The standard of living of any family or individual^[222] is the resultant of two principal factors. These are the desires and appetites of the individual or family and the amount of income available for the gratification of those desires and appetites. The casual observer, in forming his estimate of the immigrant, is in danger of forgetting the second of these factors, and of assuming that because the immigrant is found living in a certain status, he is therefore satisfied with that status and has no ambition to change it. It has already been hinted, in the foregoing paragraphs, that this is not the case. A full understanding of the limitations under which the immigrant is placed can come only with a study of the customary wages or income of the class to which he belongs.

The matter of wages is one of the easiest aspects of the life of the immigrant about which to secure reliable data. It lends itself readily to exact measurement, averaging, and tabulation. It is a subject upon which the immigrant himself can give accurate information if he is so inclined. As a result, there is a considerable mass of data in regard to the earnings of the foreign-born, and it is possible to make trustworthy generalizations thereupon. The latest and most inclusive figures on this point are those furnished by the Immigration Commission in its various reports. Foremost among these stands the report of Immigrants in Manufacturing and Mining, which presents the results of a thoroughgoing investigation of twenty of the leading industries of the country, and a less detailed study of sixteen others, covering in all 17,141 households and 503,732 individuals. The great majority of these are foreign-born, but there is a sufficient number of native-born, both of native and foreign parentage, to serve the purposes of comparison. The table on the previous page gives the average annual earnings of employees and the average family income in the different industries.

A noteworthy feature of the above table is the general excess of average family earnings over the average earnings of heads of families, showing the extent to which other members of the family besides the head contribute to the family support.

The average weekly earnings of male employees, 18 years of age or over, distributed according to nativity, are as follows. (The table includes over 200,000 individuals.)

There is a marked difference between races in this respect. The lowest figures among the foreign-born were: Albanian, $8.07; Greek, $8.41; Portuguese, $8.10; Syrian, $8.12; Turkish, $7.65. Some of the foreign-born rank well above the natives, as, for instance: Norwegian, $15.28; Scotch, $15.24; Scotch-Irish, $15.13; Swedish, $15.36; Welsh, $22.02.

The average yearly earnings (approximate) of male employees 18 years of age or over were as follows:

In this table, the decrease of earnings of approximately $100 from class to class is striking.

The average family income was as follows:

Comparing the last two tables, and noting that while the average yearly earnings of native-born male employees of foreign parentage are $100 less than those of the native-born of native parentage, yet the family income of the native-born of foreign parentage is $1 more than that of the native-born of native parentage, the obvious conclusion might be that the native-born of foreign parentage are more inclined to rely upon some one besides the head of the family for part of the income than are the native-born of native parentage. Closer examination, however, proves that this is not the case. The following table gives the percentages of families of different nativities which receive the entire income from the husband.

Thus there is a smaller proportion of families among the native-born of foreign fathers who rely upon other members of the family than the husband for part of the family income than of the native-born of native father. It appears that the explanation of the peculiarity which has been noticed must be either that only the more prosperous of the native-born of foreign parentage are heads of families, or that those families of this class which do receive income from other sources than the husband receive a much greater total amount than among the native-born of native father, so as to raise the average. The former explanation seems the more probable, for while 67.3 per cent of the male native-born white employees of native fathers, 20 years of age or over, were married, only 56.5 per cent of the native-born of foreign fathers of the same age were married. Native-born employees of foreign parentage who are old enough to be the heads of families are predominantly representatives of the old immigration, and hence stand high on the wage scale. The very small percentage of families among the foreign-born which derive their entire income from the husband indicates the extent to which the children of this class contribute to the family support, and also the extent to which boarders are taken.

Figures from other sources corroborate, in general, the showing made in the foregoing tables, with some differences in detail. The Immigration Commission in one of its other reports, namely that on Immigrants in Cities, gives the average approximate yearly earnings of over 10,000 male wage workers 18 years of age or over as follows: native-born white of native father, $595; native-born of foreign father, $526; foreign-born, $385.^[230] These figures are less, throughout, than those presented in the foregoing tables, and seem to indicate that the average of wages in cities is less than in the general run of organized industries throughout the country. It is probable that a census of city workers would include many in insignificant industries, and in occupations which could hardly be classed as industries, where the wage scale is low.

The earnings of agricultural laborers on the farms of western New York range from $1.25 to $1.75 per day of ten hours. South Italian families of four or five members, engaged in this kind of work, average from $350 to $450 for the season, extending from April to November. Poles, working as general farm laborers the year round, earn from $18 to $20 per month.^[231] Among the anthracite coal miners of Pennsylvania, the average yearly wage of the contract miners, who make up about twenty-five per cent of persons employed about the mines, is estimated at about $600 per year, while “adults in other classes of mine workers, who form over sixty per cent of the labor force, do not receive an annual average wage of $450.”^[232] In the extensive array of wage figures given by Mr. Streightoff, distinction is not made between natives and immigrants, but the general showing harmonizes so well with what has already been given as to obviate the necessity of going into this question in further detail.^[233] We are justified in setting down the average earnings of wage-working adult male immigrants as from $350 to $650 per year, and the average annual income of immigrant families at from $500 to $900.

The figures given for individual immigrant incomes have been confined to male workers, for the reasons that they are representative, and are of primary importance in determining the status of the immigrant family in this country. The wages of female workers range on the average from 30 to 40 per cent below those of males. Full comparisons are given in the volume of the Immigration Commission Report on Immigrants in Manufacturing and Mining.

The next question which arises is, to what degree are these incomes, of individuals and families, adequate to furnish proper support to an average family of five persons? This problem involves the determination of the minimum amount on which a family can live in decency under existing conditions in America. Numerous efforts have been made to solve this question. The estimate of the Bureau of Statistics of Massachusetts is $754.^[234] The Charity Organization Society of Buffalo regards $634 a year as the “lowest tolerable budget which will allow the bare decencies of life for a family of five.”^[235] A special committee of the New York State Conference of Charities and Corrections in 1907 made the following estimates as to the income necessary for a family of five persons in New York City.

“$600–$700 is wholly inadequate to maintain a proper standard of living, and no self-respecting family should be asked or expected to live on such an income.”

“With an income of between $700–$800 a family can barely support itself, provided it is subject to no extraordinary expenditures by reason of sickness, death, or other untoward circumstances. Such a family can live without charitable assistance through exceptional management and in the absence of emergencies.”

“$825 is sufficient for the average family of five individuals, comprising the father, mother, and three children under 14 years of age to maintain a fairly proper standard of living in the Borough of Manhattan.”

Mr. Streightoff summarizes the evidence in the following words: “It is, then, conservative to set $650 as the extreme low limit of the Living Wage in cities of the North, East, and West. Probably $600 is high enough for the cities of the South. At this wage there can be no saving, and a minimum of pleasure.”^[236]

The close correspondence of these various estimates gives them a high degree of credibility. If we fix these standards in mind, and then look back over the wage scales given on the foregoing pages, we are struck with the utter inadequacy of the annual incomes of the foreign-born to meet even these minimum requirements of decency. It is obvious that an enormous number of immigrant families, if dependent solely on the earnings of the head of the family, would fall far below any of these standards, and that many of them, even when adding to their resources by the labors of wife and children, and the contributions of boarders, cannot possibly bring the total income up to the minimum limit. Even the average income in many occupations is far below this minimum, and it must be considered that while an average indicates that there are some above, there must also be many below, the line. What must be the condition of those below! The average family income of the foreign-born studied in the Immigration Commission’s investigation of the manufacturing and mining industries was $704. Mr. Frederic Almy states that 96 per cent of the Poles under investigation in Buffalo earn less by $110 than the $634 per year which was set as the “lowest tolerable budget.”^[237]

A vast amount of information covering a number of miscellaneous aspects of human life, which fall under the general head of the standard of living, is furnished by the Immigration Commission, in its report on the manufacturing and mining industries. Some of the most important of these facts are summarized in the following tables.

First, as to the situation of young children in the homes of immigrants.

Among the following races the following per cent of foreign-born male children of the specified age were at work: German, 13.9; south Italian, 13.3; Lithuanian, 14.3; Portuguese, 15.7; Ruthenian, 14.6; Scotch, 19.0; Syrian, 22.6.

The following table, showing the per cent of literacy of the employees studied in these industries, is based on information for 500,329 employees, and hence has a remarkable trustworthiness:

Foreign-born male employees of the following races have the following literacy, as shown by the per cent who can read and write: south Italian, 67.6; Macedonian, 67.1; Portuguese, 46.1; Ruthenian, 63.6; Servian, 69.5; Turkish, 54.1.

From the foregoing table it appears that in respect to literacy the native-born employees of foreign fathers are superior to the native-born whites of native fathers, and that the foreign-born females are superior to the foreign-born males.

The important matter of ability to speak English is forcibly portrayed in the following table:

It is thus apparent how large a proportion of our foreign-born laborers have not even taken the first essential step toward assimilation. This evil is, of course, practically overcome in the second generation. Almost all of the native-born persons of foreign fathers, six years of age or over, speak English, though some races show from 6 to 8 per cent who do not.

The percentage who can speak English naturally increases with the length of residence in the United States, until a percentage of 83.1 is reached for all foreign-born employees who have been in the United States ten years or more. But even in this group a very low percentage is found among the Cuban and Spanish cigar makers, of whom almost three fifths are unable to speak the English language.

The age of the immigrant at the time of arriving in the United States has a great deal to do with the ability to speak English. The percentage of those who were under fourteen when they arrived who can speak English is nearly twice as large as that of those who were fourteen or over. The reasons for this are the greater adaptability of the younger immigrants, and their greater opportunities of going to school. The relatively poor showing of the females is probably due to their greater segregation, which prevents them from coming in touch with Americans or older immigrants of other races.

One of the special reports of the Immigration Commission deals with the children of immigrants in schools and brings out some very significant facts. Practically all of the information was secured in December, 1908. Naturally this investigation involved a study of the children of native-born fathers also. A general investigation was made in the public schools of thirty cities, including the first twenty cities in point of population, as shown by the census of 1900, with the exception of Washington, D.C., Louisville, Ky., and Jersey City, N.J. An investigation was also carried on in regard to parochial schools in twenty-four cities, and an investigation of the students in seventy-seven institutions of higher learning. In addition to this general investigation, an intensive investigation was made in twelve cities, including seven cities not in the previous list, making a total of thirty-seven cities in which public schools were studied. The total number of public school pupils for whom information was secured was 1,815,217. Thus the investigation was a very inclusive one, and the results may be taken as representative of educational conditions in the cities of the entire country.

Of the total number of public school children studied in the thirty-seven cities, 766,727 were of native-born fathers, and 1,048,490 of foreign-born fathers. The children of native-born white fathers constituted 39.5 per cent of the total, while among the children of foreign-born fathers there were the following percentages of the total number: Hebrews, 17.6; Germans, 11.6; Italians (north and south), 6.4; total, native-born father, 42.2 per cent; total, foreign-born father, 57.8 per cent.

The different cities show a marked difference in the proportion of children who come from foreign-born fathers, as the following table will show:

“In only 7 of the 37 cities is the proportion of pupils who are children of native-born white fathers as high as 60 per cent.” Four cities have less than 30 per cent. The children of German foreign-born fathers are most numerous in Milwaukee, Detroit, Buffalo, Cleveland, Meriden, Chicago, Cincinnati, and St. Louis; those of foreign-born Russian Hebrew fathers in Chelsea, New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Newark, and Baltimore, those of foreign-born south Italian fathers in Providence, Newark, New York, Yonkers, Buffalo, and Boston.

A smaller proportion of the total number of children of foreign-born fathers are in the higher grades of the public schools than of the children of native-born white fathers, as the following table shows:

The Slovaks, south Italians, and Magyars have the largest percentages in the kindergartens, and the Portuguese, Lithuanians, Slovaks, south Italians, and Polish the largest percentages in the primary grades. In the high schools, the Canadians, other than French, the Scotch, the native-born white, the Welsh, Germans, Hebrews, and English stand highest. This is due to two main facts,—the longer residence of these latter races in the United States, and their greater desire for a high education for their children, coupled with a greater ability to give it to them. Especially in the case of the kindergartens are the newer immigrating races very eager to have their young children looked after so that the mother can be free to work, or otherwise occupy herself.

Another interesting set of figures is that referring to the amount of retardation among the pupils of different nativities. By “retardation” is meant that a pupil is above the “normal” age for the grade in which he is. In this respect the children of foreign-born fathers of the newer immigration are decidedly inferior to those of the older immigration. The latter, in fact, are on the whole superior to the children of native-born white fathers. Of the total number of children of foreign-born fathers for whom this information was secured, 77.2 per cent were born in the United States, and 28.8 per cent were born abroad. There is a considerably larger proportion of retardation for those children eight years of age or over who were born abroad than among those born in the United States. The proportion retarded increases as the age at the time of arrival in the United States advances. The proportion of retardation is greater among those children whose fathers cannot speak English than among those who can, and greater among those whose fathers have not taken out naturalization papers than among those who have.

When we turn to the institutions of higher learning, we find a comparatively small number of foreign-born students, as might be expected.^[241] The percentages for a total of 32,887 students are as follows:

The Hebrews stand foremost among the foreign-born.

Of the 221,159 pupils included in the parochial school investigation, 36.5 per cent are children of native-born fathers (36.3 per cent of native-born white fathers), and 63.5 per cent of foreign-born fathers. Children of foreign-born Irish fathers number 26.9 per cent of the total number of pupils, foreign-born German fathers, 9.7 per cent, Polish, 7.1 per cent, and Italian, 7 per cent. In the twenty-four cities in which information was secured for both public and parochial schools, there were 1,322,053 pupils in the public schools, and 221,159 pupils in the parochial schools. In Philadelphia nearly one fourth of the pupils were in parochial schools.

Information was also secured for teachers in the kindergartens and elementary grades of the public schools in thirty cities, including 49,067 individuals. Of these, 49.8 per cent were native-born of native white fathers, and 42.8 per cent native-born of foreign fathers, and 5.8 per cent foreign-born. Of the foreign-born, only six races were represented by as many as one hundred teachers each, viz. Hebrew, English, Irish, German, Canadian (other than French), and Scotch.