earnings, as compared with 43.2 per cent of the Slovaks, 41.7 per cent of the Germans, and 34.6 per cent of the Poles. The race reporting the smallest proportion of families whose entire income comes from husband is the Lithuanian, the per cent being 18.4. In contrast with these foreign-born races, the nativeborn whites report that 57.7 per cent of all families derive entire income from husband's earnings. The Poles, Magyars, and Slovaks each report a small proportion of families having entire income from husband and wife.

Of those having entire income from husband and children, the largest proportion, or 34.6 per cent, is reported by the native whites, followed closely by the Germans; of the other races studied, the proportions of families having entire income from this source range from 8.2 per cent of the Poles to 2.1 per cent of the Magyars, the Croatians alone reporting no proportion.

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