LIBRARY
University of
California
Irvine
Digitized by tlie Internet Archive
in 2007 with funding from
IVIicrosoft Corporation
http://www.archive.org/details/financingwageearOOneariala
FINANCING THE WAGE-EARNER'S FAMILY
FINANCING THE WAGE-EARNER'S FAMILY
A SURVEY OF THE FACTS BEARING ON INCOME AND EXPENDITURES IN THE FAMILIES OF AMERICAN WAGE-EARNERS
BY
SCOTT NEARING, Ph. D.
Author of " Wages in the United States," "The Super Race," etc.
NEW YORK
B. W. HUEBSCH
191S
Copyright, 1913, Bt B. W. HUEBSCH
PRINTED IN 0. S. A>
CONTENTS
FAGB
INTEODUCTION 6
CHAPTER
I. The Financing of a Woekingman's Family.
I The Problem of Family Finance 11
II The Maximum of Wages 13
III The Minimum of Wages 19
IV Overwork 20
V Sickness and Accidents 22
VI The Invention of New Machinery 26
VII The Shut-down of Individual Plants 27
VIII Industrial Crises 28
IX Supplementary Income Sources 32
X The Minimum of Subsistence 36
XI Tlie Effects of Low Standards of Living .... 38
XII Underfeeding 39
XIII The Workingman's Dilemma 41
II. The Standard of Living.
I The Meaning of "Standard of Living" 44
II Standard of Living Estimates 44
III The Analysis of Individual Family Budgets ... 45
IV The Averaging of Income and Expenditure ... 47
V "Goods" as a Basis for Study 64
VI The Elements in a Standard of Living 65
VII The Eequirements of Specific Items in a Standard of
Living 67
VIII The Chapin and Federal Studies 61
IX The Minimum Standard of Living 63
X The Fair or Normal Standard 70
XI The Value of the "Goods" Standard 80
III. The Cost of a Standaed of Living.
I The Problem of Costs 82
II The Cost of the Minimum Standard 82
III The Cost of a Fair Standard of Living ..... 89
CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE
IV. Income and Standards of Living.
I Income and Family Standards 98
II Sources of Family Income 99
III The Income of Adult Males 101
IV Contributions of Women and Children to Family
Income 108
V Percentage of Family Income Derived from Various
Sources Ill
VI Incomes and Standards in Fall River, Massachusetts 116 VII The Family Standard 119
V. The American Wage-Earner and Living Standards.
I The Issue Before the Wage-Earner 121
II The Necessity for an EflSciency Standard of Living 122
III The Determination of an Efficiency Standard . . .124
IV The Cost of a Standard of Living 124
V The Wages of Adult Males 126
VI Family Income and the Standard of Living . . . 128
VII The Problem of the Wage-Earner 129
VIII The Need for Local Investigation 130
Appendix. Individual Family Budgets.
I The Value of Family Budgets 133
II A Minimum New York City Budget 133
III The Budget of a Typical American Family . . .139
IV Mill Town Budgets 143
V Variations in Family Incomes . .. :.•..... 163 VI Making Both Ends Meet . . ... ...... 167
INTBODUCTION
The statement made in 1911, that, in the indus- tries east of the Eockies and north of the Mason and Dixon line, "Half of the adult males are earning less than $500 a year; that three-quarters of them are earning less than $600 annually ; that nine-tenths are receiving less than $800 a year ; while less than ten per cent, receive more than that figure"^ called forth considerable comment. On the one hand, it was met with surprise and occasionally with in- credulity and ridicule. On the other hand, it evoked a chorus of, *'I told you so's," from the radical re- viewers. This latter group, in particular, generally linked a brief quotation from Chapin which ap- peared in the Introduction, with the conclusions stated in the last chapter of the book. This com- parison between wages in a large section of the United States and Chapin 's statement that "a New York family consisting of a man, wife and three children under fourteen could maintain a normal standard, at least so far as the physical man is con- cerned, on an annual income of $900," ^ was unfor- tunate, if not absurd. The wage figure covered a wide area. Chapin referred to New York city alone.
1 Scott Neabing, Wages in the United States, p. 213. The Mac- millan Co., New York, 1911.
2 Ibid, p. iii.
6 INTRODUCTION
Though this comparison was unjustifiable, it em- phasized the need of a study which should make a similar comparison possible. The answer to the question, ''What are wages?" is, after all, only one step to the more fundamental question, "What will these wages buy?"
Consciously or unconsciously, most families do some rough budget making. Among well-to-do fam- ilies, budgets are made for a year. Among families with less income, or with less foresight, they are made by the month, or even by the week. Available income is placed against necessary or desired expen- ditures, and the expenditures are pared down until they will fit the income. Families which make no such effort to compare income and outgo, are usually described as "happy-go-lucky" or "shiftless." Even though the budget is a crude one, the consen- sus of opinion demands that it be made.
Economic changes seriously affect the budget problem. Consider for example the effect on family budgets of Che movcmciit iuto large towns and cities. The family moving from a rural to an urban home must completely readjust its budgetry arrange- ments. Eent, which was a negligible item in the country (perhaps ten per cent, of the income) may jump to fifteen, twenty, or even thirty per cent, in the city. Free goods disappear. There are no fish and berries in the summer, no squirrels, rabbits, pheasants or deer in the winter. There is no kitchen garden. Chickens, ducks, pigs, cows — all were left behind in the country. Each want is supplied at a
INTRODUCTION 7
price. The family facing this transformation must reorganize its budget.
Where family budgets made on paper and sub- ject to annual or monthly scrutiny and revision by the members of the family group, this alteration in budgetry needs would make no material difference, since the budget could easily be rewritten. But family budgets are not so made. Tradition says, *'We pay so much for food, so much for clothes, so much for coal, and each week, so much goes in the old cup for the rent." The sway of such forces is effective for years in preventing any adequate reor- ganization of the family budget.
Tradition holds another form which is equally dis- aslrous to the making of an adequate budget. Peo- ple take it for granted that ''a dollar and a half a day" is a fair wage. Why should the wage be fixed at a dollar and a half? Because twenty or thirty years ago a man living in a village could support his family very decently on that amount. Is a dol- lar and a half sufficient to-day? An appeal to the family budget furnishes the only answer. The im- migrant has worked in Italy for sixty cents a day. Will a dollar and a half not provide a princely liv- ing, and allow for saving at the same time? Write it into a budget and see ! Tradition fixes the wage, however, without even considering budgetry needs.
The rapid, far-reaching economic changes of the past fifty years have played havoc with the old order. The face of industrial America has been reshaped in these two generations and the men who are engaged
INTRODUCTION
in pursuits other than agriculture have become town dwellers. This alteration in economic status has involved the reestablishment of an equilibrium be- tween income and expenditure, without which stable family life is impossible. What is that equilibrium? What amount of money wage is required to purchase the housing, food, clothing, fuel and other items of normal family consumption? What relation at present exists between income and expenditure?
The answers to such queries lead directly into a study of standards of living. Already these fields have been excellently covered. Streightoff has pre- pared an especially good analysis of the elements in a standard of living; Chapin and the Federal inves- tigation of 1907-09 provide first-hand studies of standards; the reports of the Federal and State bureaus of Labor, together vith a number of other less valuable sources furnish an excellent ground- work. The following chapters lay one tier of de- ductions in a superstructure which shall determine the economic status of the American wage-earner.
Let no one imagine that the conclusions or infer- ences here presented are final. They will be revised and reformulated many times before the facts are established. The time is, however, ripe for a state- ment of the ground already covered. It remains for more elaborate, publicly financed investigations to determine, accurately, the present status of the American wage-earner's family budget.
FINANCING THE WAGE- EARNER'S FAMILY
CHAPTER I
The Financing of a Workingman's Family
7. The Prohlem of Family Finance.
Nearly every family in the United States is striv- ing to bring about a satisfactory adjustment between income and wants, because nearly every family has more wants than its income will supply. The well- to-do family is forced to choose between diffSTSnt Kinds of luxuries. A family may want, for example, an automobile, a riding horse, a month at the shore, and a sleeping porch ; the income is sufficient to pro- vide only one of these things, and, therefore, a decision must be made between them. The neces- saries of life are taken for granted by such a family, but the problem of the luxuries is always difficult of solution. The man who is supp.Oxting a family on $25 awee^ however, is concerned mainly with the necessaries of living. The first family is called upon«^ ^ to choose the way in which it will spend its surplus ; ,^jy^ the second family strains every nerve to prevent a j*^ deficit. It is with families of the second class that ^A- this study deals. ^^ ''^<^^«:^W^^^
12 FINANCING THE WAGE-EARNER'S FAMILY
^ A standard of living is a very abstract and gen- eral concept, covering all of the elements of income and expenditure for a large class of persons, yet beneath every workingman's bed and beside his workbench lurks a phantom — ^the fear of misery, want, hardship, poverty, and starvation. At the mo- ment when he assumes family responsibilities, that phantom takes shape, never to vanish until elevation to a higher income sphere, or death comes to his relief. The individual workingman, in his own home, and at his own work must finance his family — must provide for them the wherewithal to pur- chase the necessaries, and if possible, a few of the comforts of life ; must set aside enough for the emer- gencies, which in the form of birth or death, sick- ness, accident or unemployment may confront him at any time; must provide for them against all of the uncertainties and vicissitudes of life; must, to the best of his ability, erect around them a bulwark of income which the phantom cannot scale. This workingman — this individual member of the human race — ^must battle successfully with hardship and misfortune or else he must witness the sufferings of those dearest to him.
Unfortunately, it is impossible in a study of large groups of facts to maintain an individual, human viewpoint, nevertheless, it behooves the student to remember that behind his statistics and diagrams, there are individual families, containing individual men and women, who are struggling hourly to place or to keep their finances on a solvent basis.
FINANCING A WORKINGMAN'S FAMILY 13
11. The Maximum of Wages.
Two stubbornly persistent facts confront the American workingman who is financing a family :
1. The maximum amount of income which he, as a
workingman, may earn is definitely limited.
2. The minimum amount of expenditure necessary
for the maintenance of his existence is rigidly established.
Although the propositions sound obvious, the grave issues involved in these two simple statements of the relations between income and expenditure are not always clearly perceived.
The maximum amount of income which the work- ingman may earn is limited. To be sure, there is always a possibility of the workingman rising out of the ranks of the workers and becoming a manager or a capitalist. The existence of this chance to rise has never been questioned, though its mathematical boundaries are not always understood. Consider, for example, one of the greatest single industries in the United States, the Eailroad Industry,^ employ- ing nearly a million and three-quarters of men.^ "What are the possibilities for advancement in this industry as shown by the statistics of the Interstate Commerce Commission?
There were, in 1910, 5,476 general oflScers directing the activities of the million and three-quarters em-
1 Statistics of Railways in the United States. The Interstate Com- merce Commission, Washington, 1910.
2 In 1910 the number was 1,699,420.
14 FINANCING THE WAGE-EAENER'S FAMILY
ployes. Therefore, in^the business life of the gen- eral officer and the business life of the employe, each employe should have one chance in three hundred oT15ec6ming a general officer at some time during his life, provided that the employes live as long as the general officers, and provided further that all the general officers are drawn from the ranks of the employes. Neither of these assumptions, however, is correct, because, in the first place, insurance tables indicate that the life of the general officer is some- what longer than the life of the average working- man.^ In the second place, the general officers are not always drawn from the ranks. Leaving these two considerations out of account, however, it is ap- parent that the mathematical probability that the average railroad employe will become a general officer is about one-third of one per cent.
Consider another phase of the situation. Suppose that you are a railroad trainman. Mathematically, you have one chance in three hundred of becoming a general officer at some time during your life. On the other hand, you have one chance in twenty of being injured, and one chance in one hundred and twenty of being killed during each year that you are at work.
Supposing that your total term of service is twenty years, the chances are one to one that during that time you will be injured, and one to six that
8 At every age the death-rate for the industrial workers exceeds that for the middle class man. At the later ages, the rate is double. See Abb. Landis, Friendly Societies and Fraternal Orders, p. 149, 1906; J. R. Hegeman, Industrial Insurance in "Insurance," edited by W. A. Fricke, p. 240, 1898.
FINANCING A WORKINGMAN'S FAMILY 15
during that time you will be killed ; so that the chance of your being injured is three hundred times as great, and of your being killed is fifty times as great as your chance of becoming a general officer in the company which is employing you.
A similar condition exists in the manufacturing industries^ The Census Bureau reports that in 1909 there were 7,678,578 persons engaged in manufactur- ing in the United States. Six in each hundred of these persons were "proprietors and officials"; 8 in each hundred were clerks, and 86 were wage-earn- ers. In some industries, the percentage of wage- earners falls as low as 56 per cent. In others, it rises to 98 per cent. In general, those industries which may be run with small capital and on a small scale show a smaller percentage of wage-earners than the great socialized industries in which a large capital must be invested, and in which expensive machinery is depended upon for a great portion of the work.^
Eeporting on the employment of 172,706 persons in the iron and steel industry, the United States Commission of Labor writes^ — ^** Taking the em- ployes in all occupations in the industry, nearly 60 per cent, are foreign-born, and nearly two-thirds of the foreign-born are of the Slavic races. Large as is the proportion that unskilled labor forms of the
4 Manufacturers in the TJ. 8. Advance Bulletin of Statistics for 1909, p. 15, Washington, 1910.
6 Summary of the Wages and Hour of Lahor in the Iron and Steel Industry, p. 10. Senate Doc. 301, 62nd Congress, 2nd Session, Gov- ernment Printing Office, Washington, 1912, p. 10.
16 FINANCING THE WAGE-EARNER'S FAMILY
total labor force in the iron and sted industry, steel experts have noted the fact that (he tendency of recent years has been steadily toward the reduction of the number of highly skilled men employed and the establishment of the general wage on the basis of common or unskilled laborj Nor is this tendency _ likely to diminish, since each year sees a wider use of mechanical appliances which unskilled labor can easily be trained to handle." The situation in manufacturing differs little from that in railroading. In both cases, the organization of industry is such that there are a few managers and many wage-earn- ers— a proportion which must be maintained so long as the present system of specialized industry per- sists.
^In short, the tendency of modern industry is to- ward a form of organization which will require the wage-worker to remain a wage-worker. \ The rail- road does not expect a brakeman to become president or general manager, but instead, to become a con- ductor. In the same way, section hands make section foremen, and locomotive firemen make loco- motive engineers. The railroad manager is not looking for an engineer who will make a general superintendent, but for an engineer who will be and will remain a good engineer.
The chance to rise cannot affect the problem of wage-earners' family finance, first because it is so mathematically inconsiderable as to reduce it to the absurd, and second because the workingman who rises ceases to be a workingman, and hence passes
FINANCING A WORKINGMAN 'S FAMILY 17
out of the large group of always-to-be workingmen who form the subject of this discussion.
Modern industry is so organized that the locomo- tive engineer, bricklayer, carpet weaver, railroadl carpenter, blacksmith, press feeder, machinist or cigar roller at thirty can determine pretty definitely, first that he will remain a wage-earner during the remainder of his life, and second what his wages for the rest of his working life will be. The fact that he is a wage-earner carries with it the necessary as- sumption that the maximum amount which he may; earn is definitely fixed by —
1. The amount which he produces;
2. Custom;
3. Cost of replacement;
4. Trade unions.
No industry could survive which paid more in wages than its workers created in product. On the other hand, there is no force impelling the industry to pay to the workingman all that he produces. On the contrary, custom limits his income drastically. In a given district, farmers pay $30 a month for labor, irrespective of the amount which this labor produces, and so long as they can secure labor for $30 they will never pay $35. In other words, they will pay as much wages as they are compelled to pay in order to get help, and excepting that they cannot pay a man more than he produces, the amount of his product plays no part in fixing his wages. Even in piece work, the piece rate is fixed at a point
18 FINANCING THE WAGE-EARNER'S FAMILY
where the worker can earn a "fair,'* that is, a cus- tomary wage. If the worker becomes so expert that he can produce a greater number of pieces, the piece rate is cut to a point which will put him back to a ''customary" wage.^ Not the amount which a la- borer produces, but the cost of replacing him by an equally efficient laborer, determines his wage. This principle has been rigorously applied in the replace- ment of native-bom by foreign-born and of higher standard by lower standard groups of immigrants. In the sweated trades, in the slaughtering industry and the steel industry, the man or woman who will work the cheapest gets the job, irrespective of na- tionality or sex.*^ Thus, while the total amount of product fixes an unalterable maximum to wages, custom and the cost of getting someone else to do the work fix the actual wage scale.
Trade unions, in spite of their efforts to ward off the danger, by fixing a minimum wage, virtually fix a maximum as well. Theoretically, they do not level down the able man to the standard of his fellows, but practically wage scales have usually worked out in that way.
Therefore, by consulting the wage statistics of his
6 J. A. Fitch, Steel Workers, Charities Publication Committee, New York, 1910. E. B. Butler, Woman and the Trades, Charities Publication Committee, New York, 1910. Chables Stelzle, Letters from a Workingman, Revell, Ne^Y York, 1908.
7 Peter Roberts, The New Pittsburgers, Vol. II, p. 533, Charities and the Commons, New York, Jan. 2, 1909. C. D. Wright, Influence of Trade Unions on Immigrants, pp. 1-8, Bulletin 56, U. S. Bureau of Labor, Government Printing Office, Washington, 1905. Report of the Industrial Commission, General Index, Vol. 19, Government Printing Office, Washington, 1902.
FINANCING A WORKINGMAN'S FAMILY 19
industry and his locality, the miner, at thirty, can determine that during the coming twenty years Els^ earnings w^]_j)TroKnli1y not exceed $600 a year; the_^ cotton weaver, that his earnings will probably not, exceed $700 annually ; the railroad conductor, that he will not earn more than $125 a month. In each trade, the maximum is fixed, and though wages may be gradually rising, the increase is not sufficient, over a period of twenty years to warrant a man in expecting any great change in the status of his in- come.
111. The Minimum of Wages.
While the maximum amount which a workingman may earn is thus definitely fixed, there is no cor- responding minimum below which his wages may not fall. The forces which determine the most that a man may earn are balanced by an equally potent group of forces acting continually, which may deter- mine, either that he shall earn less than at present, or else that he shall earn nothing at all. "While the miaximum of income is certain, there is no sure min- imum of income except zero.
There are five factors, continually operating in industrial society, any one of which Tnay rpd^:|Cft or entij;g]j£. oliminato iuoome. These factors are:
1. Overwork;
2. Sickness and accidents;
3. Labor-saving inventions ;
4. Shut-downs of industrial plants;
5. Industrial crises.
20 FINANCING THE WAGE-EARNER'S FAMILY
IV. Overwork.
Under the strain incident to overwork, a man may break down at forty and be discharged because he is physically or nervously unable to continue with his duties. Modern industry is run at a terrific speed which leads inevitably to a shortened working life, or a decreasing efficiency. This speeding proc- ess in one of the greatest of American industries — the steel industry — is thus described by Fitch:
''The steel mills to-day offer an excellent demon- stration of the theory of the survival of the fittest. The steel workers are men of strong, steady consti- tutions; they must be, for when they begin to fail they cease to be steel workers. Often I was told by workmen of forty and forty-five that they had been at their best at thirty years of age, and that at thirty-five they had begun to feel a perceptible decline in strength.^
''We have noted the speeding-up system in all its ramifications; the 'pushers,' who drive the com- mon laborers ; the gang system at the furnaces and at the rolls, which, combined with the tonnage sys- tem of payment, makes the steel blooms and billets do their own driving; the cash rewards given to the foremen .and superintendents in the Corporation mills for helping to keep up the tension ; and, finally, the judicious cuts from time to time in the rate of pay per ton, which make the men put forth the last
8 John A. Fitch, The Steel Workers, pp. 183-184, Charities Publi- cation Committee, New York, 1911.
FINANCING A WORKINGMAN'S FAMILY 21
ounce of energy to prevent a wage loss. All these, together with the heat and the danger of accident, result in overstrain and exhaustion, both mental and physical. " ^
Such a system clearly places a premium on youth and vigor and a serious handicap on age. This fact the companies are not slow to recognize. They do not want old men on their pay-rolls — and they say so, clearly and emphatically. A few years ago a general order was reported to have been sent from headquarters to all mills of the Carnegie Steel Company directing the superintendents to accept no more men over forty years of age in any depart- ment, and in some departments to hire only men of thirty-five and under. In the rules for its pen- sion department adopted January 1, 1902, the American Steel and Wire Company has this pro- vision: **No inexperienced person over thirty-five years of age and no experienced person over forty- five years of age shall hereafter be taken into the employ of the company. ' ' ^^
Men are expected to go to pieces before reaching normal old age. The pace is set high, and those who cannot keep it, must drop out or take less lucrative positions. The conditions in the steel in- dustry may sound exceptionally bad, yet recent studies have revealed, everywhere, an astonishing amount of overwork and fatigue.
There seems to be little question that there is an intimate connection between overwork and physical
» Ibid., p. 201. 10 Ibid., p. 84.
22 FINANCING THE WAGE-EARNER'S FAMILY
decadence. Fisher writes: **The relatively slight impairment of efficiency due to overfatigue leads to more serious impairment. ... A typical succession of events is first fatigue, then colds, then tubercu- losis, then death." ^^ Yet, "the economic waste from undue fatigue is probably much greater than the waste from serious illness." *'The number that suffer partial disability through undue fatigue cer- tainly constitute the great majority of the popula- tion." 12
Small wonder, in view of these facts that Dr. Devine describes overwork and its consequent fa- tigue as **the one great overshadowing injury of the present day,"^^ an injury from which every workman in every speeded-up industry necessarily suffers — an injury which decreases his individual chance of keeping up his income to a level of decent living.
V. Sickness and Accidents.
Sickness and accidents are constant factors which deprive the workingman of his wages. We have no means of knowing how prevalent sickness is. Ir- ving Fisher attempts an estimate based on the vital statistics of England, that, ** There are probably at all times about 3,000,000 persons seriously ill," in the United States. ''This means an average of
iilBViNG FiSHEB, National Ejficiency, p. 47, Government Printing OflBce, Washington, 1909.
12 Idem.
isEdwabd T. Devine, Social Forces, p. 82, Charities Publication Committee, New York, 1910.
FINANCING A WOEKINGMAN'S FAMILY 23
thirteen days per annum for each inhabitant. ' ' ^* The estimate covers only serious illness. In judg- ing the sum total of sickness, it is, therefore, neces- sary to add the sickness from minor ailments, which probably cause the average ''well man" to lose from three to five days each year.^^
An intensive study of the effect of disease on wage- earning capacity was made in connection with The Pittsburgh Survey/. The results of typhoid fever in 338 families are truly astonishing. Of the 2,045 individuals in these families, 248 or 22 per cent, had typhoid fever within the year. There were 26 deaths and 422 recoveries. Of the 448 patients, 187 were wage-earners, who lost an aggregate of 1901 weeks (36.6 years) in working time, and $23,573.15 in wages. Other wage-earners lost 322 weeks' work and $3,326.50 in wages, while caring for patients. In addition there were heavy expenses for medi- cines, doctors, funerals and the like. If these 448 cases are a fair sample of typhoid cases, the 5,421 cases which occurred in Pittsburgh during 1907, cost the people of that city $693,000 in expenses and loss of wages alone. ^®
Such fragmentary evidence indicates the nature of the problem which the workingman faces in the form of_ji(ilj:ness. No less acute is the problera confront- ing him in the form of industrial accidents. It is probable that the number of industrial accidents
14 National Vitality, p. 34, op. cit.
15 Ibid., p. 39,
16 Feank E. Wing, Thirty-five years of Typhoid, p. 928, Charities and the Comiaons, Feb. 6, 1909.
24 FINANCING THE WAGE-EARNER'S FAMILY
(deaths and injuries) which occur annually in the United States is about half a million.^"^ Frederick L. Hoffman feels himself justified in the statement that ''the actual number of fatal accidents among occupied males in 1908, is probably somewhere be- tween 30,000 and 35,000." ^^ If the same relation between the numbers of fatal and non-fatal acci- dents exists in the United States as that found in New York State, in England and in Germany (i. e. 5 per cent, fatal and 95 per cent, non-fatal) then the number of non-fatal accidents in the United States must be approximately 600,000 each year.^®
These accidents happen to men in the prime of life, hence, by inference, to the men who are sup- porting young families. The deaths from 126,567 accidents in the United States 1900 to 1906, were distributed, according to age, as follows : 2°
Percentage of Age of death. * total accidents.
15 to 24 years 19
25 to 35 years 23
35 to 44 years 21
45 to 54 years 15
55 to 64 years 10
65 years and over 12
100%
"While these statistics refer to all accidents, the data secured by Miss Eastman for industrial acci-
itAbthub B. Reeve, The Death Roll of Industry, vol. 17, p. 795, Charities and the Commons, 1907.
18 Bulletin 78, U. S. Bureau of Labor, p. 418, Government Print- ing Office, Washington, 1908.
19 Ibid., pp. 420-1.
20 Ibid., p. 422.
FINANCING A WORKINGMAN'S FAMILY 25
dents in Pittsburgh shows that there, at least, the age at which deaths from accidents occur is lower than in the United States at large. During the year of her investigation, 526 wage-earners were killed in Allegheny County. The age at death of this group was : ^^
Age. Per cent.
Under 21 16
21 to 30 42
31 to 40 26
40 and over 16
100%
Thus for all accidental deaths in the country at large, sixty-three in each hundred occurred to per- sons under 45, while in the industries of Pittsburgh eighty-four in each hundred of wage-earners died at 40 or under — in the prime of life.
That these accidents make serious inroads on family income is indicated by an analysis of the economic responsibilities which were being carried by the 467 persons killed in Allegheny County from July, 1906, to July, 1907, for whom reliable data could be secured. Of this group there were:
1, Married — 258.
A. With one or more children under 16 206
B. Without children under 16 49
C. Age of children unknown 3
2, Single— 209.
A. Sole support of family 19
B. Chief support of family 20
C. Regular contributors 90
D. Non-contributors 80
21 Crystal Eastman, A Year's WorTc Accidents and their Cost, p. 1146, Charities and the Commons, March 6, 1909.
26 FINANCING THE WAGE-EARNER'S FAMILY
THus in 297 or 63 per cent, of the families, the per- son killed was the sole, or chief contributor to family income.^^
Both sickness and accidents are prevalent, and both, by destroying life, by causing unemployment and by temporarily or permanently impairing effi- ciency, lower the earning power of the worker.
VI. The Invention of New Machinery.
The invention of new machinery is a constant menace to regularity of employment. While the percentage of the total working force, affected by such labor replacements, is small at any one time, the individual laborers in each instance are none the less completely deprived for the time being of the means of livelihood. If the changes occur sud- denly, as in the case of the industrial revolution and the rapid growth of the factory system in the latter part of the eighteenth and the early years of the nine- teenth centuries, the suffering and misery entailed are terrific.^^ If the changes occur more slowly, as during the nineteenth century, the outcome is less dramatic, but in individual cases, none the less tragic.^^
22 Crystal Eastmatt, Work Accidents and the Law, pp. 119-20, Charities Publication Committee, New York, 1910.
23 H. deB Gibbi>'S, Industry in England, Charles Scribner's Sons, New York, 1907.
2* D. A. Wells, Recent Economic Changes, Appleton, New York, 1889. J. G. Brooks, The Social Unrest, Macmillan, New York, 1903. "Machinery" in the Report of the Industrial Commission, vols. 7, 8, 14 and 15, Government Printing Office, Washington, 1902.
FINANCING A WORKINGMAN'S FAMILY 27
VII. The Shut-down of Individual Plants.
Loss of work is frequently entailed by the shut- down of individual industries or plants. Businesses are continually failing, or closing temporarily for repairs. Strikes occur at irregular intervals. In many industries the season during which the de- mand for labor is active, is comparatively short. One or all of these factors may operate to deprive the workingman temporarily of his wages. A very fair summary of the problem is presented by the New York Labor Department.^^ The causes of idle- ness at the end of March, as reported by the trade unions, were as follows:
Cause. 1904. 1907. 1910.
Lack of work . •. 33.3 67.3 66.8
Lack of stock 1.2 2.4 4.2
Weather 35.2 20.0 11.7
Labor disputes 24.7 5.2 10.9
Disability 3.8 4.6 6.1
Other reasons ; 1.5 0.4 0.1
Reason not .stated 0.3 0.1 0.2
100.00 100.0 100.0
In 1904, strikes were responsible for a quarter of the unemployment ; in 1907 and 1910, the great mass of unemployment, about two-thirds, was due to lack of work; while, as would be expected, the weather is constantly responsible for a considerable amount of unemployment, practically all of which is due to causes beyond the control of the individual laborer.
28 Bulletin No. 44, New York State Department of Labor, p. 171, June, 1910.
28 FINANCING THE WAGE-EARNER'S FAMILY
Even more striking are the figures showing sea- sonal variation in unemployment. At certain sea- sons of the year, the possibilities of employment are much greater than at other seasons. Some trades, like building and construction work, cannot be suc- cessfully carried forward in the winter months, and are, therefore, distinctly seasonal. Other trades, while less noticeably seasonal, are affected by the seasons.
The extent to which shut-downs occur during a normally prosperous year is indicated by the Census Bureau in its report on manufactures for 1905. Of the 216,262 establishments reporting to this Bureau in 1905 26
Days in Operation.
11,494 ( 5.3%) 90orles3
. 22,091 (10.2%) 91 to 180
27,666 i 12.a?'<4s 181 to 270
67,49^ (31.2%1 271 to 300
87,520 (40.5%| 301 to 366
As there are\307 working days in the year, it ap- pears that in a year of considerable prosperity (1904) three-fiftBe of all of the manufacturing in- dustries in the United States worked less than a full year (300 days), -m^le a third of all them worked less than 270 days.
VIII. Industrial Crises.
During the nineteenth century, the industrial world has been periodically upset by a series of in- dustrial depressions which have caused widespread
26 Census of Manufacturers, Part I, pp. 542-3, 1905.
FINANCING A WORKINGMAN'S FAMILY 29
unemployment. During these depressions, even the ablest workingmen are unable to secure employment of any kind. If the depression is prolonged and widespread, conditions of livelihood may remain un- certain during months or even years. An excellent idea of the effect of industrial depressions upon wage-earners may be gained from an examination of the employment in mines. The figures for min- ing show only the number of days which the mines worked, making, therefore, no allowance for the un- employment due to sickness and accidents to the individual.^'^
Total number of days during which the coal mines were idle, 1890-1910.
United States Pennsylvania
Bituminous. Anthracite.
Year. Days idle. Days idle.
1890 80 106
1891 83 103
1892 87 108
1893 102 109
1894 135 116
1895 112 110
1896 114 132
1897 110 156
1898 56 154
1899 72 133
1900 72 140
1901 81 110
1902 76 190
1903 81 100
1904 104 106
1905 95 91
1906 93 Ill
1907 72 86
1908 113 ; 106
1909 89 75
1910 95 60
27 Scott Neaeing, The Extent of Unemployment in the United States, p. 538, American Statistical Association, Boston, Mass., 1909.
30 FINANCING THE WAGE-EARNER'S FA]\IILY
Figures collected by the Kew York Bureau of Labor for the building trades and for the unionized trades of New York State, show a similar condition of affairs.^^
Percentage of memlers of lalor unions idle at the end of September.
Per cent. Year. idle.
1897 13.8
1898 13.1
1899 4.7
1900 13.3
1901 6.9
1902 5.7
1903 9.0
1904 9.7
1905 4.9
1906 6.7
1907 10.5
1908 22.5
1909 10.3
An analysis of these two series of figures shows that unemployment at certain periods is very much more severe than at others. These fluctuations havfe occurred and still do occur with alarming regular- ity.29
Industry offers the workingman an opportunity to earn a living, subject to the caprice of overwork, sickness, accidents, new machinery, individual shut- downs and general suspensions of industrial activ- ity— a hierarchy of forces which overshadow every movement of his life, threatening continually to hurl against him the phantom of misery.
28 Bulletin 43, Xew York State Department of Labor, p. 12, March, 1910.
2»W. H. Be\"EBIDGe, Unemployment, Ch. 4, Longmans, Green, & Co., London, 1909. Sidney J. Chapman, Work and Wages, p. 317, Longmans, Green, & Co., London, 1908.
FINANCING A WORKINGIklAN 'S FAMILY 31
Any one, or any combination of these five forces, may, at any time, diminisli, temporarily or permanently, the income-earning capacity of the worker. All of them are beyond his individual con- trol, yet they strike, with merciless certainty, the source of livelihood of the family in which they oc- cur.
Overwork, sickness, accidents, inventions, individ- ual shut-downs and industrial crises are potent factors in the financing of a family, since they result in diminishing or extinguishing income, temporarily or permanently. Nevertheless, overwork, sickness, accidents and inventions are accidental factors since they occur to the individual at unpredictable inter- vals. Considerable space has been devoted to them in an attempt to show their far-reaching influence, yet since they represent the unusual, rather than the usual, they will be dismissed from the study at this point, and the workingman with a normal quota of health and vigor will alone be considered. Such an assumption must brush aside all objections to the effect that the analysis deals with abnormal condi- tions. Again, the conclusions based on such an as- sumption will necessarily represent a conservative rather than an extreme estimate, an end most de- sirable in all scientific studies. Unemployment is measurable and must still be dealt with in connection with wages. From this point on, therefore, the workingman under consideration, will be a man of ordinary vigor and health, suffering from no dis- ability, like old age, fatigue, accident or sickness.
32 FINANCING THE WAGE-EARNER'S FAMILY
IX. Supplementary Income Sources.
Whatever the limitations on the earning capacity of the family head, his income may be supplemented in three ways:
1. The wage-earner may engage in a secondary
occupation.
2. His wife may take up some gainful occupation.
3. His children may engage in a gainful occupa-
tion.
The wage-earner, himself, may take up some secondary occupation and thus supplement his regu- lar wage. Outside of regular working hours, or if he is engaged in a seasonal trade, then during the slack season, he may engage in some incidental, transient work. Of the secondary occupation, the prevalence is, perhaps, best indicated by a group of Massachusetts figures collected during a year when trade conditions were abnormally bad. The extent of regular and '' other ^' or secondary employment, for April, 1895 (the month showing the largest num- ber of persons employed) follows : ^^
Males. Females.
Regular emplovment 616,388 253,860
"Other" employment 13,133 1,926
Per cent, of "other" or regular employment 2.1% .7%
Thus, only two per cent, of the males and less than one per cent, of the females reported a secondary occupation. "While far from conclusive, the figures
«o Massachusetts Census of Manufacturers, vol. VII, p. 91, 1895.
FINANCING A WORKINGMAN'S FAMILY 33
indicate that secondary occupations are not a large source of supplementary family income.
The wife may take up some gainful occupation. She may either go out to work in the factory, bring home work from the factory, take boarders, or en- gage in some productive enterprise, such as store- keeping, dressmaking and the like.
The entrance of women into gainful occupations is quite a general phenomenon in the United States. Of the 13^810,057 married women, 769,477, or 5.6 per cent, were engaged in some form of gainful oc- cupation in 1900. While this work of the wife for wages is most noticeable among the negroes, never- theless, among pative and foreign white^ 8 per cent, of the married women are gainfully employed.^^
In the cities, the system of taking work from the factory into the home (the sweating system) is fairly prevalent, affording many married women an op- portunity of adding to the family income without leaving the home. While it is impossible to make any definite statement regarding the extent of the sweated industries, sweating is sufficiently preva- lent to arouse widespread comment.^^
The keeping of boarders and lodgers among cer- tain groups of the population, furnishes a very con- si Statistics of Women at Work, U. S. Census Bureau, p. 15, Gov- ernment Printing Office, Washington, 1907.
32 Report of the Industrial Commission, volumes 8, 14, 15, 17, Gov- ernment Printing Office, Washington, 1902. Reports of the New York Department of Tenement House Inspection and the New York Bureau of Labor. Woman and Child Wage-Earners in the United States, vol. II, chapter 5, Government Printing Office, Washington, 1911. Reports of the Immigration Commission.
34 FINANCING THE WAGE-EARNER'S FAMILY
siderable addition to family income. The investiga- tion made by tlie United States Bureau of Labor in 1903 showed that of 25,440 families, 5,367 had 9,120 boarders, while 684 families had 1,876 lodgers. Thus 21.1 per cent, of all of the families had boarders and 2.7 per cent, had lodgers.^^
Children work rather extensively. The total number of child laborers in the United States was more than a million and three-quarters in 1900. This did not include the children working as mer- chants, namely — the newsboys, match sellers, and other children who buy and sell on their own ac- count. In recent years, child labor laws have been rather generally enacted, which usually prohibited the working of children under fourteen years of age, thus depriving the family of any income which the young child might earn.
The relative proportions contributed to family in- come by the wage-earner, by his wife and his chil- dren will be analyzed in a later section. Suffice it to say, at this point, that the income of wage-earners ' families is frequently supplemented in one or more of the ways just indicated. In some instances, this sup- plementing is voluntary, in other cases compulsory. Some Southern mill towns fall in the latter class. * ' The incomes of cotton mill families are composite ; that is, they are made up of the wages of several workers. The so-called normal family-father, with wife and children dependent upon him for support,
33 Annual Report of the Commission of Labor, p. 260, Govern- ment Printing Office, Washington, 1904.
FINANCING A WOHKINGMAN'S FAMILY 35
is not a normal cotton-mill family. Indeed, this type of family is rare, because it is almost impossible for it to exist. At one mill studied there were only five individuals whose daily wage amounted to $1.25 or more per day. The wages of these individuals were $2, $1.50, $1.28, $1.25, and $1.25. This means that in that community it would have been possible for one man only to support a wife and three young children according to the fair standard of living; and this would have been impossible unless he worked 300 days in the year. There was only one other individual whose earnings were sufficient to support a family of this size even in accordance with the minimum standard." ^*
Nevertheless, the extent to which these supple- mental earnings can raise the family income is usu- ally definitely limited by the earning capacity of the woman, and the size of the house in which the family lives. The earning power of both unskilled women and children, is not only low but very uniform throughout the country, and since the average dwell- ing place of the wage-earner is restricted in size, the possibility of taking boarders is not considerable.
The wage-earner's income is thus limited, on the one hand by the rigid organization of the modem wage system, and on the other hand, by the zero line of no earnings. An analysis of his expenditures reveals the fact that the exact reverse of the above statement holds true, for while his income has a
s* Woman and Child Wage-Earners in the United States, vol. 16, p. 153, Government Printing Office, Wasliington, 1911.
36 FINANCING THE WAGE-EARNER'S FA^IILY
definite upward limit and no lower limit, expendi- tures liave a definite lower limit and no upward limit.
X. The Minimum of Subsistence.
Every family must be provided with a minimum amount of clothing, food, and shelter, if life is to be maintained. Furthermore, the necessity for these things is continuous. Whether the wage-earner is employed or unemployed, the bills of the landlord, the grocer and the butcher come with appalling regu- larity. Whether he is earning or is not earning in- come, he must give his family a minimum of sub- sistence, setting a limit of expenditure below which misery and starvation will sit at the family table. There is here no assertion that people are miserable and starving. The course of the argument demands, however, the recognition of a minimum limit for every family beyond which misery and starvation are inevitable.
While the lower limit of expenditure is thus defi- nitely set by a minimum of subsistence, its upward limit is established by only one factor — the capacity of the workingman to run into debt. To be sure, over a series of years, it is impossible for a family to spend more than its income, but over short periods, expenditures may be continued even though income is discontinued, because it is customary for trades- men in industrial districts to *' carry '^ customers over strikes, periods of sickness, and unemployment. In financing a workingman 's family, the ordinary ex-
FINANCING A WORKINGMAN'S FAMILY 37
penditures (those involved in providing the neces- saries of life) are no less insistent in their demands than the extraordinary expenditures. Sickness brings its bills for medical attendance, medicines and choice foods ; births and deaths carry with them an inevitable outlay in addition to the ordinary ex- penses. Thus, the minimum of expenditure is es- tablished by the necessity of existence, while its maximum varies with extraordinary expenditures, reaching its high point only when it has reached the debt limit.
A very dp^i-nif,^ (contrast may, therefore, be made between income and expenditure. The maximum in^ come is limited by the character of the occupation. The minimum of income is zero. In the case of ex- penditures, however, the maximum is limited only by borrowing capacity, while the minimum is set by the outlay necessary to provide the means of sub- sistence.
If the maximum wage which an ordinary American workingman can earn is considerably above the sub- sistence level, the problem of financing his family is a comparatively simple one. If, however, the max- imum wage is about equal to the subsistence, then a partial or entire cessation of income, or a series of extraordinary expenditures would inevitably re- sult in poverty and misery. If the former hypoth- esis is the correct one — that is, if wages in the United States greatly exceed the expenditures neces- sary to provide subsistence, then prosperity should be widespread. If, however, the latter hypothesis
38 FINANCING THE WAGE-EARNER'S FAMILY
is the correct one — that is, if wages are about equal to the cost of subsistence, then an investigation of living conditions should show hardships and poverty among the families of the most poorly paid workers.
!XZ. The Effects of Low Standards of Living.
Fortunately, considerable data has been collected during the past decade, in a number of thorough-go- ing investigations^^ which point rather directly to the conclusion that there is a sharp conflict be- tween income and the standard of subsistence, and
85 The most elaborate of the investigations which have been made into conditions in the United States are:
1. The Report of the Federal Industrial Commission — 1900. (Nine-
teen volumes — excellently indexed) containing a great amount of testimony from individuals of every class, together with several expert studies of sweating, housing and the like.
2. The Hearings before the Anthracite Coal Strike Commission —
1902. The ten thousand typewritten pages contain much valuable information about the living conditions of anthra- cite coal miners.
3. The Pittsburgh Survey, made by a staff of expert investigators in
1907-8 and published in eight volumes by the Charities Pub- lication Committee, New York.
4. The Federal Investigation into the Conditions of Woman and
Child Wage-Earners, made during 1907, 1908, and 1909, and published during 1911, 1912 and 1913 in nineteen volumes pic- tures very graphically, and in great detail the problem as it presents itself in those industries employing great numbers of women and children.
5. The Report of the Federal Immigration Commission, covering the
years 1909-1911, published 1912, presents, in great detail, a picture of the working and living conditions in various parts of the country.
6. The Federal Bureau of Labor and the State Bureaus, notably in
Illinois, Kansas, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jer- sey, New York and Wisconsin, publish reports and bulletins dealing with every phase of living conditions among the working population.
7. The Survey, a publication issued by a group of social workers in
New York (105 E. 22nd street) contains weekly statements of material bearing on living conditions.
FINANCING A WORKINGMAN'S FAMILY 39
that in a very large number of cases, income falls below the minimum of subsistence. Eowntree is probably correct when he assumes that there are several times in the life of the average workingman when he drops below the subsistence line, so that he, or the members of his family suffer from insufficient food, clothing and shelter. The facts at hand indi- cate that there are now, in the United States, able- bodied, vigorous men, who, in spite of their best efforts, are unable to provide adequately for their families. The most dependable investigations cov- ering congestion, housing, malnutrition, poverty, vice, crime, and related topics show beyond the pos- sibility of cavil that in some of the wealthiest and most prosperous centers of the United States there is an appalling amount of poverty and misery.
XII. Underfeeding.
By way of illustration, for the limitations of this chapter will not permit of an exhaustive discussion, consider the latest data relating to the under-feed- ing of school children. The absence of an adequate food supply among children is, perhaps, the clearest indication of the presence of poverty, hence the presence of underfed children would be an indica- tion of the existence of a disproportion between in- come and a subsistence wage.
One thorough investigation of hungry children, in- cluding only the children between six and sixteen years, was made by the Chicago Board of Education. Here are some extracts from the official report.
40 FINANCING THE WAGE-EARNER'S FAMILY
''Five thousand children who attend the schools are habitually hungry," while ten thousand other chil- dren ''do not have nourishing food." The report further states that "many children lack shoes and clothing. Many have no beds to sleep in. They cuddle together on hard floors. The majority of the indigent children live in damp, unclean or over- crowded homes that lack proper ventilation and sanitation. Here, in the damp, ill-smelling base- ments, there is only one thing regarded as cheaper than rent, and that is the life of the child. We find that a large number of children have only bread, saturated in water, for breakfast day after day; that the noon meal is bread or bananas, and an oc- casional luxury of soup made from pork bones; that children often frequent South Water street, begging for dead fowl in the crates, or decayed fruit ; that others have been found searching for food in alley garbage boxes."
Chicago is not alone. Similar investigations in other cities reveal the same conditions of underfeed- ing. Louise Stevens Bryant, after an exhaustive study on the subject, summarizes the facts regard- ing underfeeding in the United States, by saying :
"As a general conclusion from these investiga- tions, it seems fair to place the probable number of seriously underfed school children in New York and other American cities at 10 per cent, of the school population." ^^
86 Louise Stevens Bbyant, FIcTiool Feeding, p. 204, J. B. Lippin- cott Company, Philadelphia, 1913.
FINANCING A WORKINGMAN'S FAMILY 41
XIII. The Worhingman's Dilemma.
A host of similar data on housing, living condi- tions, and other related problems bear out the infer- ence deducible from the facts regarding the under- feeding of children, namely, that there is a discrepancy between present day incomes and a sub- sistence standard of living. Clearly, then, a serious maladjustment exists between income and subsist- ence. Before determining the character of the re- adjustment necessary to establish normal relations between income and expenditure, it is necessary to discover the causes of the present maladjustment. The extreme possibilities are two :
1. Either the workingman and his family are vi-
cious, lazy, indifferent, and wasteful — in which case his failure to maintain his family above the poverty line is due to his own in- efficiency.
2. Or else the relation between possible income
and necessary expenditure is such that no matter how eflSciently and earnestly he may strive, he will be unable to maintain a decent standard of living.
If the former hypothesis be the correct one, the remedy for the present situation lies in increasing the efficiency of consumption through some method of education. If, however, the latter hypothesis be correct, no amount of efficiency in consumption, of earnestness^ of sobriety, will avail a certain group of
42 FINANCING THE WAGE-EAENER'S FAMILY
workers against the clutches of poverty and misery. The present maladjustment may, of course, be the product of both factors, nevertheless, the issue will be clearly drawn if it can be shown that incomes are insufficient to meet necessary expenditures.
Considerable work has already been done in an effort to analyze the former hypothesis. Principles of Relief, by Edward T. Devine (Macmillan, New York, 1903) ; Misery and Its Causes, by Edward T. Devine (Macmillan, New York, 1909) ; Poverty by Eowntree (Macmillan, London, 1901) ; Poverty, by Hunter (Macmillan, New York, 1904) ; and American Charities, by Warner (Crowell, New York, 1894) have discussed the personal factors — vic(5, shiftlessness and efficiency — which result in poverty and misery. Comparatively little effort has been made, however, to analyze the latter hypothesis and to determine the existing relation between a work- ingman's income and expenditure on the one hand, and a decent standard of living on the other. In fact, until very lately, the data has not been available, from which a study along this line could be made. Several recent publications, dealing with wages, prices and living standards furnish, however, a group of facts for a study which shall determine whether, in view of the conditions now prevailing, the wages paid to American workingmen are suffi- cient to enable them to maintain a standard of living. The study, based on this data, will aim to answer four questions ;
FINANCING A WORKINGMAN'S FAMILY 43
1. What amount of economic goods is necessary
to maintain a standard of living in the United States?
2. How much will these goods cost?
3. Are the wages of adult males sufficient to pur-
chase such a sum of goods ?
4. Does the income of the entire family admit
of their purchase?
CHAPTER II
The Standard of Living
I. The Meaning of "Standard of Living.'*
What amount of economic goods is necessary to maintain a standard of living in the United States'? An adequate answer to that question must be impos- sible without a definite idea of the meaning of ** standard of living." The term is most general, and any limitations upon it must of necessity be arbitrary; yet some definition of the term forms a necessary basis for discussion. "A standard of liv- ing," writes the New York Committee on Standards, ''is a measurement of life expressed in a daily rou- tine which is determined by income and the condi- tions under which it is earned, economic and social environment and the capacity of distributing the in- come."^ More briefly the standard of living is the measure of livelihood for any given family unit, in terms of income and expenditure.
77. Standard of Living Estimates.
There are four distinct methods of approaching the standard of living problem. In the seventeenth
1 E. C. Chapin, The Standard of Living in "New York City, pp. 255- 256, Charities Publication Committee, New York, 1909.
44
THE STANDARD OP LIVING 45
and eighteenth centuries, a number of students who were interested in the conditions of working people, attempted to reach some scientific decision regarding them, by estimating on the one hand the amount of wages which working people got, and on the other hand, the amount of expenditures which they made for various purposes. In these estimates nothing was included except food, clothing and mis- cellaneous items. A similar method was adopted by the New York Committee on Standards of Living, as a preliminary to their detailed investigation. Sixteen social workers were asked to name the amount upon which a family could maintain a decent standard of living. The replies^ show a variation from $768 to $1,449 for a family consisting of man, wife and three children. Although the Committee explains that the experts did not all estimate on the same basis, there is a very obvious divergence of opinion among them. A reliance on estimates is clearly unscientific, hence this method of computing standards was early supplanted by scientific analyses of the actual income and expenditures in working^ men's families. This is the second method of stiidy- ing the problem.
III. The Analysis of Individual Family Budgets.
The second method of study, developed by Eden and LePlay, and applied in a number of modern in- vestigations, consists in an analysis of the budgets
2 Ibid., p. 259.
46 FINANCING THE WAGE-EARNER'S FAMILY
of individual families. A careful schedule of ques- tions is prepared, dealing with all of the facts which it is necessary to secure, and answers to these ques- tions are then obtained by personal visits to the families which are to be investigated. As the sched- ules are sometimes very long — the budget of one of LePlay's workingmen occupies twenty-seven printed pages, while the schedule of questions on which the Chapin study was based occupied fifteen printed pages — the greatest skill is necessary for their prep- aration. Such studies were made by Dr. D. E^ Foreman,^ by Mrs. Louisa B. Moore,^ by E. G. Herz- feld,'* and by the investigators in the Woman and Child Wage-Earners report.^
In these studies, each family budget is treated and analyzed as an individual unit. Under Eden and LePlay, the method ended with this individual treatment. In the hands of later writers, notably the authors of the Woman and Child Wage-Earners study, the method has been carried much farther. Chapin, in his study, pays little attention to the in- dividual budget.
The treatment of family budgets as individual xmits has this great advantage over the first method — that the data collected is exact, reliable and specif- ically connected with the problems of one family. On the other hand, its main defects are that the con-
8 United States Bureau of Labor, Bulletin No. 64, May, 1906. * Wage-Earners Budgets, Henry Holt & Co., New York, 1907. ^New York, The J. Kempster Printing Co., 1907. 6 Woman and Child Wage-Earners, vol. 16, Government Printing Office, Washington, 1911.
THE STANDARD OF LIVING 47
ditions applicable to one family are never entirely similar to those applicable in another family, and hence, the results of the study cannot be made the basis for a statistical statement of the standard of living problem. Any conclusion which is reached holds for the family under consideration, and for that family only.
IV. The Averaging of Income and Expenditure.
In order to overcome this diflBculty, a third method has been resorted to, namely, that of averaging the receipts and expenditures of a number of families. While this method was first inaugurated at the Brussels Statistical Conference in 1853, and per- fected by Ernest Engel in his later studies, it has never been more completely worked out than by the United States Bureau of Labor in its annual report for 1903. That report contains an analysis of the 'l^udgets of 25,440 workingmen's families; again, in greater detail, the analysis of receipts and expendi- tures in 2,567 ** selected" families from the larger group; and, finally, of the income and expenditures in 11,156 *' normal" families — families having "a husband at work ; a wife ; not more than five children, and none over fourteen years of age; and no de- pendent, boarder, lodger, or servant. ' ' Throughout this report, no statement is made of the individual family budget, and the introduction to the study is so incomplete as to leave the reader in considerable doubt as to the scientific accuracy of the methods pursued. What kind of a schedule was used? The
'4S FINANCING THE :WAGE-EARNER'S FAMILY
report states (p, 15-16) that *'The investigation was limited to families of wage-workers and of persons on salaries not exceeding $1,200 per year." All schedules "cover a period of one year.'* The work was done *'by experienced special agents" of the Bureau, and these agents by familiarizing themselves with each locality were enabled "to verify, to a cer- tain extent, the statements ' ' of the housewives. * ' Of necessity, much of the information was given from memory, although some families were found that kept correct book accounts."
Thus the work was not done with the same accu- racy that has characterized several of the later studies. Nevertheless, it represents, perhaps, the best extensive collection of data in this form. Families were investigated in thirty-three States, "apportioned according to the number of persons employed in the manufacturing industries of the State." (P. 15.)
The entire group of families, and the "selected" families, do not present nearly so interesting a problem as the "normal" families, because the lat- ter, according to their classification, are very similar to the families accepted as "normal," in later studies. In these 11,156 "normal" families, the in- come and the expenditures for the various items in the budget were : "^
Total average income $650.98
Total average expenditure $617.80
f Annual Report, U. S. Bureau of Labor, p. 569, 1903, Government Printing Office, Washington, 1904.
THE STANDARD OF LIVING 49
Percentage of this expenditure made for —
Food 43.13%
Rent 18.12%
Clothing 12.95%
Fuel 4.57%
Lighting 1.12%
Sundries 20.11%
These percentages of expenditure are almost ex- actly the same as those derived in other studies, ex- cept that the ''sundries" item is far too large. If an analysis could be made of "lighting" to 1.12 per cent., there are surely some items in ''sundries," such for example as "health," "insurance," "house- hold goods" and the like, which would analyze to a like amount.
These general statements of average incomes and expenditures are misleading, unless the reader un- derstands that they are merely group pictures, rep- resenting in the large, a composite statement of con- ditions in all of the families studied. In order to secure greater accuracy, two methods of further analysis are employed — first the expenditures may be analyzed by the size of the family, and second by the size of the income. Both methods are followed in the 1903 Bureau of Labor Eeport, and the second is followed in the Chapin study.
The income and expenditures in the "normal" families of the Bureau of Labor Eeport arranged by the size of the family are as follows : ^
8 Ibid., p. 569.
50 FINANCING THE WAGE-EARNER'S FAMILY Per cent, of total expenditures made for various purposes.
|
u a |
OS |
if |
ti) |
ti |
|||||
|
<o a> |
.** |
•" eS |
o |
c |
|||||
|
cS ^ |
t— 1 *•-' |
'a |
^• |
3 |
■TS |
Vi '^ |
"eS ~ |
||
|
ol |
o o |
;§ |
to |
o^ |
|||||
|
^o |
H^ |
H a. |
R^ |
rt |
6 |
pq |
'^ |
OQ |
Ho |
|
0 |
2,124 |
$632.61 |
40.33 |
20.23 |
12.43 |
4.76 |
1.14 |
21.11 |
100.00 |
|
1 |
2,579 |
638.29 |
41.74 |
18.48 |
12.64 |
4.67 |
1.14 |
21.33 |
100.00 |
|
2 |
2,700 |
649.04 |
43.21 |
17.61 |
13.03 |
4.59 |
1.13 |
20.23 |
100.00 |
|
3 |
1,973 |
665.90 |
44.56 |
17.44 |
13.17 |
4.45 |
1.10 |
19.28 |
100.00 |
|
4 |
1,248 |
683.16 |
45.69 |
16.76 |
13.36 |
4.23 |
1.08 |
18.88 |
100.00 |
|
5 |
532 |
664.82 |
47.24 |
16.54 |
13.85 |
4.52 |
1.04 |
16.81 |
100.00 |
11,156 $650.98 43.13 18.12 12.95 4.57 1.12 20.11 100.00
The number of families in the different groups is remarkably uniform for the first four groups. In the fifth group there is a considerable decrease, how- ever, and the sixth group (five children) is compara- tively small. The family incomes vary but slightly throughout, indicating that among these families no apparent co-relation exists between family size and size of income.
In the expenditures, however, there is considerable variation. The families with children are spending one-sixth more for food, and one-fifth less for rent than the families without children. While the ex- penditures for fuel and light remain constant, the *' sundries" item decreases by nearly one-fourth. Frhe increase in family size, making more mouths to I feed, forces the family into smaller quarters, and 1 cuts heavily into expenditures for those things not 1 absolutely necessary to existence. ^'^By inference, the larger the family, the larger the percentage of expenditure for food and the smaller
THE STANDARD OF LIVING
51
the percentage of expenditure for rent. Differently- stated, increasing family size is accompanied by in- creasing food and decreasing rent expenditures.
Although the report gives no statement as to the method of picking the families considered, it is of great interest to note that the average incomes of these 11,156 families vary from $632 to $683^ — a vari- ation of less than ten per cent, and that the largest average income is not enjoyed by the largest families.
The classification of expenditure in these 11,156 families by income is essentially the same as that appearing in Chapin's New York Siudy.^ This lat- ter presents the expenditures by percentages for various items.
Percentage of total incomes expended for various items, iy income group. — N'°,w York, 1901-8.
|
m a o a |
u s |
a |
■73 O O |
.S o 5 |
u eS it a |
a <A u m |
m 1 |
|||
|
$ 400- 499 |
8 |
40.8 |
26.8 |
13.0 |
5.6 |
2.6 |
1.2 |
3.1 |
6.9 |
|
|
500- 599 |
17 |
44.4 |
25.9 |
12.4 |
5.9 |
1.8 |
1.3 |
1.9 |
6.4 |
|
|
600- 699 |
72 |
44.6 |
23.6 |
• 12.9 |
5.8 |
1.7 |
2.0 |
2.1 |
7.3 |
|
|
700- 799 |
79 |
45.6 |
21.9 |
13.4 |
5.0 |
1.5 |
2.5 |
1.9 |
8.2 |
|
|
800- 899 |
73 |
44.3 |
20.7 |
14.0 |
5.0 |
2.0 |
2.2 |
2.7 |
9.1 |
|
|
900- 999 |
63 |
44.7 |
19.0 |
14.6 |
5.1 |
1.5 |
2.6 |
2.6 |
9.9 |
|
|
1000-1099 |
31 |
44.7 |
18.1 |
15.5 |
4.5 |
1.8 |
2.5 |
1.5 |
11.4 |
|
|
1100-1199 |
18 |
45.6 |
16.2 |
14.9 |
3.8 |
1.9 |
2.5 |
3.6 |
11.5 |
|
|
1200-1299 |
8 |
45.0 |
19.8 |
15.2 |
3.8 |
2.2 |
2.2 |
1.3 |
10.5 |
|
|
1300-1399 |
8 |
43.6 |
16.8 |
13.7 |
3.6 |
1.1 |
4.9 |
1.1 |
15.2 |
|
|
1500-1599 |
6 |
36.8 |
16.3 |
16.8 |
4.1 |
1.2 |
2.3 |
7.4 |
16.1 |
The percentage of expenditure for food is prac- tically stationary between $500 and $1,400 ; for rent,
» Chapin, op. cit.
52 FINANCING THE WAGE-EARNER'S FAMILY
the expenditure decreases steadily as income in- creases up to $1,000, after which it remains practi- cally stable; the expenditure for clothing increases slightly, though it is fairly stable; the expenditure for fuel and light decreases above $1,100, while the percentages expended for carfare, insurance and health vary with the family rather than with the in- come. The remaining item, ' ' sundries, " is of course much larger in the higher income groups.
/Tho-^ontrast between the expenditures of the low income families where the struggle for existence is sharp, and of the high income families where the struggle is much less keen, is most interesting.. While both groups of families spend the'*same^ra\ portion of income for food, the expenditure for rent is much higher in the lower income family ; and that for clothing is much higher in the higher income^ family. The rent expenditure is necessary, clothing expenditure is not.
To the statistician these analyses of income and expenditure by family size, by income group, by nationality, and by locality present alluring possi- bilities, since such statistics are the legitimate ob- ject of a many-sided statistical analysis; yet they fail absolutely to make any connection with liveli- hood. After learning that the foreign families in Massachusetts, having more than two and less than five children, spent, on the average, $668 annually, 37 per cent, of which went for food, the reader is a little puzzled to know how such a statement will as-
THE STANDARD OF LIVING 53
sist him in determining whether the said foreign- born escaped the acutest pangs of hunger.
In short, this third method of considering the standard of living problem presents, as accurately as is statistically possible, the condition of a group of families, giving the average of income and of expenditure. If this method is combined with the second, and representative individual family budgets are given, a very good picture of existing conditions is secured. "While this method of approaching the standard of living problem affords some excellent data regarding actual living conditions, it does not yet give a contrast between the amount of goods which an income will buy, and the amount of goods needed to maintain a standard of living in any given case. For a statement of this contrast, we must proceed to another method of studying living stand- ards. No one of these first three methods of study- ing the standard of living, and no combination of them will answer the root question regarding the amount of income necessary to maintain the ejffi- ciency of workingmen and their families.
There is only one way in which a conclusion can be reached on this important point — the investigator must determine what amount of economic goods is necessary to the maintenance — first of a standard of subsistence which will permit the family to maintain its existence as a social unit, and second, of a stand- ard which will maintain the efficiency of the members of the family group under consideration. ''Only
54 FINANCING THE WAGE-EARNER'S FAMILY
those estimates of the cost of a normal standard of living are sound which ,are based on a given social unit, and on the cost of the essential elements of that standard in a given community, and at a given time. Can these costs be determined in such a way as to make society believe they are well founded? To this question, I answer: "Yes, I believe they can. * ' ^"^ The studies which have been completed since Mr. Tucker made this statement, amply con- firm his judgment — proving beyond cavil that it is possible to determine the amount and the cost of a supply of goods which will insure subsistence and efficiency.
F. "Goods*' as a Basis for Study.
The inquirer may, therefore, attack the standard of living problem at an angle different from any so far outlined, and instead of starting with the earn- ings and expenditures of workingmen's families, premise the discussion on an answer to the question — ''What amount of economic goods will a given •unit — di. man or family — need to maintain a stand- ard of living?*^* Emphasis is thus placed on the object — a standard of living, rather than on the means — income and expenditure. This method premises a theoretical standard, and then compares this standard with the expenditures being made, in any given case, in order to determine whether these
10 Fbank Titckeb, Report of the Committee on Standard of Living. R. C. Chapin, The Standard of Living in 'Sew York City, p. 257, Charities Publication Committee, 1909.
THE STANDARD OF LIVING 55
expenditures will provide sufficient economic goods to furnish, a standard, either of bare subsistence, or of efficiency.
Both ''subsistence" and "efficiency" necessarily enter into any discussion of standards. Formerly it was taken for granted that if a family was pro- vided with a subsistence, everything necessary had been done. During recent years, however, par- ticularly in Germany, great emphasis has been laid ^n the maintenance of ^ffiHency aa well as of sub-" sistence.^ starting as an industrial concept, aimed at the preservation of the workers for industrial or for military purposes, the efficiency idea has spread into social fields, until there is a general recognition of the desirability of maintaining an efficiency stand- ard in every phase of life.
An adequate approach to the study of living standards must, therefore, be based on a measure of the amount of goods which will maintain the sub- sistence or the efficiency of a given group; and it must proceed along lines which will show how many of the incomes in the community will permit the maintenance of such a standard. ,
VI. The Elements in a Standard of Living.
There are certain elements which necessarily en- ter into a standard of living. These are differently classed by different writers. Shadwell cites the fol- lowing elaborate schedule which he has adopted from the Germans: ^^
11 Aethub Shadwell, Industrial Efficiency, pp. 224-225, Long- mans, Green, & Co., New York, 1906.
56 FINANCING THE WAGE-EARNER'S FAMILY
1. Necessaries of life :
a Eent, fuel, light.
h Clothing.
c Food; at home and in the eating-house.
d Locomotion (train, omnibus, etc.).
e Tools.
2. Compulsory disbursements :
a Contribution to sick, insurance, etc.
h Taxes.
c School-pence and books.
3. Bodily and mental recreation:
a Baths.
h Public-house.
c Spirits (presumably at home)'.
d Tobacco.
e Newspapers and books.
/ Amusements.
4. Voluntary subscriptions:
a Insurance.
h Clubs and trade unions.
5. Other regular expenses.
6. Extraordinary expenses:
a Doctor, medicine, sickness.
h Furniture, breakages.
c Debt, interest and repayment.
In the more detailed and technical study of stand- ards of living, such an extensive classification may be desirable, but for the purposes of ordinary dis-
THE STANDARD OF LIVING 57
cussion it is unnecessary. Indeed, the brief classi- fication used by Chapin will prove adequate in most respects. He classifies the expenditures as those for —
1. Food.
2. Housing.
3. Clothing.
4. Fuel and light.
5. Carfare. ^ ^ 6J[ealth.., VL^ W^ 4 w#^fcv,U-v^
7. Insurance.
8. Sundry minor items.
Having accepted the classification employed by Dr. Chapin as a workable one, it becomes necessary to inquire what amount of each of the items set down in his list is necessary for the maintenance of a standard of living.
VII. The Requirements for Specific Items in a Standard of Living.
The only adequate method of determining what amount of goods is necessary for the maintenance of existence or of efficiency, is based on an analysis of each item in the classification. The measurement of the amount of food necessary to maintain a stand- ard of living is by far the easiest part of the prob- lem. Food requirements are usually measured in calories of energy, and in order to secure uniformity, they are stated in terms of the require- ments of an adult man. The United States Depart-
58 FINANCING THE WAGE-EARNER'S FAIMILY
ment of Agriculture, which has made some valuable experiments on food values, states that a man in the fuU vigor of life, doing moderate muscular work, requires each day a quantity of food containing, as it is purchased, 3,800 calories of energy. By the time this food is eaten, it will contain but 3,500 calories, from which quantity the digestive system extracts 3,200 calories of energy.^^ After an analy- sis of the available data, Eowntree concludes that Atwater*s estimate of 3,500 calories for a man doing ''moderate muscular work," must be interpreted in terms of very moderate work if it is to be ade- quate.^^ Generally, however, it is conceded that from 3,200 to 3,900 calories of energy, depending upon the intensity and character of the work done, must be supplied to the body each day.
The actual amounts of food consumed vary con- siderably from this standard. Atwater has com- piled an extensive table, in which he sets down the results of ' * comparing the dietaries of persons with different occupations and incomes, and performing different amounts of muscular work." The energy supplied by the rowing clubs in New England, for instance, is 3,955 calories ; by football teams in Con- necticut and California, 6,590 calories; by farmers' families in Eastern United States, 3,415 calories; by professional men, 3,200 calories ; by poor families in New York City, 2,845 calories, and by negro
12 Tear Book of tJie U. 8. Dept. of Agriculture, p. 371. Article by C. F. Langworthy, 1907.
13 B. L. RowNTBEE, Poverty, pp. 91-97, Macmillan & Co. Ltd., Lon- don, 1901.
THE STANDARD OF LIVING 59
families in Alabama and Virginia, 3,395 calories.^* Since the dietaries of different groups differ as rad- ically in their content as do the various foods in their energy yielding power, the computation of the dietary value of any group is a purely individual affair.
In order to analyze, on a scientifically comparable "^^ basis, the diet of a number of families, Atwater has 1 prepared a system of comparing the dietary re- / quirements of women and children with those of an / adult man, which purports to show the relative
amount of food consumed by each.^^
\
An adult woman requires... .8 as much as an adult man.
A boy of 15 to 16 9 as much as an adult man.
A boy of 13 to 14 8 as much as an adult man.
A boy of 12 7 as much as an adult man.
A boy of 10 to 11 6 as much as an adult man. .
A girl of 15 to 16 8 as much as an adult man. '; f
A girl of 13 to 14 7 as much as an adult man.
A girl of 10 to 12 6 as much as an adult man.
A child from 6 to 9 5 as much as an adult man. \
A child from 2 to 5 4 as much as an adult man.
A child under 2 3 as much as an adult man. \
These estimates of Atwater may be accepted, i since they correspond rather closely to similar ta- bles prepared by other experts. Their value lies in * the fact that by means of them, the food consumption of families may always be reduced to a common de- /" . nomination — the requirements of a man.
The method of applying this formula is stated very well by Chapin. Suppose, he says, that a fam- ily consists of father, mother, a girl of four years,
i*W. O. Atwateb, Principles of Nutrition, pp. 34-35, Government Printing Office, Washington, 1910. 15 Ibid., pp. 34-35.
60 FINANCING THE WAGE-EARNER'S FAMILY
a boy of three and a baby under two. The father buys lunch six days in a week. The calculation therefore runs : ^^
1 man 15 meals per week 15.0
1 woman 21 meals, equivalent for man to 21 x 0.8 meals per week. .16.8 1 boy 21 meals, equivalent for man to 21 x 0.4 meals per week . . 6.4 1 girl 21 meals, equivalent for man to 21 x 0.4 meals per week . . 8.4 1 child 21 meals, equivalent for man to 21 X 0.3 meals per week. . 6.3
Total number of meals, on basis of consumption of adult man. .54.9
The family under consideration is, therefore, con- suming weekly the equivalent of 54.9 meals for one adult man. Any other family, or any number of families may, in this manner, have their dietaries reduced to a common denomination for the purpose of comparison.
The determination of the amounts of housing, clothing, fuel and light necessary to the maintenance of a standard, is a much more difficult problem than that involved in the discussion of food, because there is no way of stating what amount of these items is requisite for the running of the body on an efficiency basis. The best that can be said is that (1) sanita- tion, (2) privacy, (3) decency and (4) necessity are the governing factors to be determined in each local- ity. There is certainly a minimtmi amount of each of these goods necessary in the maintenance of a standard. What that amount may be, it is difficult to say generally, though it may be readily deter- minable in each specific case. Similarly, expendi- tures for carfare, health, insurance and sundry
"Chapin, op. cit., pp. 126-127.
THE STANDARD OF LIVING 61
items must be determined by the locality. That some expenditure should be made for these items is obvious ; its amount must be left to a determination in each individual case.
VIII, The Chapin and the Federal Studies.
From the discussion in Section VII, it must be apparent that the available data indicating the amount of economic goods necessary to the mainte- ^nance of efficiency is very meager. Indeed, there "wre but two modern American studies which ap- proach the problem from the fourth viewpoint (the amount of goods necessary) and both of these studies are unfortunately very limited in scope.
The study published by Eobert C. Chapin was made in New York City, during 1907-8. The study published by the United States Bureau of Labor was made in a number of Massachusetts, North Carolina and Georgia mill towns in* 1908-9. Both studies are very detailed, and both are of great scientific value, though one deals with city and the other with town conditions.
The Chapin study of standards of living was made on a schedule very similar to that adopted by the Woman and Child Wage-Earners investigators. In the case of the Chapin study, 318 families in New York City with incomes ranging between $600 and $1,100 form the basis of the study, while 73 addi- tional families having incomes below $600 and above $1,100 are referred to throughout the work, making the total number of New York families included
62 FINANCING THE WAGE-EARNER'S FAMILY
391." The Woman and Child Wage-Earners study, on the other hand, covers a much smaller number of cases — 21 families in Georgia and North Carolina and 14 families in Fall River. Nevertheless, the latter study is of the very greatest value because it approaches the standard of living problem directly from a standpoint of goods, asking first what amount of the various items is necessary to the maintenance of standards ; second, the cost of these items in a number of individual families ; and third, their cost in a group of families.
The Woman and Child Wage-Earners study dif- ferentiates, as the Chapin study does not, a '' mini- mum'^ standard of living from a ''fair" or ** normal" standard of living. The minimum stand- ard of the Woman and Child Wage-Earners report excludes ''everything except the bare necessaries of life" (p. 133) ; and includes only expenses for food, rent, clothing, fuel, light and sundries. The fair standard, in contrast with this minimum standard, provides "not only for physical efficiency, but al- lows for the development and satisfaction of human attributes." "The minimum standard is a stand- ard of living so low that one would expect few families to live on it. It will be conceded that a standard of living on which people are to live must include many things that are not allowed by the minimum standard." (P. 142.) Thus it is appar- ent that the minimum standard, here contemplated, is a standard of the barest necessaries, while a fair
17 Chapin, op. cit., pp. 38-39.
THE STANDARD OF LIVING 63
standard corresponds very nearly to the efficiency standard of the Chapin study.
Although there are instances in which both studies — neglecting the statistical warnings regarding the percentage of error — reduce a few cases to percent- ages and tenths, nevertheless, the Chapin study, as an able pioneer, and the Woman and Child study, as a worthy follower, lay the foundation for a scien- tific discussion of the standard of living problem as it appears — first in the minimum or existence standard, and second in the fair or efficiency stand- ard.
IX. The Minimum Standard of Living.
In order to present the matter accurately, it will, therefore, be necessary to analyze first the elements of a minimum standard of living, and second the ele- ments comprising a fair or efficiency standard of living. Fortunately, the largest item involved in the standard of living — food — is definitely measur- able. The method of approach to the food item adopted in the Woman and Child Wage-Earners study is, perhaps, as sound as any that could be devised. ''In order to furnish a basis of compari- son for the family's study in this report, it seemed desirable to ascertain the cost of some dietary in actual use, which offers the proper amount of protein and energy. The dietary of the Federal prison, Atlanta, Georgia, for the week beginning November 29, 1908, was selected for this purpose.'* (P. 134.) The dietary, as adopted by the Federal
64 FINANCING THE WAGE-EARNER'S FAillLY
prison, ''does not actually meet the standard re- quirements being a trifle lower in protein, but high in energy/' The prison is located in the South, however, where the study of living standards was being conducted, and its dietary represented the results of a scientific attempt to secure an adequate minimum diet. This prison diet provided 3.186 ounces of protein per man, per day, and a total fuel value of 3,773.09 calories of food value per day. * 'Based on the equivalents for food digested, the standard requirements are 95 grams of protein and 3,200 calories, while the above dietary study shows 90.51 grams of protein available and 3,773.9 calories.'* (P. 135.) In order to present a more accurate picture of the meaning of this diet, the following menu of the Federal prison for the week of November 29th to December 5, 1908, was pre- pared (p. 135-6).
SrrjrDAT. Breakfast: Oatmeal, milk, bread, butter, coffee. Dinner: Beef, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, bread, butter, coffee. Supper: Bread, butter, coffee.
Monday. Breakfast: Wieners, grits, bread, butter, coffee. Dinner: Pork and beans, raw onions, bread, water.
Supper: Sweet potatoes, bread, butter, coffee.
Tuesday. Breakfast : Potatoes, bread, butter, coffee. Dinner: Beef, collards, bread, water. Supper: Prunes, bread, butter, coffee.
Wednesday. Breakfast: Hash, bread, butter, coffee. Dinner: Soup, sweet potatoes, bread, water. Supper: Pie, bread, butter, tea.
THE STANDARD OF LIVING ^ 65
Thuesday. Breakfast: Grits, bread, butter, coffee.
Dinner: Fresh pork, sweet potatoes, collards, bread, water.
Supper: Crackling bread, sirup, coffee.
Feiday. i
Breakfast: Beef, bread, butter, coffee. '
Dinner: Fish, sweet potatoes, bread, water.
Supper: Sauce, bread, butter, coffee.
Satueday. Breakfast: Liver, bread, butter, coffee. Dinner: Stew, bread, water.
Supper: Graham cookies, coffee.
A study of this menu will show that while it makes no allowances for the luxuries of life, it does provide a fair variety, and, chemically analyzed, it is sufficient in amount to furnish the requisite food values. Hence, the menu is adopted as being ade- quate, and at the same time as simple as possible.
In the matter of housing, four rooms is regarded as the minimum amount necessary for a family of five. No definite statement of the minimum neces- sary housing space was attempted however. (Pp. 139-140.)
The item of clothing is susceptible of more defi- nite analysis. ''The minimum standard for cloth- ing for cotton mill families includes only that quality and quantity that is compatible with phys- ical efficiency and common decency; that is, enough clothing to keep them warm in winter, to allow enough changes to keep them clean, and to prevent their being in rags." ^^
Each member of the family is, therefore, placed
18 Woman and Child Wage-Earners, op. cit., vol. 16, p. 137.
66 FINANCING THE WAGE-EARNER'S FAMILY
on the barest minimum. Two pairs of shoes are allowed for boys between ten and thirteen, and three pairs for boys between six and nine, and four- teen and sixteen, because the boys under thirteen go bare foot about six months of the year. In the remaining six months, however, boys from six to nine wear their shoes out much more quickly than the boys from ten to thirteen. *'The fathers and the boys ten years old and over have each been allowed a cheap suit of clothes. This is necessary, for they must have a coat for protection. This suit, with two pairs of trousers, must be worn 365 days in the year. The lint, dust, and oil of the cotton mill is particularly hard on clothing. ' ' ^® ** Meager though the amounts allowed the different groups may seem, they do satisfy the minimum re- quirements, for, with a few minor exceptions, they represent the clothing actually worn by some indi- vidual whose health had apparently not been im- paired by being underclad. If a girl, who was otherwise dressed as cheaply as possible, had in- dulged in some little extravagance like a Sunday hat, this was eliminated. Furthermore, if in some family the clothing had been made by a dressmaker, the dressmaker's charge was deducted, for the min- imum standard requires that all clothing of the women and children shall be made at home. ' ' ^^ After making the deductions noted, the quantity of clothing, for a year, allowed to different members of the family was as follows : ^^
i» Ibid., p. 138. 20 Idem. 21 Ibid., pp. 138-39.
THE STANDARD OF LIVING
67
Quantity and cost of clothing for a year, according to sex and age — Minimum standard.
Father:
1 suit $ 8.00
2 trousers 2.00
5 colored shirts 2.50
2 suits winter underwear. 2.00
2 pairs shoes 3.00
1 hat 50
1 suspenders 25
Sons, 6, 7, 8 and 9 years:
4 trousers $ 1.00
6 waists 1.50
2 undershirts 50
3 pairs shoes 4.50
2 caps 50
Stockings 2.00
Socks
.50
Total $18.75
Sons, 17 years and over:
1 suit $ 8.00
2 trousers 2.00
6 colored shirts 2.50
2 suits winter underwear. 2.00
4 pairs shoes 6.00
1 hat 50
1 suspenders 25
Socks 1.00
Total $10.00
Sons, 3, 4 o"^ 5 years :
4 trousers $1.00
4 waists . . Underwear 1 cap
60
40
25
3 pairs shoes 3.00
Stockings 60
Total
$5.85
Total $22.25
Sons, 14, 15 and 16 years:
1 suit $ 4.00
4 colored shirts 2.00
1 overalls 50
2 suits winter underwear, 1.80
3 pairs shoes 4.50
2 caps 50
1 suspenders 25
Mother :
shawl $1.00
calico waists 72
duck skirts 1.80
drawers 28
gingham petticoats 1.00
winter undershirts 50
1 fascinator 25
2 pairs shoes 3.00
Stockings 70
Total $9.25
Stockings 1.50 Daughters, 17 years and over:
Total $15.00
Sons, 10, 11, 12 and 13 years:
1 suit $ 4.00
3 colored shirts 1.00
1 overalls 25
2 suits winter underwear. 1.00
2 pairs shoes 3.00
2 caps 50
Stockings 60
Total $10.35
1 shawl $ 1.00
4 calico dresses 2.80
2 flannelette dresses 2.50
2 gingham petticoats 1.00
2 flannelette petticoats 1.20
2 drawers 25
2 winter undershirts 50
2 gingham aprons 50
2 hats 2.00
Stockings 2.00
Shoes 7.50
Total $21.25
68 FINANCING THE WAGE-EARNER'S FAMILY
Daughters, H, 15 and 16 years:
1 wrap $1.00
2 gingham waists 65
1 cotton skirt 80
1 flannelette dress 1.00
2 calico dresses 1.22
2 gingham aprons 50
2 cotton petticoats 72
2 drawers 25
2 winter undershirts 50
2 hats 2.00
Shoes 7.50
Stockings 2.00
Total $18.14
Daughters, 10, 11, 12 and IS years :
1 wrap $ 1.00
2 flannelette dresses 1.40
4 calico dresses 1.68
2 cotton petticoats 50
2 drawers 25
2 winter undershirts 50
2 hats 2.00
Shoes 6.00
Stockings 1.50
Total $14.83
Daughters, 6, 7, 8, and 9 years:
1 wrap $ .85
3 flannelette dresses 1.95
3 calico dresses 1.08
2 cotton petticoats 40
2 drawers 20
2 undershirts 25
1 cap 50
1 hat 50
3 pairs shoes 4.50
Stockings 1.00
Total $11.23
Daughters, S, 4 and 5 years:
4 calico dresses $1.20
2 flannelette dresses 80
2 flannelette petticoats . . . .42 2 drawers 12
2 undershirts 25
1 cap 50
Stockings 1.00
3 pairs shoes 1.80
Total $6.09
Children, 2 years and under:
6 calico dresses $1.14
3 flannelette petticoats ... .38
5 stockings 50
Shoes 1.00
Total $3.02
In the case of clothing, it will be noted that the cost of each item is included in the table. This seems necessary, because, in no other way could an adequate description be given of the items specified. For the present, no notice will be taken of the cost.
A minimum of one gallon of kerosene per week was allowed for each family. The presence of grates and fireplaces rather than stoves, and the financial impossibility of the families securing
THE STANDARD OF LIVING 69
stoves under the circumstances made the amount of fuel consumed rather large. No statement of fuel in terms of ''cords" or "tons" seemed possible.
Under the term "sundries" are included inciden- tal expenses for soap, starch, blueing, washing powder, brooms and scrubbing brushes. In estab- lishing this minimum standard, no provision is made for carfare, funeral expenses or insurance. A reading of the items set down as requisite to a minimum standard, certainly justifies the author's estimate that ' ' the standard excludes everything ex- cept the bare necessaries of life."
The same volume from which the above facts are taken, includes a study of the minimum standard of living in a group of families in Fall River, Massa- chusetts. The amount of food required was prac- tically the same in the North as in the South, as was the amount of housing allowed for each family. The number of items of clothing, the amount of kerosene and the amount of fuel were slightly greater. The same allowance for sundries was made as in the South.^^
Unfortunately, none of the other studies on stand- ards of living have attempted to establish the mini- mum amount of economic goods which are absolutely necessary to the maintenance of existence. Neces- sarily, these amounts will differ with the size of the family, the geographic location, and the managing ability of the mother. Nevertheless, the study un- der consideration indicates that the amount of
22 Ibid., chapter 3,
70 FINANCING THE WAGE-EARNER'S FAMILY
economic goods necessary to maintain existence in Georgia and in Massachusetts is approximately similar in everything except clothing, and fuel and light, where the difference is comparatively slight. It further establishes a scientific basis for deter- mining, by comparison, whether the amount of goods consumed by a given family will or will not maintain a minimum of existence.
X. The Fair or Normal Standard.
The problem of a normal or fair standard of living is an essentially different one from the prob- lem of a mere existence standard. In contrasting the minimum standard and the fair standard, the author of the Federal report states — "The mini- mum standard is a standard of living so low that one would expect few families to live on it. It will be conceded that a standard of living upon which people are to live must include many things that are not allowed by the minimum standard. It must be a standard that provides not only for physical efl&ciency but allows for the development and satis- faction of human attributes. Just what is to be included in such a standard depends upon the people to whom it is applicable. Manifestly, a standard that would be considered fair by a laboring man would not appear fair to a financier. Those pos- sessing different degrees of wealth have come to look upon different things as essential to their man- ner of life. "2^ In such a standard, therefore, are
88 Ibid., p. 142.
THE STANDARD OF LIVING 71
included a number of items additional to minimum requirements. A-laix-standard will maintain the^ health and efficiency of a family, and insure it
"against physical deterioration, poverty and mis-'
Hery. _
TEe amount of food requisite to the maintenance of a fair standard is derived by the Federal inves- tigation, through a comparison of the dietary of the Federal prison and the dietary of the various fami- lies studied.*' This comparison shows ''that for breakfast and dinner the quantity and quality of food of the families living fairly well is not far different from the prison diet; they have a little more variety, perhaps. For supper, however, the prison diet falls short of what the people demand as a fair standard for food. Bread, butter, and coffee are not regarded as a satisfactory meal after a long day's work. It is clear from the menus of those who are living fairly well that a fair standard must allow either a meat or a vegetable for supper. Again, the prison diet is a little low in the quantity of protein it furnishes. The addition of a meat or vegetable for supper would, perhaps, bring it nearer the requirements."^* In order to make the matter entirely concrete, the menu of one family, which was living well but not extravagantly, and which represented a varied diet and a complete sup- ply of nutrition, was adopted as representing a fair standard. In this family, the average value of food consumed per man, per week for the year was $1.67.
2* Ibid., p. 143.
72 FINANCING THE WAGE-EARNER'S FAMILY
The menu for the week ending January 3, 1909, was : ^^
Monday, Breakfast: Ham, sausage, biscuit, coflfee, sugar, butter, sirup. Dinner: Baked sweet potatoes, stewed Irish potatoes, coUards
with bacon, corn bread, biscuit, coflfee. Supper: Ham, Irish potatoes, biscuit, coflfee, butter, sirup.
Tuesday.
Breakfast: Fried pork (fresh), biscuit, butter, sirup, coffee, sugar.
Dinner: Peas and bacon, butter beans, sweet potatoes, Irish po-
tatoes, buttermilk, corn bread, biscuit, coflfee.
Supper: Beefsteak, Irish potatoes, biscuit, butter, coflfee, sugar,
sirup.
Wednesday. Breakfast: Fried pork, ham, butter, cheese, biscuit, coffee, sugar. Dinner: Cabbage with bacon, Irish potatoes, sweet potatoes, corn
bread, biscuit, coflfee, sugar. Supper: Steak, rice, biscuit, butter, sirup, coffee, sugar.
Thubsday. Breakfast: Pork, sausage, biscuit, butter, sirup, coffee, sugar. Dinner: Collards and bacon, Irish potatoes, sweet potatoes, corn
bread, biscuit, butter, buttermilk. Supper: Beefsteak, rice, biscuit, coffee, sirup, sugar.
Fbiday. Breakfast: Pork, rice, biscuit, butter, coffee, sugar. Dinner: Peas, bacon, butter beans, sweet potatoes, fried pork,
onions, pickles, corn bread, biscuit, coffee, sugar. Supper: Ham, cheese, biscuit, butter, coffee, sirup, sugar.
Satueday. Breakfast: Pork and rice, biscuit, butter, sirup, coffee, sugar. Dinner: Collards, bacon, Irish potatoes, sweet potatoes, corn
bread, biscuit, coffee, sugar. Supper: Oyster stew, fried pork, biscuit, butter, sirup, coffee,
sugar.
Sunday. Breakfast: Pork, oyster stew, biscuit, butter, coffee, sugar. Dinner : Beans, Irish potatoes, sweet potatoes, pork, biscuit, corn
bread, coffee, sugar. Supper: Ham, biscuit, butter, sirup, coffee, sugar.
38 Ibid., pp. 40-41.
THE STANDARD OF LIVING 73
An itemized statement of the cost of the food en- tering into this menu follows the menu.^^
No similar statement of the amount of food con- stituting a fair diet is given by Chapin, though he does estimate the cost of a fair diet at 22 cents per man, per day. ($1.54 per man, per week.) This amount, Dr. Chapin states in a footnote, is below Atwater's estimate— 23 cents to 25 cents per man per day — made in 1896 and 1897.^^
On the whole, the specimen menu adopted as fair by the Federal investigation does not seem to con- tain an excessive variety, and if account is taken of the number of "left-overs" consumed at subsequent meals, the diet becomes really much simpler than it appears on its face. The newer studies would question the amount of meat consumed as excessive. Yet, while this may be scientifically true, it remains a fact that popular tradition in the United States still over-emphasizes meat consumption.
In the matter of housing, a fair standard demands that the size of the house shall vary with the size of the family and the age of its members. Chapin estimates that the minimum amount of housing, con- sistent with the maintenance of a normal standard, is one room to every one and a half persons.^^ This standard is adopted by Dr. Chapin because, ''since none of the families include less than four persons, and the greater number consists of five or six, an allowance of four rooms would not seem
26 Ibid., p. 41. 28 Ibid., p. 18,
2T Chapin, op. cit., pp. 126-7.
74 FINANCING THE WAGE-EARNER'S FAMILY
to exceed, as a rule, the demands of decency. ' ' ^^ Here no effort is made to estimate the necessary amount of room space on a basis of the number of cubic feet of air required by each member of the family.
A fair standard of clothing may be readily esti- mated. ''It must allow a sufficient amount so that there can be some expression of individual taste. It must allow for, not only a change of clothing for the sake of cleanliness, but also for Sundays and other holidays. In ascertaining the quantity of clothing necessary for the different individuals, the clothing lists of those families and individuals, who appeared to be fairly well dressed, were carefully considered.^' 2^ According to this fair standard, the amount of clothing allowed per year for each member of the family in the Federal investigation was : ^^
Quantity and cost of clothing for a year, according to sex and age- Fair standard.
Father: 3 handkerchiefs $ .30
1 suit $14.00 Socks 2.50
2 trousers 3.00 Barbering 1.20
2 overalls 1.50
1 light shirt 1.00 Total $38.50
4 colored shirts ' 2.00
2 suits underwear 2.00 ^ons, 11 years and over:
2 pairs shoes 4.00 1 suit $14.00
1 pair shoes 3.00 2 trousers 3.00
2 hats 3.00 2 overalls 1.50
4 collars 50 2 light shirts 2.00
1 necktie 25 4 colored shirts 2.00
1 suspenders 25 2 suits underwear 2.00
29 Idem.
80 Woman and Child Wage-Earners, op. cit., p. 144.
81 Ibid., pp. 145-146.
THE STANDAED OF LIVING
75
3 pairs shoes $ 6.00
1 pair shoes 3.00
2 hats 3.00
6 collars 75
2 neckties 50
1 suspenders 25
3 handkerchiefs 30
Socks 2.50
Barbering 1.20
Total $42.00
Sons, 14, 15 and 16 years:
2 suits $12.00
2 trousers 2.00
2 light shirts 2.00
4 colored shirts 2.00
2 overalls 1.00
2 winter underwear 2.00
3 pairs shoes 6.00
2 hats 2.00
1 cap 25
6 collars 50
2 neckties 50
1 suspenders 25
3 handkerchiefs 30
Stockings 3.00
Barbering 1.20
Total $35.00
Sons, 10, 11, 12 and 13 years: 2 suits $ 7.00
4 trousers 2.00
6 shirts 1.80
2 collars 20
2 winter underwear 1.00
4 pairs shoes 6.00
2 caps 50
1 hat 50
1 necktie 25
1 suspenders 25
Stockings 2.00
Total $21.50
Sons, 6, 7, 8 and 9 years:
1 suit $ 3.50
4 trousers 1.00
6 waists $ 1.50
2 undershirts 50
3 pairs shoes 4.50
Stockings 2.00
2 caps 50
1 hat 50
1 necktie 25
Total $14.25
Sons, S, 4 <^nd 5 years:
1 coat $1.00
4 trousers 1.00
6 waists 1.50
2 undershirts 50
3 pairs shoes 3.00
2 caps 50
1 hat 25
1 necktie 25
Stockings 1.00
Total $9.00
Mother:
1 suit $ 5.75
2 percale waists 60
1 flannelette waist 50
2 white waists 2.00
2 duck skirts 2.00
2 calico dresses 1.50
2 dressing sacks 60
2 gingham aprons 50
2 petticoats 1.60
2 undershirts 50
1 felt hat 2.00
1 straw hat 2.00
Stockings 2.00
2 pairs shoes 4.00
4 handkerchiefs 20
I lisle gloves 50
Total $26.25
Daughters, 17 years and over:
1 suit $15.00
4 white waists 4.00
2 cotton skirts 2.00
6 calico dresses 4.00
2 lawn dresses 4.00
4 aprons 1.00
76 FINANCING THE WAGE-EARNER'S FAMILY
1 sateen petticoat $ 1.00
3 white petticoats 2.25
4 drawers 50
1 corset 75
2 corset covers 50
2 winter undershirts 50
1 felt hat 3.75
1 straw hat 3.00
Stockings 2.00
3 pairs shoes 9.00
1 gloves l.OO
Ribbons, belts, etc 2.00
Handkerchiefs 1.00
Total $57.25
Daughters, 14, 15, and 16 years:
1 suit $ 8.00
2 white waists 2.00
2 gingham waists 65
1 cotton skirt 80
1 flannelette dress 1.30
6 calico dresses 3.65
1 lawn dress 1.15
2 aprons 50
2 petticoats 75
4 drawers 50
2 undershirts 50
1 felt hat 2.00
1 straw hat 2.00
Stockings 2.00
Shoes 9.00
Ribbons, belts, etc 1.20
Handkerchiefs 50
Total $36.50
Daughters, 10, 11, 12 and 13 years :
1 coat $ 3.00
5 gingham dresses 3.10
2 lawn dresses 2.10
1 woolen dress 2.75
4 petticoats 1.85
4 drawers 30
2 winter underwear 90
1 felt hat 1.60
1 straw hat $ 1.00
Stockings 2.00
4 pairs shoes 6.00
Ribbons, etc 50
Total $25.00
Daughters, 6, 7, 8 and 9 years:
1 coat $ 3.00
6 calico dresses 2.10
1 flannelette dress 50
2 cotton petticoats 55
2 flannel petticoats 1.00
3 drawers 35
2 winter undershirts 50
1 felt hat 50
1 straw hat 50
Stockings 1.50
3 pairs shoes 4.50
Ribbons, etc 50
Total $15.50
Daughters, S, ^ and 5 years: 6 calico dresses $ 2.75
1 flannelette dress 40
3 cotton petticoats 60
2 flannelette petticoats ... .60
4 drawers 40
2 undershirts 50
Stockings 1.00
Shoes 3.00
1 felt hat 50
1 straw hat 50
Total $10.25
Children 2 years and under:
5 calico dresses $1.20
2 flannelette dresses 65
2 flannelette petticoats ... .90
3 white petticoats 50
1 baby cap 75
Stockings 50
Shoes 1.50
Total $6.00
THE STANDARD OF LIVING 77
The amounts of clotliing allowed for the boys and girls over seventeen years of age — those in the *' dressing stage," is considerably in excess of the amounts allowed for any other members of the fam- ily. A legitimate objection might be urged against the inclusion of these extras in a fair standard. The allowance made for the parents and for the younger children does not, however, seem at all ex- cessive, although it is considerably in excess of Chapin's estimate of the amount of clothing neces- sary for a fair standard, and an examination of the Chapin list of necessary clothing, together with the context in which the list is discussed, leads inev- itably to the conclusion that the concept of a cloth- ing standard held by Chapin is very similar to the minimum standard of the Federal investigation. This clothing estimate is, perhaps, the weakest point in the Chapin study, since the viewpoint is distinctly of a minimum rather than of a fair standard. The items presented in the Chapin study are : ^^
For the man. 6 pairs hose $ .60
2 hats or caps $2.00 2 pairs shoes 4.00
1 overcoat 33 5.00 Repair of shoes 1.50
1 guit 10.00 Gloves or mittens 50
1 pair pantaloons 2.00
2 pairs overalls 1.50 Total $33.00
8 working shirts 1.00
2 white shirts 1.00 For each hoy.
6 collars 60 2 hats $ 0.50
4 ties 50 1 overcoat 2.50
4 handkerchiefs 30 1 suit 2.50
Summer underwear 1.00 1 pair trousers 50
Winter underwear 1.50 2 waists 50
32 Chapin, op. cit., p. 166.
33 Costs $10 to $15, lasts 2 or 3 years.
78 FINANCING THE WAGE-EARNER'S FAMILY
Summer underwear $ .50
Winter imderwear 1.00
6 pairs stockings 50
2 pairs shoes 2.00
Repair of shoes 1.25
Mittens 25
Repair of shoes $ 1.25
Sundries 1.00
Total $12.00
For washing. Soap, etc. (15 cts. a week) Laundry ( 5 cts. a week )
$ 7.50 2.50
Total $10.00
For the woman.
1 hat
1 cloak 34
2 dresses of wash goods. 1 woolen dress
3 waists
1 petticoat
Linen, etc
Summer underwear
Winter underwear
6 handkerchiefs
Gloves or mittens
3 aprons
6 pairs stockings
2 pairs shoes
.$ 1.50 . 2.50 . 2.50 . 5.00 . 1.50
.50 . .70
.50 . 1.00
.45 . . .50 . .50
.60 . 3.00
Total $23.00
For the girl.
hats $ 1.25
cloak 2.00
dresses of wash goods.. 2.00
woolen dress 1 .50
waists 1.00
petticoats 50
Summer underwear 50
Winter underwear 1.00
Ribbons, etc 50
6 handkerchiefs 25
Gloves or mittens 25
6 pairs stockings 50
2 pairs shoes 2.50
Repair of shoes 1.25
Total $15.00
Summary.
For the man $ 33.00
For the woman 23.00
For 2 boys, each, $12.00. . 24.00
For 1 girl 15.00
For washing 10.00
Total $105.00
Chapin acknowledges that this standard is a min- imum. ''Such an estimate," he writes, "presup- poses, on the part of the mother, a high grade of efficiency in mending and remaking. It makes a meager allowance for outside garments, and one quite insufficient for men in certain occupations. It seems within bounds to assume that less than $100 will not suffice to provide decent clothing for a nor- mal family of five." It should be further remarked that the boys and girls are under fourteen years.
8* Costs $5, lasts 2 years.
THE STANDARD OF LIVING 79
Even then the allowance for them seems pitifully small.
A fair allowance of clothing must include more than the bare necessaries which climate and de- cency demand. In how far this minimum may be supplemented to meet the styles, and to dress for holidays, is an open question. A careful perusal of the Chapin estimate makes its insufficiency more apparent. The estimate of the Federal investiga- tion, while perhaps excessive for boys and girls over seventeen, seems, on the whole, to be an excel- lent statement of a fair clothing standard.
The minimum amount allowed for fuel and light is the same as that adopted in the case of the min- imum standard; while an allowance is made under the fair standard for carfare in cities, and for health and insurance in both city and country districts. The Federal report allows a small doctor's bill, and *'ten cents a week for each of the parents and five cents a week for each of the children, regardless of age," for insurance. Both the Chapin and Federal investigations allow a small amount for amusement, recreation, papers and the like, under a fair stand- ard.
"vIThe fair or efficiency standard thus affords to a r\ family, what might be described as the decencies of . modern American life. Practically no luxuries are alfowedj but the minimum comforts are provided and all of the strict necessaries of life are made possible.
An attempt has been made throughout the previ-
80 FINANCING THE WAGE-EARNER'S FAMILY
ous statements to set down, in each case, the amount of goods required to maintain a minimum and fair standard of living. Considerable difficulty was necessarily encountered in many cases because of* the impossibility of stating such items as doctor services and the like in any other than money terms. Nevertheless, the amount of economic goods requi- site to maintain a standard of living is essentially a different matter from the cost of the standard, because the amount of goods entering into a stand- ard is practically constant while the cost of the in- dividual item may vary greatly from place to place.
XI. The Value of the "Goods'* Standard.
The value of considering the standard of living as a standard of goods is now apparent. In the first place, the basic factor in a standard of living, is the "goods" consumed. The matter of cost is a subsidiary consideration. The standard is always a standard of goods. Cost relates the income tC the expenditure. A study of income and expendi- ture is necessarily based on cost, but a study of standards begins with the goods themselves. In tlie second place, no other method will furnisTi a basis for adequate comparison between localities.
The material presented in this chapter answers the first question of this inquiry — "What amount of economic goods is necessary to maintain a stand- ard of living in the United States!" This answer paves the way for an answer to the second question — "How much will these goods cost?" Since the
THE STANDARD OF LIVING 81
more important items in a standard — food, housing, and clothing — are definitely measurable in terms of the quantity of each needed to maintain a standard, any community may ascertain, by a little investiga- tion of prices, the exact cost, in that community, of a minimum and of a fair standard of living.
CHAPTEE III
The Cost of a Standard op Living
I. The Problem of Costs.
The statement of the amount of goods necessary to the maintenance of a given standard is of very general application. With slight modifications, the Fall Eiver schedule may be made applicable to most New England mill towns, while the Georgia schedule of necessary goods will apply, generally, to mill towns in the South. However, in various localities there is a variation in the cost of food, rent, cloth- ing, coal, oil and sundries. The problem of cost is, therefore, much more local than that of the amount of goods, and must be, to a greater extent, made the subject of local treatment. Some general statement of cost is nevertheless possible.
II. The Cost of the Minimum Standard.
It is possible to state the cost of a minimum standard of living either in terms of the needs of an individual man, or of an entire family. In the Federal investigation, both of these methods are adopted. The items of expenditure are first divided into two classes, those items which vary with the
82
THE COST OF A STANDAED OF LIVING 83
number of persons in the family, and those items wliich do not vary with the number of persons in the family. In North Carolina and Georgia, the cost of food and clothing (the items varying with the size of the family for different individuals) is as follows : *
Cost of food and clothing for a year, according to sex and age — Minimum standard. Sex and age. Food. Clothing.
Father $74.88 $18.75
Mother 59.90 9.25
Males :
17 years and over 74.88 22.25
15 and 16 years 67.40 15.05
14 years 59.90 15.05
13 years 59.90 10.35
12 years 52.42 10.35
10 and 11 years 44.92 10.35
6 to 9 years 37.44 10.00
3 to 5 years 29.97 5.85
Females :
17 years and over 59.90 21.25
15 and 16 years 59.90 18.14
14 years 52.42 18.14
13 years 52.42 14.83
10, 11 and 12 years ♦ 44.92 14.83
6 to 9 years 47.44 11.25
3 to 5 ye? 73 29.97 6.09
Children :
2 years 29.97 3.02
Under 2 years 22.46 3.02
This represents in each case the minimum amount necessary to maintain existence.
The cost in a minimum standard of those items which do not vary with the size of the family would be: 2
1 Woman and Child Wage-Earners, op. cit., p. 141.
2 Ibid., p. 141.
84 FINANCING THE WAGE-EARNER'S FAMILY
Rent $ 44.81
Fuel 41.36
Lights 7.80
Sundries, etc 8.50
Total $102.47
It is, therefore, possible by taking a given family to estimate the cost of the minimum standard to that family. For example, in a family of a man, wife and three children, a girl of ten, a boy of six and a boy of four, the cost for food and clothing would be : ^
Member of family. Food. Clothing. Total.
Father $74.88 $18.75 $93.63
Mother 59.90 9.25 69.15
Girl, 10 years 44.92 14.83 59.75
Boy, 6 years 37.44 10.00 47.44
Boy, 4 years 29.97 5.85 35.82
Total $247.11 $58.68 $305.79
Adding to this total $305.79, the cost for rent, fuel, light and sundries ($102.47), it appears that a family such as the one under consideration would require $408.26 annually to maintain a minimumi standard in North Carolina and Georgia.
This standard is by no means a liberal one, and the probabilities of maintaining a living upon it are most precarious. Furthermore, "there can be no amusements or recreations that involve any ex- pense. No tobacco can be used. No newspapers can be purchased. The children can not go to school, because there will be no money to buy their books. Household articles that are worn out or
8 Idem.
THE COST OF A STANDARD OF LIVING 85
destroyed can not be replaced. The above sum pro- vides for neither birth nor death nor any illness that demands a doctor ^s attention or calls for medi- cine. Even though all these things are eliminated, if the family is not to suffer, the mother must be a woman of rare ability. She must know how to make her own and her children's clothing; she must be physically able to do all of the household work, including the washing. And she must know enough to purchase with her allowance food that has the proper nutritive value. ' ' * Apparently, if a woman is to support a family on this income, she must have a skill and power of management which would bring her from $12 to $15 a week if she were at work in an industrial establishment. Needless to say, most women have no such ability, particularly in the lower income groups. Since the children there are forced to leave school early, and help to support the family, they miss any opportunity of securing training through the schools. Further, since their mothers were, in all probability, brought up in a similar way, there is nothing in the home environment stimulat- ing to thrift or managerial ability. Among the families of lowest income, where the necessity for thrift and careful management ar^ the greatest, the opportunities that children have to learn these things are least. Hence the assumption of the re- markable qualities which the authors of the govern- ment study demand in a woman who is to pilot a Georgia family through 366 days on $408.26 is un-
4 Ibid., p. 142.
86 FINANCING THE WAGE-EARNER'S FAMILY
justifiable in the extreme. The exceptional woman may possess them ; but the average woman does not. Hence the estimate is decidedly low.
The cost of a minimum standard in Fall Eiver, Massachusetts, varies somewhat from the cost for the Southern States. The food and clothing neces- sary for 'each individual appear in the following table :«
Cost of food and clothing for a year, according to sex and age — Minimum standard.
Sex and age. Food. Clothing.
Father $83.20 $23.80
Mother 66.56 15.45
Males:
17 years and over 83.20 27.80
15 and 16 years 74.88 20.75
14 years 66.56 20.75
13 years 66.56 16.75
12 years 58.24 16.75
10 and 11 years 50.52 16.75
6 to 9 years 41.60 13.25
3 to 5 years 33.28 9.00
Females :
17 years and over 66.56 23.85
15 and 16 years 66.56 20.60
14 years 58.24 20.60
13 years 58.24 18.50
10 to 12 years 50.52 18.50
6 to 9 years 41.60 16.25
3 to 5 years 33.28 9.50
Children :
2 years 33.28 3.70
Under 2 years 24.96 3.70
The cost of those items which do not vary with the size of the family is — ^
« Ibid., p. 237. ^Idem.
THE COST OF A STANDAKD OF LIVING 87
Eent $ 78.00
Fuel 36.50
Light 6.25
Sundries 8.50
Total $129.25
A computation similar to that made for the Southern States shows the amount necessary to maintain a minimum standard of living in a normal familyJ
Food. Clothing. Total.
Father $83.20 $23.80 $107.00
Mother 66.56 15.45 82.01
Girl, 10 years 50.52 18.50 69.02
Boy, 6 years 41.60 13.25 54.85
Boy, 4 years 33.28 9.00 42.28
Total $275.16 $80.00 $355.16
The total cost of maintaining a minimum stand- ard of living in Fall Eiver ($484.41) is slightly in ex- cess of that required in the Southern States, largely because of the increased amount apportioned for food and rent. Since the housewife in Fall Eiver is to be the same type of super-woman as tliat.de- mahded in the Georgia estimate, the same objection holds as in that case.
The Chapin study does not make any detailed statement of the cost of a minimum standard of sub- sistence, but the conclusions relative to incomes be- tween $600 and $700 may be compared with the con- clusions in the Federal study, since they refer to an essentially similar economic status. Dr. Chapin writes — '*It seems safe to conclude from all the data that we have been considering, that an in-
1 1bid., p. 238.
88 FINANCING THE WAGE-EARNER'S FAMILY
come under $800 is not enough to permit the main- tenance of a normal standard. A survey of the de- tail of expenditure for each item in the budget shows some manifest deficiency for almost every family in the $600 and $700 groups. The housing average shows scarcely more than three rooms for five per- sons. Three-fifths of the families have less than four rooms and more than one and one-third per- sons to a room. Fuel is gathered on the street by half of the $600 families and by more than one-third of the $700 families. One-third of the $600 families are not able to afford gas. One-third of the $600 families are within the 22-cent minimum limit for food, and 30 per cent, of the $700 families spend 22 cents or under. In the same way the average ex- penditure for clothing in neither of these groups reached $100, and 30 per cent, of the families are in receipt of gifts to e]je out the supplies of clothing. In sickness the dispensary is the main dependence of these families, each of whom spends less than $10 annually in the average, on account of health, and only 1 family in 10 in the $600 group, and 1 in 6 of the $700 group, spends anything for the care of the teeth. The returns as to the furnishing of the houses show that in the $600 and $700 groups ade- quate furnishing is scarcely attained as the rule, and it is difficult to see how it could be kept up with the average expenditure reported for this purpose."® In short, the families living in New York City on
8 K. C. Chapin, The Standard of Living Among Workingmen's Families in Kew York City, p. 245, Charities Publication Committee, New York, 1909.
THE COST OF A STANDARD OF LIVING 89
incomes between $600 and $700 may afford none of the incidental expenses, and are so reduced on ex- penses for necessaries that a decent standard of liv- ing cannot be maintained.
The Federal minimum makes no allowance for sickness, saving, insurance, amusement or recrea- tion, and the Chapin study allows little or nothing for these various purposes. Nevertheless, it ap- pears that in a large city where rents are high (the families with incomes between $600 and $700 paid an average rent of $153.59) an income less than $600 will not provide even the necessities of existence. In districts, on the other hand, where expenses for rent are low ($44.81 in the Southern States and $78 in Massachusetts) an income between $400 and $500 will provide a family with the barest necessa- ries.
While these facts will not justify a general state- ment, it seems obvious that, for the localities under consideration, the sums named are scarcely suffi- cient to prevent family dissolution. That families live on such incomes is beyond question. That un- derfeeding, congestion, insanitation, and physical decadence are their products needs no further as- sertion.
777. The Cost of a Fair Standard of Living.
The determination of the cost of a fair standard of living is similar to that of a minimum standard. However, the number of items allowed for a fair standard of living is somewhat greater, and hence
90 FINANCING THE WAGE-EARNER'S FAMILY
the cost of the standard exceeds, by a considerable amount, the cost of the minunum standard.
In the South, the allowance in a fair standard, for those items which vary with the individual is as fol- lows : ®
Cost of maintenance for a year for individiials of various ages for
those things that vary loith the size of the family —
Fair standard.
|
■ eS |
bb |
<o |
1 |
. |
|||||
|
g W. |
1 |
.S o O |
o a |
a u s |
la |
o O H |
ii |
3 |
|
|
Father .... |
$86.84 $38.S0 $3.28 iR.'>.20 $7.80 $5.20 |
$146.82 |
|||||||
|
Mother . . . |
69.47 |
26.25 |
3.28 |
5.20 |
7.80 6.20 |
.... |
117.20 |
||
|
Males : |
|||||||||
|
17 years |
and |
||||||||
|
over |
86.84 |
42.00 |
3.28 |
2.60 |
7.80 . |
.... |
142.52 |
||
|
16 years |
78.16 |
35.00 |
3.28 |
2.60 |
7.80 . |
126.84 |
|||
|
15 years |
78.16 |
35.00 |
3.28 |
2.60 |
119.04 |
||||
|
14 years |
69.47 |
35.00 |
3.28 |
2.60 |
110.35 |
||||
|
13 years |
69.47 |
21.50 |
3.28 |
2.60 |
96.85 |
||||
|
12 years |
60.79 |
21.50 |
3.28 |
2.60 |
88.17 |
||||
|
10 and 11 |
yrs. |
52.10 |
21.50 |
3.28 |
2.60 |
|
$2.66 |
81.48 |
|
|
6 to 9 years. |
43.42 |
14.25 |
3.28 |
2.60 |
2.00 |
65.55 |
|||
|
3 to 5 years. |
34.74 |
9.00 |
3.28 |
2.60 |
|
.... |
49.62 |
||
|
Females : |
|||||||||
|
17 years |
and |
||||||||
|
over |
69.47 |
57.25 |
3.28 |
2.60 |
7.80 . |
.... |
140.40 |
||
|
16 years |
69.47 |
35.50 |
3.28 |
2.60 |
7.80 . |
118.65 |
|||
|
15 years |
69.47 |
35.50 |
3.28 |
2.60 |
• • . • • |
110.85 |
|||
|
14 years |
60.79 |
35.50 |
3.28 |
2.60 |
.... . |
102.17 |
|||
|
13 years |
.60.79 |
25.00 |
3.28 |
2.60 |
|
91.67 |
|||
|
12 years |
52.10 |
25.00 |
3.28 |
2.60 |
82.98 |
||||
|
10 and 11 |
yrs. |
52.10 |
25.00 |
3.28 |
2.60 |
$2.66 |
84.98 |
||
|
6 to 9 years. |
43.42 |
15.50 |
3.28 |
2.60 |
2.00 |
66.80 |
|||
|
3 to 5 years. |
34.74 |
10.25 |
3.28 |
2.60 |
|
50.87 |
|||
|
Children : |
|||||||||
|
2 years . |
34.74 |
6.00 |
3.28 |
2.60 |
46.62 |
||||
|
Under 2 years |
26.05 |
6.00 |
3.28 |
2.60 |
|
37.93 |
» Woman and Child Wage-Earners, op. cit., p. 150.
THE COST OF A STANDARD OF LIVING 91
The items which do not vary with the individual cost as follows : ^^
Cost of all articles — Fair standard. ppj. Year
Rent $ 44.81
Fuel 41.36
Light 7.80
Sundries 13.00
Household furnishings 26.00
Newspapers 1.00
Church, charity 2.60
Total $136.57
The normal family of five would, therefore, require an income for the, — ^^
Father $146.82
Mother 117.20
Girl, 10 years old 84.98
Boy, 6 years old 65.55
Boy, 4 years old 49.62
Total $464.17
Adding to this sum, the total of the items which do not vary with the size of the family ($136.57), it appears that the family income must be $600.74 a year, if a fair standard is to be maintained. This amount of income "will enable him to furnish them good nourishing food and sufficient plain clothing. He can send his children to school. Unless a pro- longed or serious illness befall the family, he can pay for medical attention. If death should occur, insur- ance will meet the expense. He can provide some simple recreation for his family, the cost not to be over $15.60 for the year." ^^
The same relation exists between the cost of maih-
10 Ibid., p. 152. 11 Idem. 12 Ibid., pp. 152-153.
92 FINANCING THE WAGE-EARNER'S FAMILY
taming a fair standard in the South and in Massa- chusetts as that established for the minimum stand- ard. . The items of family expenditure which vary with the individual would cost in Fall River
13
Cost of maintenance for a year for individuals of various ages for
those things that vary with the size of the family —
Fair standard.
fe
§>
o
pa hH
pi S
< s
and
Father . . . Mother . .
Males : 17 years over
16 years
15 years
14 years
13 years
12 years .... 10 and 11 yrs, 6 to 9 years. 3 to 5 years.
Females :
17 years over
16 years
15 years
14 years
13 years .... 10 to 12 years 6 to 9 years. 3 to 5 years.
Children :
2 years 37.85
Under 2 years 28.39
.$94.64 $45.75 $2.33 $5.20 $7.80 $5.20 $5.20 $166.12 , 75.71 33.75 2.33 5.20 7j80 5.20 129.99
|
94.64 |
50.50 |
2.33 |
|
86.17 |
42.45 |
2.33 |
|
86.17 |
42.45 |
2.33 |
|
75.71 |
42.45 |
2.33 |
|
75.71 |
30.55 |
2.33 |
|
66.24 |
30.55 |
2.33 |
|
56.78 |
30.55 |
2.33 |
|
47.32 |
17.45 |
2.33 |
|
37.85 |
14.50 |
2.33 |
and
75.71 75.71 75.71 66.24 66.24 56.78 47.32 37.85
68.80 37.00 37.00 37.00 25.35 25.35 16.85 13.20
2.33 2.33 2.33 2.33 2.33 2.33 2.33 2.33
2.60 2.60 2.60 2.60 2.60 2.60 2.60 2.60 2.60
2.60 2.60 2.60 2.60 2.60 2.60 2.60 2.60
6.30 2.33 2.60 6.30 2.33 2.60
7.80 7.80
5.20 5.20
7.80 7.80
20
163.07
146.55
133.55
123.09
111.19
101.72
92.26
69.70
67.28
157.44
130.64
117.64
108.17
96.52
85.96
69.10
54.98
49.08 39.62
The cost of those items which do not vary with the size of the family is divided in the Federal re-
18 Ibid., p, 243.
THE COST OF A STANDARD OF LIVING 93
port between two groups of nationalities. The only- real difference between these two groups of nation- alities is the amount of rent paid, the English, Irish and Canadian French paying $132 per year and the Portuguese, Polish and Italians paying $90.96. There should have been no difficulty in determining which of these two rent expenditures provides a fair standard of living. However, since the report makes no such distinction, we may for our present purposes adopt the requirements of the English, Irish and French Canadian group. ^^
Cost of items that do not vary with size of family, for families of specified races — Fair standard, English, Irish and Canadian French.
Eent, per year $132.00
Fuel, per year 36.50
Light, per year 6.25
Sundries, per year 13.00
Newspapers, per year 8.84
Incidentals, per year 26.00
Total $222.59
The total cost of providing a fair standard for the English, Irish and Canadian Fretich normal family is, therefore, $731.90.
Since the Chapin study was made for the avowed purpose of determining the cost of a fair standard, particular interest attaches to the conclusions reached as a result of that investigation. In sum- ming up the results of his study, Dr. Chapin writes, "An income of $900 or more probably permits the maintenance of a normal standard, at least so far as the physical man is concerned." This statement
i*Ibid., p. 244.
94 FINANCING THE WAGE-EARNER'S FAIIILY
refers to a normal family — man, wife and three chil- dren nnder fourteen, and covers conditions in New York City. By way of explaining the above state- ment, Dr. Chapin continues on the same page — '*An examination of the items of the budget shows that the families having from $900 to $1,000 a year are able, in general, to get food enough to keep soul and body together, and clothing and shelter enough to meet the most urgent demands of decency. Sixty- eight per cent, of the $900 families have 4 rooms or more, the average number of rooms being 3.75. The average expenditure for fuel allows comforta- ble provision; one-quarter of the families report gathering wood on the streets. Only 1 family in 6, in Manhattan only 1 in 15, is without gas. The av- erage expenditure for food is a trifle over $400, enough to provide adequate nourishment, and only 5 families out of 63, or 1 in 12, report less than the minimum or 22 cents per man per day. As to cloth- ing, gifts are reported still in one-fourth of the cases, but the average amount expended is between $130 and $140, and 3 families out of every 4 spend more than $100. Dispensaries and free hospitals are not for the $900 and $1,000 families the main dei>endence in cases of illness. The expenditures for furniture indicate that the existing outfit is fairly well main- tained and the equipment as it stands reported fairly comfortable in the case of three-fourths of the $900 families, and of seven-eighths in the $1,000 group. Participation in the benefits of labor unions or re- ligious and fraternal organizations becomes possible
THE COST OF A STANDARD OF LIVING 95
to tlie majority of the families, and some margin is available for the pursuit of amusements and recrea- tion, the purchase of books and papers, and the in- dulgence of personal tastes outside of the indis- pensable necessities of existence. " ^^
Eegarding incomes below $900, Dr. Chapin makes the following statement — ''Whether an income be- tween $800 and $900 can be made to suffice is a ques- tion to which our data do not warrant a dogmatic answer.'' ^^ The expenditures upon which these statements are based are most interesting. A study of the figures covering food, rent, fuel and light, clothing and sundries shows a continual increase in the amount expended until an income of about $1,000 is reached. After that point, the increase in ex- penditure goes almost entirely to clothing and sundries.
Although no accurate comparison can justly be made between the conclusions reached in different studies, it is nevertheless possible to set down side by side the statements made by the various investi- gators regarding the cost of a fair standard of liv- ing. In the following table there is included a re- sume of the study made in Homestead by Margaret F. Byington.^"^ Although Miss Byington's study is neither so complete nor so scientific as the other two investigators', it is nevertheless worthy of no- tice.
15 Chapin, op. cit.
16 Ibid., p. 246.
17 Margaret F. Byington, Homestead, chapter 6, Charities Pub- lication Committee, New York, 1910.
96 FINANCING THE WAGE-EARNER'S FAMILY
Cost of tHe various items entering into a normal standard of living in
various localities, for a family consisting of a man, wife, and
a girl of ten, a boy of six and a boy of four.
Georgia
Manhattan Fall and North
Island. River. Carolina. Homestead.
Food $359.00 $313.00 $289.00 $445.00
Housing 168.00 131.00 44.81 200.00
Clothing 113.00 136.80 113.00 175.00
Fuel and light 41.00 42.75 49.16 46.80
Carfare 16.00
Health 22.00 11.65 16.40 30.00
Insurance 18.00 18.25 18.25 95.00
Sundry items 74.00 90.90 78.25 298.41
Total $811.00 $745.35 $708.87 $1290.87
The cost of a fair standard of living in tlie four groups of families considered is remarkably similar for the first three and remarkably dissimilar for the fourth. The discrepancy between the first three conclusions and the fourth may be readily accounted for on the grounds — first, that Miss Byington al- lowed $.37 per man per day for food, while the allow- ance for Manhattan Island was $.22, Fall River was $.26, and the Southern States was $.24. Miss By- ington's food bill was, therefore, 50 per cent, higher than that in any one of the three cases. Her allow- ance for sundry items is nearly $300 as opposed to less than $100 in the other cases. Unfortunately, Miss Byington 's conclusion is based on the actual expenditure of a number of families rather than on the amount of goods necessary to maintain a fair standard of living. With the exception of these two items, however, her budget does not differ materi- ally from that of the other studies.
It may, therefore, be stated by way of a general
THE COST OF A STANDARD OF LIVING 97
conclusion, that the available data indicate that a man, wife and three children under fourteen cannot maintain a fair standard of living in the industrial towns of Eastern United States on an amount less than $700 a year in the Southern, and $750 a year in the Northern States. In the large cities, where rents are higher, this amount must be increased by at least $100.
CHAPTER IV
Incjome and Standards of Liyinq .
/. Income and Family Standards,
The determination of the amount and the cost of a sum of goods which constitute a standard of liv- ing for various localities, leads to the third and fourth questions stated at the end of the first chap- ter— ''Are the wages of adult males sufficient to pur- chase such a sum of goods?" and "Does the income of the entire family admit of their purchase ? ' ^ Here are raised two quite distinct issues. The assumption that a father is responsible for financing his family is frequently made. Considerable opposition has developed to the entrance into industry of women and children /)n the ground that they were better off in the home. Do the present relations of possible income and necessary expenditure permit the father, unaided, to finance his family? Are the wages of women and children a necessary supplement to the earnings of men in the maintenance of a fair or a minimum standard of living?
If the wage of the father proves adequate for fam- ily support, the issue regarding the working of women and children may be dealt with purely from the standpoint of the desirableness or undesirable-
98
INCOME AND STANDARDS OF LIVING 99
ness of woman and child labor in industry. If, however, the wages of men are inadequate for family support, the whole question assumes new propor- tions. The issue then lies between the desirable- ness of woman and child work, and of an efficiency, or even of a subsistence family income. The statis- tics of income, while far from satisfactory, are much, more complete than the statistics of standards of living. Though they cannot be relied upon abso- lutely, they do show, ratber clearly, the relation of the wages of men, women and children to family in- come and expenditure.
II, Sources of Family Income.
There are four principal sources of family in- come— (1) earnings of the father; (2) earnings of the mother; (3) earnings of children; and (4) the contributions of boarders and lodgers. In addition to these four generally-relied upon sources, there are a number of accidental ones, sucb as kitchen gardens, the collection of wood, cast off clothing and furniture, charity contributions and the like. Of course, those families which live in small towns, and can secure, at a reasonable figure, a good sized tract of land, can provide a large proportion of their food supply, keep a cow and chickens, and sell part of their products. Such a family is the exception, however, since three-fourths of the population in in- dustrial districts live in towns and cities.^ In some cities and among some nationalities, wood collect-
i Abstracts of the 12th Census,
100 FINANCING THE WAGE-EARNER'S FAJMILY
ing is an important item. Of Chapin's 391 families, 36 per cent, report the collection of fuel on the streets. The Irish use express wagons ; the Italian women, carrying huge bundles of wood on their heads, constitute one of the sights of the Italian quarter. Cast off clothing and charitable assist- ance of various kinds are also met with in many of the lower income families. Chapin reports that of 318 families, 87 reported gifts of clothing — *'In the case of the families receiving gifts, however, the movement is quite erratic, perhaps because the amount of gifts received bears no necessary relation to income." Such sources of income frequently exist, and an accurate analysis of the problems in- volved in the determination of standards of living must take them into consideration. For the pur- poses of the present chapter, however, interest does not center about these secondary sources of family income — first, because they are very insignificant at best, and second, because the issue here raised is a question of earnings — do the members of the house- hold earn enough to insure efficiency?
The issues presented at this point may be sum- marized thus:
1. Are the wages paid to men sufficient to enable
them to maintain a standard of living for a family of three children?
2. If they are not in all cases sufficient, what ad-
ditions to family income can be secured from sources other than the father?
(
INCOjME and standards of living 101
3. Are the family incomes now secured in the United States sufficient to maintain a stand- ard of living?
///. The Income of Adult Males.
A number of recent investigations throw some light on the wage problem of the adult male. The most reliable of these investigations appear in the Federal Report on Wages and Hours of Labor in the Steel Industry (1912) ; the Federal Report on the South Bethlehem Steel Works (1910) ; the Statis- tics of the State Labor Bureaus of Massachusetts, New Jersey, California, Wisconsin, and Kansas; the Federal Investigation of Telephone Companies; the Census of Manufacturers (1905) ; and the An- nual Reports of the Interstate Commerce Commis- sion. Althoughj the reliability of these statistics varies,^ they are all worthy of statistical considera- tion. .
The Census of Manufacturers for 1905 contains the most extended data, as it includes a compilation of the wages of more than two and a half million men 16 years of age and over.^ The figures fur- nished by the manufacturers relate to the week in 1905 during which the largest number of persons were employed. The statistics include reports on 47 per cent, of all male wage-earners engaged in manu-
2 Scott Nearixg, Wages in the United States, p. 210, The Mac- millan Company, Xew York, 1911.
3 Census of Manufacturers of 1905. The Earnings of Wage-Earn- ers, Census Bulletin No. 93, Grovernment Printing OflSce, Washing- ton, 1908. .
102 FINANCING THE WAGE-EARNER'S FAMILY
facturing in the United States. Of the total male employes reported on (2,619,053) a quarter received less than $8 per week ; three-fifths received under $12 per week; four-fifths under $15 per week; and only 6 per cent, were paid more than $20 per week.*
The steel industry which employs male workers only, and in which the number of boys is small as compared with textile and similar industries, shows a wage similar to that for adult males employed in all manufacturing industries. The recent Federal report ^ includes a study of 172,706 men in all de- partments of the Iron and Steel Industry. The wages are stated in terms of ''cents per hour," in- stead of in weekly wages. However, an approxi- mation to the weekly wage may be made by multi- plying the wage per hour by the number of hours worked per week in a department. Such a calcula- tion shows that 8 per cent, of the men were receiving less than $8 per week ; that 50 per cent, were receiv- ing less than $12 per week; that 76 per cent, were receiving less than $15 per week ; while 86 per cent. were receiving less than $20 per week.
Two other investigations of very recent date, re- late to the textile industries. One made by the United States Commissioner of Labor at the time of the strike in the textile mills at Lawrence, Mass., finds that in the woolen and worsted and cotton mills of Lawrence, the actual earnings of all male wage-
♦ Ibid., p. 11.
B Report on Conditions of Employment in the Iron and Steel In- dustry, 62nd Congress^ Second Session, Senate Doc. 301.
INCOME AND STANDARDS OF LIVING 103
earners eighteen years of age and over, during the week for which data was secured, were : ^
Under $7 per week — 17.5 per cent, of the males. Under $10 per week — 56.4 per cent, of the males. Under $12 per week — 69.8 per cent, of the males.
The second investigation, made in Little Falls, N. Y., a town devoted to the manufacture of hosiery, among eight hundred male workers, showed that the weekly earnings for three weeks in September, 1912, were : ^
Under $7 per week — 17.46 per cent, of the males. Under $10 per week — 63.31 per cent, of the males. Under $12 per week — 76.73 per cent, of the males.
The results of both investigations are quite uni- form. More than half of the males are earning less than ten dollars per week, while about three-quar- ters receive less than twelve dollars per week.
The State reports, relating to wages in all indus- tries, corroborate these figures to a remarkable de- gree. The two latest that have come to hand (New Jersey and California) show the wages of males employed in all of the industries of those States.
Males earning per week — New Jersey (1911.) ^ Under $7 per week — 10 per cent.
6 Chas. p. Neill, Report on Strike of Textile WorTcers in Law- rence, Mass., in 1912, p. 74, Government Printing Office, Washington, 1912.
7 The Little Falls Textile Workers Dispute. Advance Eeprint for the N. Y. Dept. of Labor Bulletin, March, 1913, p. 10, Albany, Dept. of Labor, 1913.
8 Bureau of Statistics of New Jersey, 1911, p. 122, Camden, 1912.
104 FINANCING THE WAGE-EARNER'S FAMILY
Under $10 per week — 36 per cent.
Under $12 per week — 54 per cent.
Total males— 243,753.
Males earning per week — California (1911.) ®
Less than $9^ — 15 per cent.
Less than $12 — 28 per cent.
Less than $15 — 43 per cent.
Less than $20 — 75 per cent.
The New Jersey statistics are typical of the wage" situation in the East. Although somewhat higher wages are paid in the industries of the State at large than are paid in the textile industries of the East, they are typical of miscellaneous industries in such of the Eastern States as have collected wage statis- tics. The wage scale on the Pacific Coast is on a distinctly higher plane.^*^ Unfortunately, however, no study of standards there is available, and com- parisons are therefore impossible.
If a generalization may be made on such inade- quate data, it may be stated that the wages of adult males in those industries situated east of the Eocky Mountains, for which figures are available, half of the adult males receive less than $600 a year, that three-fourths are paid less than $750 a year, while nine-tenths earn a wage under $1,000 a year.
At the end of an exhaustive consideration of the wage statistics published at a slightly earlier period,
9 Biennial Report, Bureau of Labor Statistics, California, 1911-12, p. 458, Sacramento, 1912.
10 Scott Neabing, Wages in the United States, Chap. VIII, The Macmillan Co., New York, 1911.
INCOME AND STANDARDS OF LIVING 105
Dr. Streiglitoff writes — ''It is reasonable to believe that in 1904, something over sixty per cent, of the males at least sixteen years of age, employed in manufacturing, mining, trade, transportation, and a few other occupations associated with industrial life, were earning less than $626 per annum, about thirty per cent, were receiving $626 but under $1,000, and perhaps ten per cent, enjoyed labor incomes of at least $1,000."
All of this wage material, however, is secured by computing the weekly wage in a week during which there was the greatest amount of employment, or by computing an annual income from the hourly wage or the weekly wage. In neither case is allowance made for unemployment. An estimate of its preva- lence may, however, be made from the material pre- sented in the Census of Manufacturers (1905), from the Eeports of the New York, Massachusetts and New Jersey Bureaus of Labor, and from the Ee- ports of the United States Geological Survey. Un- employment varies with the year, with the season of the year, and markedly with the industry. Yet, if a general statement in so variable a case is permis- sible, it may be concluded that the average wage- earner may expect an amount of unemployment equivalent to one-fifth of his working time.^^
11 F. H. Stkeightoff, The Distribution of Income in the United States, Columbia Univei'sity, New York, 1912. A full discussion of the various sources of data on waji^es will be found in the above book and in Wages in the United States, Scott Nearing, The Mac- millan Co., 1011.
12 Scx)TT Neabing, Unemployment in the 77. 8., p. 539, Quarterly Publications of the American Statistical Association, Sept., 1909.
106 FINANCING THE WAGE-EARNEE'S FAMILY
Making this reduction from the total annual earn- ings as computed from the Tveekly or hourly earn- ings, it appears that, in the district lying east of the Kocky Mountains and north of the Maryland and Dixon Line, "half of the adult males in the United States are earning less than $500 a year ; that three- fourths of them are earning less than $600 annually ; that nine-tenths of them are receiving less than $800 a year; while less than ten per cent, receive more than that figure/' ^^
Although this statement of wages is necessa"rily an estimate rather than an emphatically accurate state- ment, it is based on a number of very diverse sources of information which are all remarkably similar in their result, and which in the cases of the Iron and Steel investigation, The Bethlehem Steel Works in- vestigation, The Federal investigation at Lawrence and the New York study at Little Falls and the State statistics of Massachusetts and New Jersey are fairly accurate.
A comparison of this statement with the data relative to the cost of a standard of living, leads to the conclusion that since a minimum standard of living for a normal family costs from $450 in a small industrial town to $650 in a large city that approxi- mately half of the male wage-earners under consid- eration are unable to provide a minimum standard in a small town and approximately three-fourths are unable to provide a minimum standard in a large city. On the other hand, since a fair or an
i» Wages in the United States, op. cit., p. 213,
INCOME AND STANDARDS OF LIVING 107
eflficiency standard for a normal family involves an outlay of from $600 in a small industrial town to $900 in a large city, three-fourths of the wage-earners in small towns and nine-tenths of the wage-earners in large cities are unable to provide a fair or effi- ciency standard for a normal family.
The statement cannot be too often reiterated, nor too strongly emphasized, that these figures are esti- mates. They are stated in bald fractions, because the facts on which they are based do not justify any other form of statement. No competent statistician would venture an even approximate general judg- ment on material of so scanty a character as that provided by the investigations in Fall Eiver, North Carolina, Georgia, New York City and Homestead. The wage facts are likewise extremely inadequate.
On the other hand, it is obvious that the available facts all point in the same direction, thus corrobo- rating one another to a surprising extent. A care- ful perusal of the Federal or of the Chapin studies fails to show the inclusion of any items which seem unnecessary to a minimum or fair standard of liv- ing. "While common experience with wage condi- tions, together with all of the supplementary data recently published regarding wages in various in- dustries, confirm the wage statistics.
Despite the inadequacy of the figures upon which the conclusion is based, it is nevertheless true that until some figures are adduced which at least point in the opposite direction, it is fair to assert that it is financially impossible for an overwhelming ma-
108 FINANCING THE WAGE-EARNER'S FA]\riLY
jority of male wa^e-earners in tlie industries for which facts are available to provide a fair standard cf living for a family of three children, and further that a considerable proportion of these wage-earn- ers do not receive a wage large enough to pro- vide even a minimum standard of living for such a family.
It does not at all follow from this statement that such a proportion of families fail to secure a min- imum or a fair standard of living. On the contrary, the wages of the men are supplemented by the earn- ings of women and children, and by other secondary income sources, to an extent which adds considerably to the possibilities of family income.
4
IV. Contributions of Women and Children to Family Income.
There are, then, a considerable number of adult males working in the industrial districts of the United States whose wage is insufficient to provide minimum or subsistence standard of living, while an over-whelming majority receive a wage insuffi- cient to provide an efficiency or fair standard. Hence the patent necessity for some additions to the father *s wage through the efforts of the mother and the children.
Aside from individual family budgets which detail sources of income, it is difficult to discover the earn- ing capacity of the mother and children. The total number of married women and of children who work is comparatively small. Only 5.6 per cent, of all
INCOME AND STANDARDS OF LIVING 109
married women in the United States are gainfully- employed, while the number of children at work is approximately one million and three-quarters.
Of the 588,599 women sixteen years of age and over, reported on by the Federal Census of Manu- facturers in 1905, 7.5 per cent, received less than $3 a week ; 33.5 per cent, received less than $5 per week ; 66.3 per cent, were paid a wage under $7 a week; 91.7 per cent, were paid less than $10 per week, leaving only 8.3 per cent, receiving wages of more than $10 per week.
Miss Butler's study of the wages of women in thirty-four Baltimore department stores leads her to the conclusion that — ''Of 4,048 women in differ- ent wage groups, it is of interest that 2,184, or fifty- four per cent., are earning $5 or less, and that 3,266, or eighty-one per cent., are earning $6 or less." ^*
The Federal study includes investigations in five industries. The wages of women, as found in these industries, were:
Percentage of females earning certain weekly wages.
Under Under Under Under $4 $6 $8 $10
Silk New Jersey and Pennsylvania 15 37.7 70.7 84.4 96.2
Cotton Textile
New England 16 14.6 40.2 69.0 87.1
Southern 39.7 73.9 93.0 98.6
Stores 17 7. 30.8 76.2 94.3
Men's clothing is 22.7 51.7 74.6 88.6
i*E. B. Butler, Salestoomen in Mercantile Stores, p. 113, Chari- ties Publication Committee, New York, 1912.
15 Woman and Child Wage-Earners, op. cit., vol. 4, p. 15.
16 Ibid., vol. 1, p. 305. . 17 Ibid., vol. 5, p. 41.
"Ibid., vol. 2, p. 129.
110 FINANCING THE WAGE-EARNER'S FAMILY
These instances more than bear out the general conclusion regarding the wages of females in Ameri- can industry. ''Three-fifths of the women receive less than $8 per week ($400 per year), while a van- ishing percentage of them is paid more than $15 per week ($750 per year). Nearly nine-tenths of the women employed in these various states and trades are paid less than $12 per week ($600 per year)." ^* From these statements, it appears that three-fifths of the adult women employed in the United States receive less than $400 annually ; that four-fifths are receiving less than $600 a year ; that nine-tenths are earning less than $750 a year; while one-twentieth are paid more than $750 a year.
As in the case of men, a deduction should be made for unemployment owing to the unskilled, casual character of the work done by most women. This deduction should probably be greater, though there is no way of telling by how much. The possible contributions of women to family income are thus severely limited by the low wages of women workers. The wife, if she can hold a regular posi- tion, may, however, earn sixty per cent, as much as her husband.
The only source of information regarding the wages of children under fourteen is furnished by the Federal study of Woman and Child Wage-Earners. From this study, it appears that in the silk industry in New Jersey and Pennsylvania the earnings of children under fourteen amount to $115 per
19 Wages in the United States, op. cit., pp. 211-12.
INCOME AND STANDARDS OF LIVING 111
year; -'^ that in the glass industry the average annual earnings of children under fourteen years were $119 ; -^ that in the men's clothing industry the aver- age annual earnings of children under fourteen were $78 ; ^2 while in the cotton textile industry the aver- age annual earnings of children under fourteen were, in New England, $22, and in the Southern States $114. From this data, we may conclude that while the additions to family income made by chil- dren under fourteen are very inconsiderable, the wages of adult women may add from $200 to $450 a year to the income of the family.
It may be stated in conclusion — if such frag- mentary figures justify a conclusion, that the wife, regularly employed may earn, perhaps, three-fifths as much as her husband, while the child under four- teen, in the few States, and in the few industries, where employment is possible, may receive an in- come equal to a fifth or a sixth of that paid to his father.
These things may be, but the vital question at issue is, are they? To what extent do women and children under fourteen actually contribute to the family income?
V. Percentage of Family Income Derived from Various Sources.
It is not all clear just what percentage of family income is derived from the various sources. The
20 Woman and Child Wage-Earners, op. cit., vol. 4, p. 258.
21 Ibid., vol. 3, p. 524.
22 Ibid., vol. 2, p. 364.
112 FINANCING THE WAGE-EARNER'S FAMILY
matter is further obscured by the wide divergence in the results attained by the several studies. Whether this divergence be due to the varying lo- cality, occupation or nationality of the families un- der discussion must remain a matter of opinion. The facts themselves do not answer the question.
The data on the Federal study of Woman and Child Wage-Earners is, of course, collected from families in which there are women and children at work. Since only 5.6 per cent, of married women are gainfully occupied, the results of the Federal study would be applicable to only a small propor- tion of the population. Collected in four industries (silk, glass, clothing and cotton) in which a large proportion of women and children are employed, the conclusions based on such data are certainly not applicable to steel making, and railroading in which men alone work. An example of the Federal study figures follows:
Earnings of wive% having husbands at work.
Per cent, of family in- Total Total family Earnings come earned families. income. of wives. by wife. Silk 28
New Jersey 116 $ 884 $276 31
Pennsylvania ... 33 760 122 16
Cotton 24
New England ,.112 1034 306 30
Southern 143 764 183 24
23 Woman and Child Wage-Earners, op. cit., vol. IV, p. 277. 2* Ibid., p. 465.
INCOME AND STANDARDS OF LIVING 113
The Report of the United States Bureau of Labor of 1903 covering all industries, shows the following distribution of family income :
Summary of families having an income from various sources by gen- eral nativity of head of family. '^'^
Per cent, of families with
Families. an income from occu- Boarders
Average pation of Other and
Number, size, husbands, wives, children, sources, lodgers.
Native ..15,161 4.67 96.23 8.84 18.65 14.08 21.81
Foreign .10,279 5.18 95.46 8.10 27.40 14.75 25.40
Total 25,440 4.88 95.92 8.54 22.19 14.35 23.26
The student must bear in mind the fact that these figures of the Bureau of Labor refer entirely to the source and not at all to the amount of the con- tribution. The table shows that fathers contributed to family income in ninety-five per cent, of the cases — not that fathers contributed ninety-five per cent. of the income. Of these 25,440 families, more than nine-tenths derive income from husbands; one- twelfth have an income from wives ; one-fifth an in- come from children ; one-fifth an income from board- ers and lodgers and one-sixth from other sources.
The extent to which the various sources con- tributed to family income is a very different matter. In this group of 25,440 families, the proportion of income secured from the various sources was :
Husbands 79.49
Wives 1-47
Children 9.49
Boarders and lodgers 7.78
Other sources 1.77
Total 100%
26 Cost of Living and Retail Prices of Food, Commissioner of La- bor, 1903, p. 51, Government Printing Office, Washington, 1904.
114 FINANCING THE WAGE-EARNER'S FAMILY
The contribution of husbands, including those families in which there were no husbands consti- tutes four-fifths of the whole income. Women and children together contribute one-tenth, while board- ers and lodgers supply the remaining tenth.
By far the most helpful data is that furnished by Chapin:2«
|
Sources of income |
Averages and percentages by income |
'. |
|||||
|
J3 (V |
Sh-P |
§d2 |
.-4J |
1 |
.>»• |
||
|
11 |
1.2 |
Earnin of f ath( Per cen |
m O |
From lodgers Per ccn |
o 1 |
aiP4 |
|
|
! 400- 499 |
8 |
$ 452.38 |
96.8 |
2.2 |
1.0 |
||
|
500- 599 |
17 |
544.11 |
93.6 |
3.2 |
3.2 |
||
|
600- 699 |
72 |
650.17 |
94.0 |
2.3 |
2.8 |
0.9 |
|
|
700- 799 |
79 |
748.33 |
89.5 |
4.8 |
5.2 |
0.5 |
|
|
800- 899 |
73 |
846.26 |
84.2 |
9.7 |
5.5 |
0.6 |
|
|
900- 999 |
63 |
942.03 |
85.0 |
11.4 |
3.1 |
0.5 |
|
|
1000-1099 |
31 |
1044.48 |
81.7 |
11.6 |
5.8 |
0.9 |
|
|
1100-1199 |
18 |
1137.42 |
88.3 |
6.1 |
4.3 |
1.3 |
|
|
1200-1299 |
8 |
1256.25 |
80.6 |
11.1 |
8.3 |
||
|
1300-1399 |
6 |
1344.12 |
76.5 |
7.0 |
16.5 |
||
|
1400-1499 |
1 |
1425.00 |
91.2 |
||||
|
1500-1599 |
6 |
1518.47 |
81.4 |
7.9 |
6.2 |
4.5 |
While the number of families under consideration is small, the conclusions are fully as reliable as those to be made from the Federal investigation. No where in the different income groups does the father earn less than four-fifths of the income, and in four of the twelve groups, he earns more than nine-tenths of the total income. While the earnings of the mother are not separated from those of the children, the total from these two sources is, in almost all classes, less than 10 per cent.^^
26 CuAPTS, op. cit., p. 63.
27 The budgets of 212 Iklinnesota families (living in Minneapolis
INCOJVIE AND STANDARDS OF LIVING 115
The great discrepancy between the percentage of income earned by the father in those families re- ported upon by the Federal investigation and by the United States Commissioner of Labor, and those reported on by Chapin, is probably the result of the method in which the first report was prepared. Since its object was to deal with the earnings of women and children, it naturally dealt with those families in which both women and children worked. Hence, the investigation was necessarily made in that comparatively small group of families (appar- ently less than 10 per cent.) in which the mother is called upon to contribute.
In so far as the other two investigations permit of a summary, they show that at least four-fifths of the family income is contributed by the husband ; that the wife and children contribute one-tenth, while boarders and lodgers contribute the remaining tenth. Since the present study has assumed a family of five, consisting of husband, wife, and three children, boarders and lodgers cannot be looked upon as a source of family income unless some provision be made in the budget for the in- creased amount of food and house room necessary for them.
and Duluth) collected for the British Board of Trade, are analyzed in the Report of the Bureau of Labor (Minnesota) 1909-10, pp. 559- 567. The percentage of weekly income earned by the fathers in all families was 81.6 per cent. In the families having 2, 3. and 4 mem- bers, however, the percentage earned by the father was 94 per cent., or 95 per cent, in each case. In families of eight, the percentage falls to 64.7 per cent. Thus the small and, by inference, the young families, depended almost wholly on the father. Of the entire 212 families, 129 or 60 per cent, were supported wholly by the father.
116 FINANCING THE WAGE-EARNER'S FAMILY
VI. Incomes and Standards in Fall River, Massa- chusetts.
Since general comparisons are never so effective as specific ones, the value of a study of living stand- ards would be greatly enhanced if it were possible to take a specific town, or a specific industry, and contrast the amount necessary to procure a stand- ard of living in that town or that industry, with the wages actually paid there. Only one such contrast can be made. While it is not in any sense conclu- sive, it is highly interesting and suggestive.
Fall River, Massachusetts, was, in 1908, the sub- ject of two investigations — one by the agents of the Federal Bureau of Labor into standards of living, the other by the State Bureau of Statistics, into wages. A typical industrial town, dependent upon one industry, Fall Eiver stands as the only instance of a locality in which good data regarding both wages and standards have been secured.
The Massachusetts Bureau of Statistics reports that in 1908 there were 29,758 wage-earners in Fall Eiver of whom 24,225 (80 per cent.) were engaged in the cotton industry. Fall River is thus almost exclusively a cotton mill town.^^
The exact wage figures for Fall River are not available, but the wages of adult males (21 years of age and over) engaged in the cotton industry of Massachusetts are available, and under the circum-
28 Statistics of Manufacturers, Public Document, No. 36, 1908, p. 4, Boston, 1909.
INCOME AND STANDARDS OF LIVING 117
stances, they may be compared with the Fall Eiver standards study — first, because somewhat more than one-fourth of all the employes in the Massachu- setts cotton industry are in Fall Eiver (24,225 out of 90,935) ; and second, because the statistics of av- erage wages show a comparatively slight variation in the wages of cotton mill operatives in the leading cotton manufacturing towns. The average wages of all cotton mill employes in the four largest cen- ters were : ^^
Fall River $447.40
Lawrence 437.54
Lowell 444.77
Winchester 433.74
The extreme in variation (Winchester to Fall Hiver) is less than three per cent. The wage sta- tistics of the cotton industry in the State at large may, therefore, be fairly compared with the stand- ards of living established for Fall Eiver.
The same report which gives the earnings of adult males contains the statement that in the year under consideration the "average number of days in operation" for cotton mills was 269.62 (86 per cent, of the total possible working time) ; and the ''average proportion of business done" was 75.92 per cent.^® Evidently, therefore, at some of the time during which the mills were in operation they were not running a full quota of employes. With- out taking any account of sickness and accident — two inevitable causes of unemployment — it is most
29 Ibid., pp. 17-24. 80 Ibid., p. 125.
118 FINANCING THE WAGE-EARNER'S FAMILY
conservative to say that the unemployment in the cotton industry equaled 20 per cent. In the com- putation of annual from weekly earnings, a deduction of 20 per cent, has, therefore, been made.
Cumulative percentage of adult males (21 years of age and over)
earning weekly and yearly wages. Cotton goods
industry — Mass., 1908.^^
Earned per Earned per
week, year,
Per cent. less than less than
16 $7 $291
69 10 461
91 15 624
97 20 816
Apparently, three-fifths of the adult males in the cotton industry of Massachusetts — and by inference in FaU River — earned less than $416 per year ; nine- tenths earned less than $624 per year; while only three in a hundred earned more than $816 per year. Compare these figures with the $484.41, minimum standard, and the $690.95, efficiency standard, es- tablished for Fall River by the Federal study, and it appears that the wages earned by males over twenty- one years of age, are, in over half of the cases, in- sufficient to maintain a minimum standard, and in over nine-tenths of the cases insufficient to maintain a fair standard for a family of three children.^^
Statisticians will exclaim that such a comparison
81 Ibid., p. 91.
32 It should be borne in mind that the cotton goods industry is one of the lowest paid industries in the United States — one of the in- dustries in which one would expect to find the greatest discrepancy between wages and standards. See Scott Xkabixg, Wages in the United States, Chapters 3 and 4, The Macmillan Co., New York, 1911.
INCOIME AND STANDARDS OF LIVING 119
is crude. It is crude. They will object that the basis in fact is not adequate to warrant the conclu- sion. That is true. They will insist that inference has no place in statistical literature. No objection could be more justifiable. Nevertheless, in the face of such valid criticism, the fact remains that the one case in which comparable statistics of stand- ards and wages are available, confirms the impres- sion of the general statistics regarding the utter inadequacy of the wages of many adult males to provide efficiency or even subsistence for their fam- ilies.
• VII. The Family Standard.
The discussion in this chapter has been confined wholly to an arbitrarily selected family, consisting of a man, wife and three children under fourteen. Obviously, only a small proportion of the total fam- ilies in the United States fall within this class. Ac- cording to the Census of 1900,^^ there were in the country at large 16,739,797 families of which —
17.5 per cent, were composed of 3 persons 17.0 per cent, were composed of 4 persons 14.2 per cent, were composed of 5 persons 10.8 per cent, were composed of 6 persons 7.7 per cent, were composed of 7 persons
The arbitrary family is selected, because no dis- cussion could be carried on in the absence of some standard. It remains true, therefore, that the con- clusions here reached apply, not to all families in
83 Population in Census of 1900, vol. II, p. clix.
120 FINANCING THE WAGE-EARNER'S FAMILY
the United States, but to families of this specified size. It is also true, however, that by a little com- putation, standards could be erected and conclusions reached for a family of any size under similar con- ditions. It is undoubtedly true that a family of two — a man and wife — could maintain a very decent existence, even in the large cities on $600 per year. On the other hand, a family of eight children, would encounter difficulties of the direst sort on an income of $900.
It is not important that any particular size of family be selected; it is not important that these conclusions regarding that family be accepted as final. The really vital thing is that the public shall come to believe that standards of living are suscep- tible of definite measurement; that comparisons may be made between wages and standards; that each family has a definite problem in finance; and that these problems constitute, in the aggregate, the problem of the standard of living — a problem which must be met and mastered in the same reso- lute, dispassionate spirit that has marked man*a mastery of chemistry and electricity.
CHAPTER V
The American Wage-Eabneb and Living Standards
I. The Issue before the Wage-Earner.
Finally, nearly every wage-earner faces the problem of family finance, either as a prospective bridegroom or as a father. Anxious to insure the well-being of his children, he must consider the pos- sibilities of income and the exigencies of expendi- ture. To the wage-earner individually as well as collectively, the financial problem presses con- stantly for palliation or solution.
Yonder stands a man of twenty, brought into the world by no wish of his own; eared for by his father's toil; educated at the State's expense; trained as a worker on woolen goods from the day when he left school at fourteen. No torturing genius bums within his placid soul ; his breast holds none of the secrets of mechanical progress ; with the capacity and foresight of an average healthy man he faces the life which stretches away before him for twenty, thirty, or perhaps forty years. He is earning, at the present time, while work is good, eleven dollars a week (five hundred seventy-two dol- lars a year) — an amount which is sufficient to sup- ply all of the necessaries and many of the comforts
121
122 FINANCING THE WAGE-EARNER'S FAMILY
of single life. Will his wage buy enough food, clothing, and shelter for a wife and two, three or perhaps five children! A weaver he is and a weaver he will live and die — can he then afford to marry?
Continue the question for five years. Meanwhile the man has gone the way of most flesh, married and shouldered the responsibilities of a family of three children — surely not an extravagant family, even in these latter days of extravagance. Can he give these children a fair chance in the world where they must compete for a livelihood? Will they be well fed, clothed and educated? Will their young lives be fresh and free, unhampered by misery and want? Will this man's wage support a family of five in decency?
These are two practical questions which men everywhere must face. These are two issues, in- tensely human in all that they connote. "Can I afford to marry?" *'How will we tide over this winter with our kiddies?" Here stands the con- crete question of wages and standards of living, in all of its phases.
11. The Necessity for an E-fficiency Standard of
Living.
Apart from the question of the individual man or of the individual family, the problem presents an abstract, theoretical phase also in the ''efficiency" viewpoint of society. The prevalence of the ''effi- ciency-idea" in the industrial, political, religious
WAGE-EAENER AND STANDARDS 123
and social atmosphere, maies any discussion of it superfluous. Even the fastest runners may read the plain writing on the signboards of progress. The dullest of wit have grasped the importance of using sharp tools. Whether behind the gun or be- hind the steam shovel, the man must be accurate, keen, vigorous, energetic. Efficiency pays.
Perhaps the efficiency idea has taken the strong- est hold in Germany, but America has been quick to follow her rival's lead. From the conservation of resources to the icing of milk, from the stitching of a shoe to the welding of a rivet, efficiency holds sway. Of this gospel of efficiency, scientitic man- agement is the apotheosis.
Conservation, icing, stitching, riveting — even sci- entific management itself depends, in the last analysis, upon muscle, brain, and virility. Effi- ciency is based on manhood. Manhood involves good feeding, sanitary housing, adequate clothing, recrea- tion and education. The nation which provides these things for its citizens is efficient; the nation which fails to provide them is not efficient, hence national efficiency must rest, in the last analysis, on efficiency standards of living. The problems in- volved in wages, prices, and living standards thus assume a grave importance in national polity. The question of the efficiency or inefficiency of living con- ditions forges to the front as one of prime interest. How many battleships shall we build? Can this foreign market be conquered? Ask, rather, whether the standard of American living will man the ship,
124 FINANCING THE WAGE-EARNER'S FAMILY
or produce with such efficiency as to secure a market.
III. The Determination of an Efficiency Standard.
It is comparatively easy to determine the char- acter of a standard of living. There is an irreduci- ble minimum of food, clothing, housing, medical attention and recreation necessary to the mainte- nance of life; there is a larger, but a no less de- terminable amount of economic goods included in a standard of living which will insure physical ef- ficiency. These amounts of goods may vary with nationality and locality, but for any given family, they are well-nigh absolute.
Given a unit family of five, it is possible to deter- mine the amount of food, clothing, housing and the other necessaries which such a family requires. The list of goods, once secured, may be appraised at the market rates in any locality. Thus a basis is estab- lished on which the relative efficiency of standards may be determined.
IV. The Cost of a Standard of Living.
What will a standard of living cost ? The answer must vary with the town, and even with the section of the town, yet the studies which have been made, show that certain limits may be set. The variation in the cost of the different items of the family bud- get is not so extensive as has sometimes been as- sumed. The comparative tables prepared for the
WAGE-EARNER AND STANDARDS 125
British Board of Trade show that food and rent, the two largest items of the family budget, do not vary greatly from one American city to another. On the other hand, the intensive studies made by Chapin, in New York ; by the Federal Authorities in Fall River, North Carolina and Georgia; by Miss Byington in Homestead; by the New York com- mittee in Buffalo; by Mrs. More; and the less re- liable, incidental data furnished by Streightoff ; * by Mrs. Bruere ; ^ and by a host of writers who have popularized the various problems involved in mak- ing income cover needs and wants, all tend to the same conclusion — namely — that a family of five — a man, wife and three children under fourteen require from $400 to $600 to provide subsistence, and from $650 to $1,000 to insure efficiency. The variations occur between different sections of the country, be- tween different cities, and cities and towns.
In every city as well as in every town and hamlet, there is a minimum of economic goods necessary for subsistence and for efficiency, and hence there is a minimum cost for such items. Below the minimum of efficiency lies insufficient education; absence of decency and privacy; ill-ventilated rooms; unhand- some clothing; and food ill-adapted for nutrition. Below the standard of subsistence lies family dis- solution, misery, want, starvation, disease, and death. These inevitable things, following as night
1 F. H. Stbeightoff, The Standard of Living, Chapter II, Hough- ton, Mifflin Co., Boston 1911.
2 See a series of articles in the New York Outlook, New York, 1911- 1912.
126 FINANCING THE WAGE-EARNER'S FAMILY
follows day, present themselves to the consciousness of the thinking wage-earner who looks toward the future.
F. The Wages of Adult Males.
This stubborn minimum of subsistence or of ef- ficiency can be offset by income, and by income alone. How do incomes compare with the amounts necessary to efficiency or to subsistence ?
Though incomplete, the available figures indicate that, unemployment deducted, the adult male wage- earners in the manufacturing and transportation in- dustries in that part of the United States east of the Eockies and north of the Mason and Dixon Line re- ceive in annual earnings :
One-tenth under $325. One-fifth under $400. One-half under $500. Three-fourths under $600. One-tenth over $800.
From $650 to $1,000 will buy a decent standard of living for a family of five in the industrial cities and towns of the United States, east of the Mississippi Valley. In that same area, industries are paying to half of the adult males a yearly wage of less than $500 and to three-quarters a yearly wage of less than $600, while only ten per cent, receive over $800. Behold the temptation of the statistician to turn guesser, contrasting these two statements, asserting that from half to three-quarters of the jobs offered
WAGE-EAENER AND STANDARDS 127
to adult males by the leading industries of the North, East and Central portions of the United States do not permit the workers in them to provide a decent standard of living for a wife and three children under fourteen. Such a generalization, on the available facts, is statistically indefensible. Un- equipped with sufficient data, the statistician must set the two conclusions side by side, and leave them there. Certain inferences are, however, strictly in order.
A comparison of the wages paid at South Bethle- hem ; in the Steel Industry ; in the Packing Houses ; or in any other industry which is known to be local- ized in certain centers,, with the known cost of living in those centers, lends some color of truth to the idea that the wages paid to a large portion of adult workers in those localities will not permit the main- tenance of decent family standards. The Steel In- dustry in Pittsburgh, in South Bethlehem ; the Pack- ing Houses of Chicago; the Textile Mills of Fall Eiver; the Silk Mills of Paterson, pay to a great proportion of the adult male employes, wages which will not maintain a family on a decent or fair stand- ard.
Note that inefficiency, drunkenness, and shiftless- ness are entirely eliminated from the discussion. Irrespective of them, there is a definite minimum of decent living ; and irrespective of them, American industries pay to adult male wage-earners wages which will not permit of decent living for a family of three children. The jobs are open — they are be-
128 FINANCING THE WAGE-EARNER'S FAMILY
ing offered and taken — yes, competed for — ^by un- employed men while I write and while you read these words. Above their boasted greatness, be- yond their vaunted prosperity, stands tiie incontro- vertible fact that in many instances American in- dustries do not pay enough wages to permit the great majority of male wage-earners employed by them, to bring up a family of three children in decency. The total family income may be adequate, but the wage of the man alone is not.
VI. Family Income and the Standard of Living.
Thus in many cases, the wage of the father alone is wholly inadequate to furnish a decent living to a family of five. Even where wife and children join in wage-earning, the situation is not greatly im- proved, first, because from *'four to five tenths of the industrial families of the United States are en- tirely supported by the earnings of the father- husband, ' * ^ second, because the small percentage of married women at work, the small wages paid to wage-earning women, and the difiiculty which women with small children have in keeping regular work, all point to the conclusion that the possibilities of the wife supplementing the man's earnings in a young family are small indeed, being represented by perhaps one-tenth or one-twelfth of the total income, and that because the supplementary income provided by children under fourteen is extremely
« F. H. Stbeightoff, The Distribution of Incomes in the U. 8., p. 133, Columbia University, New York, 1912.
WAGE-EAKNER AND STANDARDS 129
small (owing to legislation and to the inefficiency of child labor) therefore even in the cases where the man is willing to turn his children into wage-earners before they have reached fourteen, even though his wife leave her baby in a day nursery or with a neighbor, the addition which is thereby made to family income is a slight one.
The family wage — the wage of father, young mother and of children under fourteen cannot in the great majority of cases raise the wage secured by the man alone to a decency level for the family.
Here is a considerable body of testimony in sup- port of the second hypothesis stated at the end of Chapter I — ^i. e. ''that no matter how efficiently and earnestly he may strive," many a sober, honest American workingman ''will be unable to maintain a decent standard of living" for his wife and three young children.
VII. The Problem of the Wage-Earner.
Yonder man of twenty is asking whether he may marry on five hundred seventy-two dollars a year. The answer is clear-cut and decisive. If he is living in a town, he may do so, and maintain a fair stand- ard of living for two or three children. If he lives in a city he may marry, but each child which comes into the family will drag him down from a fair standard of living toward the margin of subsistence.
Later this man wishes to know how he may main- tain his family of three children. So long as he remains an unskilled or a semi-skilled worker, he
130 FINANCING THE WAGE-EARNER'S FAMILY
has one resource — the wife and children must go to work. Even then, if the industrial pace flags, if unemployment comes, if sickness and accidents make inroads on the income or force up expenditure, misery and want will crouch under the cupboard.
VIII. The Need for Local Investigation.
A discussion like the foregoing, if it does nothing more, emphasizes the imperativeness of additional information. If groups of people in the country are living below an efficiency standard, that fact should be known and the condition remedied. For the data regarding wages over a large area, dependence must of necessity be placed on the Federal Government, but that fact cannot relieve each local community of the responsibility of determining the relation which exists in that particular place between wages and standards of living. Each toTVTi, by adopting a list of things necessary to an efficiency standard of liv- ing (either that of the Federal study, that of the Chapin study, or a list locally compiled) by ascer- taining the cost of these things in the local markets, and by investigating local wages, may easily decide that these wages are sufficient, or are not sufficient to permit the maintenance of an efficiency standard.
Nowhere in the problem need sentiment or "guess" enter. The question is purely a question of fact. *'Do the wages paid in your community permit the wage-earners to maintain a fair standard of living?" If the answer is *'Yes," the benedic- tion of prosperity is already upon you ; if the answer
WAGE-EARNER AND STANDARDS 131
is "No," and you would participate in the progress- ive movement of the age, see to it that measures are speedily adopted to insure the payment of living wages.
APPENDIX
Individuaij Family Budgets
II. A Minimum New York City Budget.
The most human tMng about a study of stand- ards of living, in so far as such a study can be hu- man, is the income and expenditure of individual families. These records of the financing of an in- dividual family reach nearer to the heart of the problem than do abstract statements. Besides, in the last analysis, each family must do its own finan- cing, hence a statement about the doings of this family or that family is the truest kind of a truth about the standard of living.
There are many ways in which budgets may be presented. Perhaps as pleasing a method as any other is that adopted by Mrs. More.^ While giv- ing the facts in great detail, she weaves into them a sufficient web of story to make her work distinctly readable.
II. A Minimum New York City Budget.
One of Mrs. More's families, ''Number 51,*' serves as an excellent example of a family living on
iL. B. MoBE, Wage-Earners' Budgets, Henry Holt St Co., New York, 1907.
133
134 FINANCING THE WAGE-EAHNER'S FAMILY
the minimum standard. As there were but two children in this family, its expenses are slightly less heavy than those of the "normal" family hereto- fore considered.
This household consists of father and mother, both born in Ireland, and two boys, eight and nine years of age. The man is a steady, temperate, unskilled laborer. Neither Mr. nor Mrs. K. has known any higher plane of living than their present surround- ings ; both are uneducated, but the woman especially possesses considerable native thrift and intelligence. This family is representative of the average family of this size on a fairly steady income of $12 a week, with no drink, sickness, or unusual conditions to make it abnormal. The man was out of work six weeks in the year, but that was not unusual. The woman is neat, honest, and reliable, and tries hard "to get ahead." Mr. E. was greatly interested in the investigation, which he said would "prove it is impossible to get ahead on wages of $12 a week." For three months he had night work as stableman at $13 a week. The family has never been depend- ent, but while the man was out of work a sister gave them $25 as a present, and they were obliged to draw $10 from the little which they had saved in the bank. The total income for the year was :
'Jgj $565.00
Mr. R. 33 weeks at $12 Mr. R. 13 weeks at
Drew from bank 10.00
Gift from sister 25.00
Total $600.00
APPENDIX 135
The estimated expenditures were as follows:
Rent: 2 mos. at $10; 7 mos. at $12; 3 mos. at $11. .$137.00
Food, from $4 to $7 a week 277.00
Drink (pint of beer at supper daily) 36.40
Clothing 40.00
Light and fuel 52.00
Insurance from 50 to 75 cents a week 29.25
Papers, 11 cents a week 5.72
Church, 35 cents a week (for 50 weeks) 17.50
Man's spending-money 25.00
Sundries 2.03
Total $622.50
Deficit $ 22.50
This deficit consisted of bills owing to the butcher and grocer amounting to $10, back insurance pay- ments equal to $2.50, and clothing bought ^'on time" on which $10 was still unpaid. The rent varied be)- cause the family had moved twice in the year, look- ing for cheaper rent. They were never dispos- sessed, and always paid their rent in full before leaving. They have always lived in this neighbor- hood. The last rooms, for which they paid $10 a month rent, were three dark, small rooms. The light of the ''parlor" at the back of the tenement was almost shut off by a large factory built close to it. The windows in the kitchen and bedroom opened on an air-shaft. The rooms, however, were very neat, lace-curtains at the windows, plush fur- niture, pictures of the family, carpet on the floor, and all the bric-a-brac usual in homes of this class. There was a white iron bed in the bedroom, with the customary folding-bed for the children.
The expenditure for food varied greatly. A budget kept for a week showed $7 spent for food,
136 FINANCING THE WAGE-EARNER'S FAMILY
but Mrs. R. said they could only spend that much when the man was working steadily or when there was no rent to pay. The weeks in which semi- monthly payments of rent were made, the food al- lowance was cut down to about $4 a week. During the six weeks the man was not working they did not spend more than $4.50 a week for food. This is an illustration of a very common condition among wage-earners and is due to the fact that on the pre- vailing rate of unskilled wages, it is difficult if not impossible for a family to prepare for such emer- gencies. Making these allowances, Mrs. E. esti- mated that $277 had been spent for food in the year, and that the average per week would be about $5.23. On the whole, the food was adequate and wholesome, and the entire family appeared to be in good condition. They had no illness during the year. Mrs. R. could not remember that she had spent a cent for medicine, not even the usual ex- penditure in these families for magnesia, salts, and cough mixtures.
The standard of dress is classed as ''medium." They had few clothes, but took good care of them. The father had plain working-clothes, the mother always wore wrappers at home, and only had one street dress, as she never went anywhere except to church. The boys were neat and clean. Mrs. R. bought clothing *'on time" — she was ashamed of it, but said the boys could not have new suits for Easter unless she did. She itemized the expenditures for clothing for the year as follows :
APPENDIX 137
Man, 1 pair shoes $ 2.00
Woman, 1 pair shoes 1.25
Two boys, 2 suits 7.00
2 overcoats 11.00
4 pairs shoes at 75 cts. ; 4 pairs at 69 cts 6.76
Mending shoes 2.80
2 pairs pants, $1.00; 4 sets underwear, $1.60 2.60
4 shirt-waists; 2 at 50 cts., and 2 at 30 cts 1.60
4 caps .70
Miscellaneous 6.29
Total $40.00
Mrs. E. cannot sew, and buys all their clothes ready-made of a cheap quality, but the little boys are not hard on their clothes. Her sister knits stockings for the entire family.
The expenditure for coal and gas and oil was rather high, owing to the dark rooms. Coal was bought by the bushel, and the man brought home wood free for kindling. Gas was burned in two places where they lived, and the gas-bills for nine months amounted to $11.20. In all, coal cost $37.75 (at 25 cents a bushel), and oil for three months about $3.05— total $52.
The family did not spend one cent for recreation, except what the father had out of his "spending- money." This was very little, for while he was earning $12 a week his wife gave him not more than 40 cents a week and often only 25 cents (15 cents for tobacco and 10 cents for a shave), but when he earned $13 a week (for 3 months) he kept out a dollar a week for *'spending-money.*' His allow- ance for the entire year would not exceed $25. He gave all the rest to Mrs. R. who said he was a "model
138 FINANCING THE WAGE-EARNER'S FAMILY
husband." They are very religious and go to the Catholic Church every Sunday, only missing two Sundays in the year. They pay 10 cents each for a seat, put 10 cents in the collection, and give the boys each 2 or 3 pennies for the collection, making a total of 35 cents a Sunday.
They were all insured for 50 cents a week, 15 cents for the man, 15 cents for the woman, and 10 cents each for the boys, until the man's wages were raised to $13, when his wife raised his insurance policy and paid 40 cents a week for him. This extra amount was more than they could afford to pa}^, for in those 13 weeks they dropped behind $2.50 on the insurance payments.
The only reading is the penny papers. The boys are sent to the parochial school, and the parents are very ambitious for them. Unless sickness or un- employment comes, this family will be able to make up the deficit of $22.50 on the man's wages of $13 a week, but it is very evident from a study of these expenditures that it will be impossible to save any considerable sum for the future.^
A scrutiny of these expenditures shows the food to be slightly more than the 22 cents per man, per day, allowed by Chapin, while the expenditure for clothing is abnormally low — the entire expenditure for man and wife being only $3.25. From the de- scription, the housing was inadequate — none of their rooms being ''light." The failure to spend "one
2L. B. More, Wage-Earners' Budgets, pp. 163-167, Henry Holt & Co., New York, 1907.
APPENDIX 139
cent for recreation" is one of the most noticeable things about the budget.
III. The Budget of a Typical American Family.
By way of contrast with this family which was securing little more than a subsistence, Mrs. More analyzes the expenditures of a family which she describes as typically American. This family was receiving an income of $850 — sufficient to provide a fair standard of living.
Mr. and Mrs. B. have been married five years and have two children, aged 4 years and 1 year. The man was born in New York, his wife in Ire- land, but she was brought to this country when quite a little girl. The only source of income is from Mr. B., who is a draftsman in an architect's office and earns $15 a week. He has been with the same firm for seven years and has the opportunity to make a few dollars extra in drawing up plans and specifi- cations. This amounted to about $70 for the year, making the total income $850. The young man is a bright, capable fellow who is likely to succeed. He never goes out evenings except with his wife, and usually brings home work from the office to do at night. Their home consists of three rooms in the ''old law tenement," for which they pay $13 a month. The sanitary conditions are very bad, the bedroom is perfectly dark, with only a small win- dow about two feet square opening into the hall. The kitchen is small, and has a small window open- ing on an air-shaft. The parlor has two large win-
140 FINANCING THE WAGE-EARNER'S FAMILY
dows, but tliey are close to a factory in the rear. The rooms are very well furnished. The furniture cost over $200, bought "on time," when they were married. It was paid for in two years.
The rooms are never in order, piles of clean clothes are everywhere, usually unwashed dishes are on the table, and everything is very untidy, but not dirty. Mrs. B. is pretty, bright, and ambitious, but entirely untrained and without system in her work. She is a devoted wife and mother. Their expenditure for recreation was $50, and was most carefully es- timated. They went regularly once a week to the theater all winter. This cost about $16. They also went to six or seven balls (50 cents), as Mrs. B. is very fond of dancing. In the summer they take the children several times a week on trolley-rides in the evening, besides trips to Coney Island and Fort George. Last summer they spent two weeks at Far Eockaway, where they paid $9 for two furnished rooms and boarded themselves. The man belongs to no club or lodge, but intends joining the Y. M. C. A. on 23rd Street for gymnasium privileges, and will get his lunch there. Mr. B. gives his wife his en- tire earnings every week, including what he makes overtime, and she gives him $1 for lunch and $1 for spending-money. He spent this all in ways his wife knew of, and so it has been divided into different expenditures — drink, books, papers, etc.
The total expenditures for the year, with an in- come of $850, were as follows :
APPENDIX 141
Food, including lunch-money, $7 a week $364.00
Rent, $13 a month 156.00
Clothing 65.00
Light and fuel 52.00
Insurance 62.00
Recreation 50.00
Books and papers 18.00
Drink, 30 cents a week, not more than 20.00
Medical attendance, including dentist, $30 45.00
Sundries, (tobacco, shaving, etc.) 10.00
Total $843.00
Surplus T 7.00
$850.00
Mrs. B. had saved $37, but $30 had to be drawn out of the bank for the dentist's bill, so that only $7 was saved at the end of the year. They are anx- ious to save, but at the same time have a high stand- ard and wish to live well, and so have only $47 in the savings-bank. They live very comfortably and have many pleasures in life. Mrs. B. kept a budget of her household expenses for four weeks.
The total expenses for each week were as follows (income being $15 a week) :
First week $11.98
Second week 9.70
Third week 10.30
Fourth week 9.40
Total $41.38
Average per week $10.35
This includes rent, food, light and fuel, sundries, and nothing else, not even Mr. B's allowance for lunches and spending-money. The food expense averaged $6 a week, with lunch-money it was $7 and they lived extremely well for a family of four. The
142 FINANCING THE WAGE-EARNER'S FAMILY
expenditures for meat was very higli, almost one- third of the total amount. They had plenty of vege- tables, and more fruit and pastry than most families of their class. A sample week's expenditure for food is as follows :
Saturday evening, Jan. 23rd : 1 lb. butter, .29 ; 1 lb. coffee, .25 ; 3i lbs. sugar, .18; i lb. tea, .25; 1 qt. potatoes, .10, 1 loaf bread, .05; vegetables, .12; meat, .75; cake, .20; fruit, .10; 1 qt. milk, .05 ; oatmeal, .10 ; total $2.44
Sunday, Jan. 24th: Bread, .05; milk, .05; biscuits, .10 20
Monday, Jan. 25tli: Milk, .05; rolls, .05; jam, .10; bread, .05. . .25
Tuesday, Jan. 26: Milk, .05; bread, .05; meat, .25; vegetables,
15; pie, 10 60
Wednesday, Jan. 27: Bread, .05; milk, .05; meat, .25; veg- etables, .18; rolls, .05; 1 lb. butter, .29 87
Thursday, Jan. 28th: Milk, .05; bread, ,10; meat, .25; veg- etables, .18 ; rolls, .05 58
Friday, Jan. 29th: Milk, .05; bread, .10; fish, .22; 4 eggs, .14;
vegetables, .15 66
Saturday morning, Jan. 30th: Milk, .05; bread, .05; rolls, .05;
meat, .30 45
Mr. B. lunch-money for week 1.00
Total for food $7.05
The expenditures for light and fuel are higher than the average. Gas was burned extravagantly, and the bills averaged $2.20 a month for six months in winter, and $1 a month in summer, when it was used for cooking. It cost approximately $19.10 a year, coal $29, wood for kindling at 2 cents a bundle about $4.50. Coal was bought by the 100-lb. bag at 40 cents a bag.
There were no expenditures for union, church, gifts or loans, furniture, or carfares. The father and mother were well-dressed, but the children were too small to need much. Mrs. B. is unable to sew
APPENDIX 143
and spends more than is necessary, but she buys clothes of good quality and in good taste. Mr. B. is fond of reading the daily papers and the cheaper magazines, and spends 30 cents to 35 cents a week for them. The insurance is high because they are also paying the insurance for the man^s mother — 50 cents a week. Mr. B.'s insurance is 30 cents a week, Mrs. B.^s 20 cents, and 20 cents for the children — total $1.20 a week or $62.40 a year.
The standard of living of this family may be called high, and it is typical of that of many young couples of this class — extravagant in some ways and provi- dent in others, with a fair degree of comfort and prosperity, but very little provision made for the future.^
The really extravagant thing about this budget is the expenditure for food, amounting to about 40 cents per man, per day. None of the other expendi- tures, with the possible exception of "recreation" and "dentist," seem excessive. The insurance pay- ments for the grandmother are included, raising the insurance item by $26. The rent expenditure seems small in view of Mrs. More's description of the in- adequate accommodations secured.
IV. Mill Town Budgets.
Less rhetorical, but no less interesting, are the budgets of typical mill families, published in volume 16 of the recent Federal investigation of ^he work of Woman and Child Wage-Earners. This study
8 Supra, pp. 167-171.
144 FINANCING THE WAGE-EARNER'S FAMILY
covered two districts — one the cotton mill towns of Georgia, the other Fall River, Massachusetts. Al- though these families differed widely as regards na- tionality, family size and family status, five budgets, *^ picked because the families were near the ''normal" family (a man, wife and three children under four- teen) will give an excellent idea of the character of the budgets.
Family No. 4.
This family consists of the father, mother and three children. Their ages, occupations, and earn- ings are shown in the following table :
Membership and Income of Family No. 4, 1908.
Yearly Paid to
earnings. family.
Husband, age 50, elevator man $292.45 $292.45
Wife, age 38, housekeeper
First child, age 15, dofifer in cotton mill (male) .. 254.60 254.60
Second child, age 14, spinner (female) 283.15 283.15
Third child, age 7, at school ( female )
Total $830.20 $830.20
Three of the five members of the family are wage- earners. It would be supposed that they could earn sufficient to meet the needs of the family so that they could live comfortably. In fact, their total earn- ings are considerably above the sum apparently necessary for the maintenance of a fair standard of living. Yet at the end of the year the family was $50.98 in debt. This was due to misfortune rather than extravagance. The father was injured in the mill twice during the year and lost six weeks.
APPENDIX 145
Tlie mother is ill with lung trouble. The boy has tuberculosis, and the 14-year-old girl is very frail and is constantly taking patent medicines. During the year they spent $108.25 on medicines and doc- tor's bills. The year before the 14-year-old girl, whose earnings were a large share of the family in- come, lost 24 weeks because of illness. Because of this the family was at the beginning of the year heavily in debt. A part of the year's earnings went to pay off this indebtedness. The indebtedness at the end of the year was $15 for furniture and $33.98 for clothing, bought on the installment plan, and $2 on doctor's bills.
The family occupies a three-room house and pays $5.50 per month rent. The house is very simply furnished. The front room is used as a sitting- room. The floor is covered with straw matting. The walls are adorned with portraits of Mormon elders, the family professing the Mormon faith. The one bedroom contains two beds in which the five members of the family sleep.
The amusements of the family are very simple. The father gets his only pleasure out of reading the daily paper and imparting the information he has gleaned to his wife, who cannot read. The expendi- tures show a charge for amusements, but this was, in fact, carfare spent in going to the city. The children visit with the neighbors Saturday after- noon and Sunday. The whole family are very de- vout. From the menu it can be seen they had no breakfast and dinner on Sunday, which chanced to
146 FINANCING THE WAGE-EARNER'S FAMILY
be the first Sunday of the month. The mother ex- plained it was the custom of the Mormons to fast on that day and to give to the church the sum that would have been spent for food.
The following table shows the expenditures of the family for the year:
Expenditures of Family ^o. ^, 1908.
Item. Amount.
Food $289.75
Rent 66.00
Clothing ( including debt
of $33.98 152.32
Fuel (coal, $17.50) 41.50
Light 7.80
Drinks 14.95
Medicine 62.25
Doctor's bills ( including
debt of $2) 48.00
Item. Amount.
Insurance $ 18.20
School books 1.60
Newspapers 6.24
Church contributions .... 1.80
Amusements 15.60
Sundries 9.75
Furniture 39.00
Total* $774.76
The following lists show the clothing purchased and the amounts paid for the different members of the family:
Eapenditurea of Family No. 4> for clothing, 1908. Father,
Suit , 1, cost 9
Suit 1, "
Trousers 2, "
Shirts, white 1, "
Shirts, colored 4, "
Overalls 2, "
Underwear, shirts * 2, "
Underwear, drawers 2, "
Shoesf 2, "
Hat 1, "
Cap
Collars 6, "
Neckties 1, "
4 Not including debt of $15 for furniture purchased during the year and $75 paid in settlement of debt for preceding year. • Made by mother, f Including $1.20 for half-soling 2 pra.
|
age 50. |
Son |
, age 15. |
|
|
5 20.00 |
1, cost $ |
6.00 |
|
|
. . ■ • |
1, ' |
5.98 |
|
|
3.00 |
6, * |
3.00 |
|
|
1.00 |
2, ' |
1.00 |
|
|
2.00 |
4, ' |
2.00 |
|
|
1.00 |
2, ' |
1.00 |
|
|
1.00 |
2, ' |
.50 |
|
|
1.00 |
2, ' |
.30 |
|
|
8.20 |
6, ' |
9.00 |
|
|
1.98 |
2, ' |
2.15 |
|
|
4, ' |
1.00 |
||
|
.60 |
4, ' |
.40 |
|
|
.25 |
2, ' |
.50 |
APPENDIX 147
Father, age 50. Son, age 15.
Suspenders 1, cost$ .25 l,cost$ .25
Handkerchiefs " .25 " .30
Stockings 52, " 5.20 30, " 4.50
Total $45.73 $37.88
Mother, age 38.
2 waists, calico, homemade, 6 yds. at .07 ; trimmings, .05 $ 0.47
1 skirt, ready-made 8.98
5 aprons, gingham, homemade, 15 yds. at .08^ 1.25
1 dress, calico, homemade, 10 yds. at .07; trimmings, .05 75
2 winter underwear, cotton 50
1 hat, felt 1.98
1 hat, straw 1.00
10 stockings, cotton 1.50
1 pr. shoes 2.00
Total $18.43
Daughter, age 14
1 suit, serge, ready-made $ 9.98
2 waists, lawn, homemade, 6 yds. at .12J; trimming, .25 1.00
2 waists, gingham, homemade, 6 yds. at .19; trimming, .05 65
1 skirt, cotton, homemade, 5 yds. at .15; trimming, .05 80
1 dress, flannelette, homemade, 8 yds. at .15; trimming, .10.. 1.30
6 dresses, calico, at .07 ; 48 yds. homemade, trimming, .30 .... 3.66
1 dress, lawn, homemade, 8 yds. at .10; trimming, .35 1.15
2 aprons, gingham, homemade, 6 yds. at .08^ 50
2 petticoats, cotton, homemade, 8 yds. at .08| ; trimming, .05 . . .72 4 drawers, canton flannel, homemade, 6 yds. at .10; trimming,
.05 65
2 winter underwear, cotton, ready-made 50
1 hat, felt 1.00
1 hat, straw 1.25
52 stockings 5.20
6 shoes (including $1.80 for half soles) 10.80
Total $39.16
Daughter, age 7.
6 dresses, (4^ yds. each) calico, homemade, 27 yds. at .07; trim- ming .20 $ 2.09
1 dress, flannelette, homemade, 4 yds. at .12J; trimming, .05.. .55
2 petticoats, cotton, homemade, 6 yds. at .08; trimming, .05.. .53
1 petticoat, flannel, homemade, 4 yds. at .25 1.00
2 drawers, canton flannel, homemade, 2 yds. at .10 , .20
1 hat, felt ., .50
1 hat, straw « .60
148 FINANCING THE WAGE-EARNER'S FAMILY
20 stockings $ 2.00
3 shoes 3,75
Total $11.12
Following is the menu for the week ending Jan- uary 3. 1909 :'
Monday. Breakfast: Fried bacon, biscuit, sirup, Postum, oatmeal. Dinner:^ Collards and peas with bacon, corn bread, Postum. Supper: Fried bacon, biscuit, sirup, Postum.
Tuesday. Breakfasf: Fried pork, biscuit, sirup, Postum. Dinner:' Fried bacon, biscuit, sirup, Postum. Hupper: Fried meat, biscuit, sirup, Postum.
WEa)NESDAY.
Breakfast : Biscuit, sirup, grits, Postum.
Dinner: Turnip greens, Irish potatoes, corn bread, Postum.
Supper: Warmed over greens and corn bread, Postum.
Thuksday. Breakfast: Grits, biscuit, sirup, Postum.
Dinner: Collards, baked sweet potatoes, corn bread, Irish potatoes.
Supper: Cold collards, sweet potatoes, Irish potatoes, biscuit.
Fbiday. Breakfast: Grits, butter, biscuit, fried bacon, Postum. Dinner: Stewed beef, macaroni, Irish potatoes, corn bread.
Supper: Cold stewed beef and Irish potatoes, biscuit.
Saturday. Breakfast : Grits, biscuit, sirup, Postum. Dinner: Sardines (5-cent box), light bread.
Supper: Fried ham, biscuit, Postum.
Sunday. "No "breakfast or dinner. Morman fast day first Sunday in each month. Supper: Fried pork, biscuit, sirup.
The store account shows a total expenditure for the four weeks of $21.65. Of this, $19.15 was spent for food. The family no longer takes milk from the milkman, and the grocery bill has been cut down
i APPENDIX 149
since the new clotlies were purchased. The average value of food consumed per week per man unit for the year covered was $1.42.
Family No. 19
This family consists of the father, the mother, and four children too young to work in the mill. The following shows the age, occupation, and earnings of the different members of the family:
Memhership and income of Family No. 19, 1908-9.
Yearly Paid to
earnings. family.
Husband, age 55, sweeper $258.70 $258.70
Wife, age 30, housekeeper
First child, age 11, at home (female)
Second child, age 8, at home (male)
Third child, age 4, at home (female)
Fourth child, age 1, at home (female)
Boarders and lodgers: Sister-in-law (over 21) sister-in-law's child (3) (for board and lodg- ing) 143.00
Total $258.70 $401.70
The clothing expenditures of this family were so similar to those of the preceding one (No. 4) that they are omitted.
The family had a small garden, and consumed vegetables raised in it of an estimated value of $4.
They occupy a four-room house and pay $2.60 a month rent. The house is well taken care of, ex- ceedingly neat, apd gives evidence of good manage- ment on the part of the housewife. The furniture consists of beds and bedding, a sewing machine, dresser, side table, lamps, chairs, one wicker rocking
150 FINANCING THE WAGE-EARNER'S FAMILY
chair, a cradle, a four hole kitchen stove, and the front window has flowered muslin curtains.
The health of the family seems to be good except that of the mother who appears old and worn out. She gave her age as 30, but she appears to be at least 50. Two of the children had measles during the year and the husband lost about two weeks from malarial fever.
The family has had a very hard time to get along. During the husband's illness they were compelled to borrow money from the superintendent of the mill. The amount could not be learned. It is being repaid by taking $1 per week out of the husband's earnings, which are $5.10 per week.
The cost of living of the family exceeds their in- come by $47.73. The mother said that during the first years of their married life, when her husband earned only $4.75 per week and * * rations ' ' were low they saved enough money to buy all of the furniture they now possess. "When wages went up, however, ** rations" went up so much more that they could not live nearly so well as they could at first.
The following shows the annual expenditures:
Expenditures of Family No. 19, 1908.
Item. Amount. Item. Amount.
Food (including debt of Insurance $23.40
$11.29) $217.39 Church contributions ... 2.00
Rent 29.20 Washing 1.20
Clothing 90.75 Sundries 6.93
Fuel 34.25 Moving 5.00
Light 11.44 Incidentals 1.60
Tobacco 4.00 Two pigs 7.00
Medicine 4.00
Doctor's bill (debt) 4.00 Total » $449.43
6 In addition to the indebtedness for food and for doctor this total
APPENDIX 151
In this family the father only is at work, with children too young to work. It is easily seen that if the father ^s earnings were not supplemented by keeping boarders it would be impossible for the fam- ily to live. There are four children between the ages of 1 and 11.
Family No. 101.
This family is French Canadian, though the father was bom in this country. The membership and the age, occupation, and earnings of each mem- ber are shown by the following table :
Membership and income of Family No. 101, 1908-9.
Yearly Paid to
earnings. family.
Husband, age 39, weaver $ 404.32 $ 404.32
Wife, age 38, weaver 294.44 294.44
First child, age 16, weaver (male) 374.69 374.69
Second child, age 13, at school (female)
Third child, age 10, at school (female)
Fourth child, age 7, at school (male)
Total $1,073.45 $1,073.45
In this family the mother works in the mill. The girls, 13 and 10 years old, take care of their younger brother and do a large part of the housework. The mother does not work regularly, however, and when it is necessary for her to stay at home, as, for in- stance, to make the children's clothing, she does so. But she earned nearly $300 during the past year. The family keeps about 15 hens, which afford an additional income estimated at $10.
shows an excess of expenditures over income of $32.44. The family borrowed money to meet this deficit.
152 FINANCING THE iWAGE-EARNER'S FAMILY
The family has five rooms in a tenement in which six families live. Three of the rooms are used for sleeping rooms, one for the kitchen, and one for the parlor. The house is shabbily furnished, but every- thing appears to be clean. A faded and worn car- pet is on the floor of the front room, which also contains a bureau, a chiffonier, and a writing desk. The kitchen is clean and has a carpet and oilcloth on the floor. The floors of the bedroom are bare.
There was no sickness in the family during the year. The oldest boy is given 50 cents a week spending money. He goes to the theater or moving- picture shows, and sometimes takes car rides. The father spends about 25 cents a week in this manner.
The annual expenditures of the family are shown in the following table:
Expenditures of Family No. 101, 1908-9.
Item. Amount. Item. Amount.
Food $390.00 Church contributions ... $ 31.00
Rent 91.00 Amusements 39.00
Clothing 139.07 Ice 11.20
Fuel 35.87 Laundry 39.00
Light 10.92 Barbering 6.75
Tobacco 5.20 Sundries 9.62
Drinks 13.00 Poll tax 2.00
Medicine 1.00
[nsurance 26.00 Total $865.71
Newspapers 15.08
This is a frugal and thrifty family. The mother works in the mill, making some of her children's clothing at night and doing a part of the housework before she goes to work in the morning. That the family is able to save money is due to her economy. The children have almost no clothes and she herself
APPENDIX 153
had had nothing but one calico wrapper during the year. They have good food to eat. The mother, father, and eldest boy take their lunches with them to the mill. This accounts in some part for the rather unusual expense for fruit found in their grocery account.
The following table shows the clothing purchased for the different members of the family :
Expenditures of Family l^o. 101 for clothing, 1908-9.
Father, age 39. Son, age 16. Son, age 7.
Suit 1, cost, $12.50
Overcoat
Trousers, (made by
mother)
Shirts, white 1,
Shirts, colored (made
by mother ) 4,
Overalls 2,
Underwear, shirts .... 2, Underwear, drawers
(made by mother)
Shoes
Hat 1,
Cap 1,
Collars
Neckties
Suspenders
Handkerchiefs
Socks 4,
|
, $12.50 |
1, |
cost, $15.00 |
1, cost, $ 4.00 |
|||
|
1, |
^* |
3.00 |
||||
|
1, |
« |
4.50 |
6, |
« |
3.00 |
|
|
.50 |
2, |
« |
1.00 |
|||
|
2.00 |
4, |
« |
2.00 |
8. |
<c |
1.60 |
|
1.00 |
2, |
« |
1.00 |
|||
|
2.50 |
2, |
i( |
1.00 |
2, |
(( |
.50 |
|
2, |
et |
1.00 |
2, |
« |
.20 |
|
|
4, |
" |
11.00 |
10, |
(( |
12.50 |
|
|
1.00 |
1, |
« |
2.00 |
|||
|
2, |
(( |
1.00 |
1, |
I( |
.25 |
|
|
5, |
" |
.50 |
||||
|
10, |
" |
2.50 |
||||
|
.50 |
2, 6, |
1.00 .60 |
||||
|
1.00 |
12, |
i( |
3.00 |
12, |
(t |
3.00 |
Total $21.00 $47.10 $28.05
Mother, age 38. 1 dress, calico, home-made, 12 yds, at .07, trimmings, .05 $0.89
Total $0.89
Daughter, age 13.
1 coat, cloth $ 2.00
5 dresses, gingham, home-made, 30 yds. at .12J; trimmings, .50 4.25
2 petticoats, white cotton, home-made, 8 yds. at .10 80
2 winter underwear, cotton 50
1 hat (old one trimmed over) 1.00
154 FINANCING THE WAGE-EARNEK'S FAMILY
1 hat (old one trimmed over) $ 1.25
12 stockings 3.00
4 shoes (father mends shoes) 5.00
Total $17.80
Daughter, age 10.
1 coat, cloth $ 2.00
5 dresses, gingham, home-made, 25 yds. at .12^; trimmings, .50 3.63
2 petticoats, white cotton, home-made, 8 yds. at .10 80
2 drawers, white cotton, 3 yds. at .10 30
2 winter underwear, cotton 50
1 hat, straw 4.00
1 hat (old one trimmed over) 1.25
12 stockings 3.00
7 shoes 8.75
Total $24.23
Store account of Family No. 101 for six weeks in April and May, 1908.
Apr. 7 — Soda, .10, bread, .15, corn, .10, oranges, .10, tobacco, .10, sugar, .25, beef, .40, shoulder, .51, rice, .20, soap, .05, starch, .10, soap, .25, bananas, .18, potatoes, 1.10, peas, .12, soda, .10, celery, .10, ribs, .42, beef,
.51, sugar, .25, soda, .10 $ 5.19
12— Beef 36
13— Beef 21
14 — Steak, .19, ribs, .14, soap, .05, cakes, .05, beans, .12, beans, .12, beans, .09, soda, .10, cheese, .20, beef,
19, beef .28 1.53
17 — Shoulder, .62, beef, .47, oranges, .25, celery, .10, cook- ies, .10, cookies, .15, cookies, .10, tea, .05 1.84
20 — Bread, .05, sausage, .13, beef, .31, steak, .20, bananas, .10, oranges, .25, cookies, .10, beans, .12, cakes,
.05, beef, .22 1.53
21— Bread 05
22— Ham, .14, soda, .10, beef, .12, beans, .12 48
23— Pork, .06, brisket, .28, shoulder, .61, beef, .43, or- anges, .27, cookies, .10, lard, .10, sugar, .25.... 2.10 26 — ^Potatoes, .65, beef, .19, bananas, .12, pork, .06, ba- nanas, .10 1.12
27— Beef, .23, ribs, .16, beans, ,12 51
28— Beef, .26, ribs, .16 ' 40
29 — Oranges, .08, beans, .12, bananas, .21, meat, .30, shoul- der, .05, beef, .38, cakes, .10, cakes, .10, tobacco, .10 2.04
APPENDIX 155
May 1 — Shoulder, .25, rice, .05, beans, .12, cakes, .16, steak, .16, beef, .23, steak, .10, beef, .19, ribs, .15, ba- nanas, .12, cakes, .15, beef, .10 $ 1.78
6 — Bananas, .12, cream puff, .05, beans, .12, shoulder, .61, beef, .34, potatoes, .65, shoulder, .20, soap, .25, nuts, .05, sugar, .25, water cress, .10, oranges, .24,
tobacco, .10, sugar, .25, cookies, .10 3.63
12— Fish 25
14 — Water cress 05
16 — Shoulder, .56, sugar, .25, beans, .12, matches, .10, nuts, .05, pepper, .10, eclairs, .10, beef, .27, ribs, .17, beans, .12, shoulder, .25, beef, .12, bananas, .12,
steak, .20, sugar, .25, lard, .28 3.06
20— Steak, .12, dates, .12, yeast, .12 36
21 — Pork, .06, bananas, .10, meat, .45, lard, .28, shoulder, .67, beef, .41, tobacco .06, sugar, .25, potatoes, .58, beef, .26, tomatoes, .10, vermicelli, .10, straw- berries, .24 3.56
26 — Rhubarb, .10, tobacco, .06 16
Total $19.92
In addition to the amount shown in the store ac- count the family expended $3.44 per week elsewhere for food, as follows : Coffee, $0.25 ; tea, $0.25 ; but- ter, $0.90; flour, $0.50; bread, $1.05, and milk, $0.49. There was also an expenditure of $11.20 per year for ice. The average value of food consumed per week per man unit for the year covered was $1.71.
Family No. 103
This family is Portuguese. They came from the Azores and had been in this country 7 years. The children can speak English but the parents cannot. The family consists of the father, mother, and 4 children. The table following shows the age, occu- pation, and earnings of the different members.
156 FINANCING THE WAGE-EARNER'S FAMILY
Membership and income of Family No. lOS, 1908-9.
Yearly Paid to
earnings. family.
Father, age 44, sweeper $203.22 $203.22
Mother, age 36, housekeeper
First child, age 19, doffer (male) 240.33 240.33
Second child, age 17, spinner (female) 285.60 285.60
Third child, age 11, at school (male)
Fourth child, age 3, at home (female)
Total $829.15 $829,15
The father's earnings are estimated beeanse his name could not be identified on the pay roll of the company for which he worked.
They live on the first floor of a tenement in which there are 8 families. They occupy four rooms, one of which is used for kitchen, dining-room, and sit- ting-room. The other three are used for sleeping rooms. The kitchen stove furnishes the heat for all the rooms in the winter. The house is very dirty and is poorly taken care of. The furnishings con- sist of absolute necessities only, such as table, chairs, stove, and beds.
The mother and younger children are poorly clothed and very dirty. The mother had typhoid fever during the year and a baby died of pneumonia. The health of the other members of the family was good.
The diversions of the family are simple — street- car rides and moving-picture shows occasionally for the older members, and church.
The annual expenditures are as follows :
APPENDIX 157
Expenditures of Family No. 103, 1908-9.
Item. Amount. Item. Amount.
Food $383.24 Newspapers, etc $ 1.00
Rent 84.00 Church contributions 31.20
Clothing 77.84 Amusements 5.00
Fuel 28.00 Funeral expenses 35.00
Light 7.28 Sundries 7.80
Tobacco 5.20 Poll tax 2.00
Drinks 10.00
Medicine 7.00 Total $714.56
Doctor's bills 30.00
The difference between the expenses for the year and the income shows that there may have been some savings. The mother said, however, that they had not saved any money. It may be that she was not telling the truth, though the grocery book showed that they were in debt to the store $25.81.
The family lived very poorly and it would seem that they spent as little money as they could. The underclothing for most of the children and nearly all of the clothes for the youngest child are made by the mother from the flour sacks in which she buys her flour.
Expenditures of Family No. 103 for clothing, 1908-9.
Father, age 44. Son, age 19. Son, age 11.
Suit 1, cost $ 7.00 1, cost $ 5.00
Trousers 3, " 3.00
Shirts, white 1, " .50
Shirts, colored 3, cost $0.45 3, " .75
Overalls 3, " 1.00 2, « 1.00 2, " .50
Underwear, shirts ..2, " .50 2, " .50 2, " .50
Underwear, drawers. 2, " .75 (2) (2)
Shoes 1, " 1.50 6, " 9.00 8, " 6.00
Hat 1, " 1.00
Caps 3, " .75 1, « .25
Collars 1, " .10 2, " .25
Neckties 1, " .25 1, ''^ .25 1, " .10
Suspenders 1> " -25
Handkerchiefs 6, " .25
Stockings 4, " .40 15, " 1.50 6, " .60
Total $5.20 $25.75 $12.95
158 FINANCING THE WAGE-EAENER'S FAMILY
Mother, age 36. 3 waists, cotton, home-made, lOJ yds. at .05; trimmings, .15.. $0.68
1 skirt, calico, 6 yds. at .05 '. 30
2 petticoats, cotton, 10 yds. at .08 80
1 stockings 10
2 shoes 3.00
Total $4.88
Daughter, age 17. 1 coat $ 3.00
1 dress, lawn 6 yds. at .25; trimmings, .10, (home-made).. 1.60 6 dresses, calico, 42 yds. at .06; trimmings .60, (home-made) 3.12
2 petticoats, cotton, 8 yds. at .08, ( home-made ) 64
2 drawers (made from flour sacks)
2 corsets 1.50.
1 hat ( summer ) 3.50
10 stockings 2.00
3 shoes 4.50
Total $19.86
Daughter, age 3.
1 coat $2.00
2 dresses, flannel, 6 yds. at .08; trimmings, .10 (other dresses
and all underwear made from flour sacks ) 50
1 hat ( summer ) 50
2 stockings 20
6 shoes 6.00
Total $9.20
The average value of food consumed per week per man unit for the year covered was $1.60. The menu for 2 days (May 23 and 24, 1909) was obtained and is as follows:
Sunday. Breakfast: Pork steak, bread, coffee, condensed milk. Dinner: Soup (made of meat, potatoes, cabbage, and bologna),
bread, coffee, condensed milk. Supper: Soup left from dinner.
Monday. Breakfast: Bread, coffee, condensed milk, soup from day before. Dinner: Bread, coffee, condensed milk.
Supper: Soup from the day before.
APPENDIX 159
The soup wliicli entered so largely into the diet was made in a large iron pot. It is the custom to make enough to last several days, and to replenish it whenever the pot becomes empty. All kinds of meats and vegetables are put into it. The bread is a very soggy composition made of flour and corn meal. As the price of flour goes up, more corn meal and less flour is used in making it. On one of the visits to the family for information the oldest boy came home from work for his dinner. He sat down to the table, which was covered with oilcloth, and his dinner consisted of bread and coffee.
Family No. 108,
This family is Polish. They have been in this country 12 years. The husband is the only worker, but his earnings are far above the average. The membership, and the age, occupation, and earnings of the members of the family are as follows :
MemhersMp and income of Family No. 108, 1908-9.
Yearly Paid to
earnings. family.
Husband, age 40, slubber $527.80 $527.80
Wife, age 40, housekeeper
First child, age 10, at school (male)
Second child, age 5, at home (male) ......
Third child, age 4, at home ( female )
Fourth child, age 1, at home (male)
Two lodgers (lodging at $3 per month each) 72.00 72.00
Total $599.80 $599.80
The family has five rooms in a tenement house in which four families live. Four of the rooms are on
160 FINANCING THE WAGE-EARNER'S FAMILY
tlie second floor, and tlie fifth one is an attic room on the third floor. The house is very dirty, and the kitchen floor was covered with cigarette stubs. The furnishings are very poor and consist of only the most necessary articles. The kitchen, which is also the general living room, is furnished with a table, stove, chairs, and a few cheap pictures. The bedrooms contain nothing but the beds and bedding.
The family was in good health during the year, the baby being the only member that was sick. It had the summer complaint. The amusements of the family are of the simplest kind.
The annual expenditures of the family were as follows :
Expenditures of Family No. 108, 1908-9.
Item. Amount. Item. Amount.
Food $361.40 Church contributions ... $ 52.00
Rent 91.00 Stove repair 7.50
Clothing 73.31 Sundries 13.00
Fuel 13.00 Bedstead 4.00
Light 6.25 Mattress 2.00
Tobacco 13.00 Carfare 1.00
Drinks 52.00 Poll tax 2.00
Medicine 2.00
Doctor's bills 4.00 Total $697.46
The children picked up a large part of the fuel, so that the expense for this was only $13. The ex- penses exceeded the income by $97.66. This was met by drawing from the bank money that they had saved in former years. The amount of their sav- ings could not be learned.
The clothing purchased for the diflFerent members of the family is shown in the following table:
APPENDIX 161
Expenditures of Family A^o. 108 for clothing, 1908-9.
Father, age 40. Son, age 10. Son, age 5
Trousers
Shirts, white 1, cost $ 0.50
Shirts, colored 4,
Overalls 4,
Underwear, shirts ..2, Underwear, drawers . . 2,
Shoes 3,
Hat 1,
Caps
Collars 2,
Neckties 1,
Stockings
Barbering
Waists (made at home)
Total $19.40 $17.50 $7.80
Mother, age 40. 1 coat $ 5.50
1 waist, white 1.00
2 waists, calico, home-made, 8 yds. at .07 ; trimmings, .20 76
1 skirt, wool 7.00
1 dress, calico, home-made, 9 yds. at .08; trimmings, .10 .82
1 hat (summer) 3.00
2 stockings 25
2 shoes 3.00
4 handkerchiefs 20
|
4, cost $ 2.40 |
||||
|
t$ 0.50 |
||||
|
2.00 |
4, |
11 |
.80 |
|
|
2.00 |
||||
|
1.00 |
||||
|
1.00 |
||||
|
6.00 |
8, |
« |
12.00 |
6, cost $6.00 |
|
1.00 |
||||
|
2, |
" |
1.00 |
2, " .50 |
|
|
.25 |
||||
|
.25 |
||||
|
.40 |
^0 |
.50 |
||
|
5.00 |
||||
|
4, |
It |
.80 |
4, « .80 |
Total $21.53
Daughter, age 4.
4 dresses, calico, 16 yds. at .17; trimmings, .20 $1.32
12 stockings 1.20
3 shoes 1.50
Total $4.02
Daughter, age 1.
4 dresses, calico, 12 yds. at .08 $1.16
4 stockings 40
3 shoes 1.50
Total $3.06
A menu for five meals was obtained and is as fol- lows :
162 FINANCING THE WAGE-EARNER'S FAMILY
May 19, 1909. Breakfast: Pork chops, bread, butter, coffee. Dinner: Beef soup, potatoes, bread.
Supper: Pork chops, bread, butter, coffee.
May 20, 1909. Breakfast: Pork chops, sausage, bread, butter, coffee. Dinner: Beef soup, potatoes, bread.
The grocery account for as long a period as could be obtained is as follows :
Store account of Family "No. 108 for one week in May, 1909.
May 12
13
14
17
18
19
First Store.
Pickles $0.02
Flour 04
Beef 14
Pork 16
Beef 19
Eggs 13
Pie 10
Cheese 08
Cookies 05
Cheese 04
Pork
Salt
13
15
05
19
Frankfurters 12
Sausage 15
Pressed ham Beef . Cakes
Beef
Frankfurters Bologna . . . .
Cookies
Pressed ham
.13
.09 .05 .12 .10 .12 .12 .05 .13
Barley 05
Beef
Cookies
Pressed ham . Frankfurters .
Flour
Beef
.10 .05 .13 .12 .04 .08
May 12
Second Store.
Eggs
Sugar
Crackers
Tobacco
Vinegar
Cakes
Milk
Ammonia water.
Crackers . Cucumbers Cabbage . .
Soap
Bread . . . .
Crackers
Soda ... Cakes . . Crackers
Eggs
).06 .06 .04 .05 .05 .02 .05 .07 .05 .15 .05 .07 .07 .04 .05 .05 .02 .05 .05 .05 .06 .05 .05 .05 .05 .09 .14 .05 .05
Total
$1.69
Total $3.22
APPENDIX 163
The store accounts cover a period of 1 week at two stores. A total of $4.91 was expended for food at the two stores. During the same period other articles were purchased as follows: Coffee, 35 cents; milk, 49 cents; flour, $1; butter, 30 cents; a total of $2.14, making with the $4.91 expended at the stores a total expenditure of $7.05 for the week. The average value of food consumed per week per man unit for the year covered was $1.99.
V. Variations in Family Incomes.
A most interesting phase of the individual family- problem was touched upon in the Federal study. lUnemployment has been frequently discussed, as an abstract problem, and it has been the subject of many printed pages. Then, too, the general effect of unemployment upon poverty, misery and the like has been dealt with in such books as Devine's Misery and Its Cause. ^ Yet unemployment as a problem in the income of an individual family has come in for too little attention. Among the excel- lent statistics appearing in the Federal study are a number of tables of the income of individual fami- lies by weeks. Many of the instances show the most astonishing variations. For example:
e E. T. Devine, Misery and Its Causes, The Macmillan Company, New York, 1909.
164 FINANCING THE WAGE-EARNER'S FAMILY
TAMILV No.7
|
vftnr laxifici |
orcii JAMit rr$if mahj* Arnii ujn$ jmct Jmy* ami Auttt jifris cciu t/ov2i atcn not not not itei not net i30» not not not not itot itot itot |
|||||||||||||
|
t* t* *• It /• n i» |
||||||||||||||
|
[ |
||||||||||||||
|
1 |
||||||||||||||
|
1 |
||||||||||||||
|
\ |
/ |
\ A |
J. |
^ |
||||||||||
|
_.. |
\.^ |
V 4- |
\-/- |
_..£i^i.... |
...—_.. |
.. |
— -1 |
■A-/-- |
k |
. |
r.-'^,- |
_.. . |
... |
|
|
-i-/X> |
■AT- |
r\.r--^—- |
,- . |
■^ - 1 |
rrvr. |
X_^. |
A-x |
---) |
||||||
|
\j |
V |
V-j |
-V ^1 >^ |
F\ I |
\ |
"..^ |
\ |
\l |
||||||
|
1 |
\ r |
rv \/ |
V |
V |
||||||||||
|
V |
V |
|||||||||||||
|
V |
||||||||||||||
|
i |
— . |
AVCKASS CAKNiNtStflS.*!)
. rAIR STAND A HO (fzSJtt
_„^_ MIMIUUIil ITANOAKO^It-tn
TAMILV No.8
WrtKir fAKMIHtS AVimSC til>''INiS(tl*.*7)
nm ITAMOAKOailO))
umnAuu srAMOAK0Cji*it>
TAMILV No 9
|
•TMtr rtuums |
OKV JAHit rtaiS MIAfl4 A'RII UAf* MM[( JUtYi AUS 1 AUtH SttTU OCTU A/OVl/ OfCft] itoi nc$ not not itot not /»»» not not not /tea not i9os not [ |
||||||||||||||
|
t* tt 3» tt 1* M »» f 4 • |
1 |
||||||||||||||
|
■ |
|||||||||||||||
|
V |
|||||||||||||||
|
\ |
|||||||||||||||
|
■■ |
|||||||||||||||
|
\ |
1 |
■" i |
|||||||||||||
|
\ |
A |
— f |
|||||||||||||
|
\ , |
'^^ |
A |
/) |
f |
|||||||||||
|
-•4/ |
y- |
||||||||||||||
|
SI |
■ \ |
/\ 1 |
/ 1 |
-r- |
|||||||||||
|
. |
\r "" |
- V T" |
— V" |
■ ■ 1 *r |
t^TTT^ |
IT ~/*\ |
"/^~ * ■ |
"A |
r- |
. - . |
|||||
|
1 |
\ 1 |
/ 1 |
\~ |
/ \ |
i / \ |
r " |
|||||||||
|
1 |
y |
f 1 |
\ " ■ |
\ |
\/ |
||||||||||
|
' |
1 |
A |
\ |
V |
|||||||||||
|
-•■ |
"■** — |
• "— " - |
„.. ^.. |
•^■' — |
—I |
- . i-. |
— J.. —. |
;-Y . |
|
r~*"'i — |
--• |
||||
|
I / ' |
\ |
\/ |
|||||||||||||
|
]/ |
" |
V |
|||||||||||||
|
» |
|||||||||||||||
_^ WtfKir rAKNINtt FAIK jrAHOARD tilSll)
APPENDIX
165
f'AMrLY Nftldt
|
Wff/riv CUmum. |
MNCt not |
JULY* not |
Autt Aueii stpnt 0CT7S HWti Ii0§ laot ItOt IMS l)QI |
CfCi9 1*0$ |
JANIt 1309 |
rni) not |
MOTlD A'flO M*yi . Hot not /»o» |
||||||||
|
J* la IS >i IS /« n 1* 11 /« « z « |
|||||||||||||||
|
i |
K- |
||||||||||||||
|
^ |
. |
^. |
/I |
\ |
|||||||||||
|
y |
-^ r |
/^ |
, f |
\ |
|||||||||||
|
f |
-r |
/ |
V |
" \ |
|||||||||||
|
r^ |
\ |
1 / |
IV_ |
||||||||||||
|
I |
\ |
\/ |
1 |
/\ _^ |
|||||||||||
|
j |
V |
\/ |
Ml / \( |
||||||||||||
|
1 |
Y |
IIW M \ |
|||||||||||||
|
1 |
ll III/ 1 ! 1 |
||||||||||||||
|
- |
. I. - . |
..L.. |
^-^kb |
--+ 4H-- |
|||||||||||
|
\ A |
. |
/ |
V 1 ! II 1 1 > |
||||||||||||
|
^ |
A |
/ |
I I ' |
||||||||||||
|
— ■ |
— ■ |
- |
— |
— |
r\~- |
_I._-. |
1 . |
1 |
H-I--M.- — 1 |
— ■- |
— |
||||
|
' \ |
/ |
\ |
|||||||||||||
|
/ |
^, |
/ |
\ |
1 |
|||||||||||
|
/■ |
N |
1 ' |
|||||||||||||
|
1 nil |
1 |
||||||||||||||
|
\ J' '1 |
|||||||||||||||
|
— ■ |
•' |
_| 1 |
^... |
L- |
— ■■ — |
|
|
—J |
■• |
" |
... |
||||
|
. |
|||||||||||||||
|
i |
|||||||||||||||
|
1 |
|||||||||||||||
|
.__ |
. INF€KlY fAKNINSS .JUl/IAH eAKNIMSatO-Ut
_._._. rAi/> iTANOARa (tirtst _.._..—. MINIMUM -ITANDAKD OlUU
TMiyS^ Kiiioa
Autvi iti^K ocris Mm ecc.it jahm rcti) mahh aphio utfi «.. not itot mt not not not no} not not
. fcmr {AJttH'Mts
^.rAllt iTAHDAKO aiOOI.i ^,^MimMVM STANBAKOaailt
166 FINANCING THE WAGE-EARNER'S FAMILY
rAMIUV Nald*
|
wrntLY MMMM |
Mjr^t jmtt JUCY4 jiutj Aati* stPTU ocrit noni efel$- jAua ma MA/in APiti) MJtft not iKi noa /tot /ttt not net ism ite$ not not not isai /tot |
||||||||||||||
|
2t it /» » 14! IX /* • < * . t |
|||||||||||||||
|
fK^ |
....... |
||||||||||||||
|
!-\ |
_, |
\ |
|||||||||||||
|
' |
— |
' ■ |
^ ■-. / |
1 |
'T |
I |
T' |
1" ■, |
/ |
-' |
|||||
|
^ -*# |
\ /^ |
1 / |
\ |
1 |
\ / |
1 |
|||||||||
|
V |
\/ |
\ |
\ \ 1 |
||||||||||||
|
/ |
y |
\ / |
\ / \ |
||||||||||||
|
Jl |
\ / |
/ |
' |
||||||||||||
|
— |
— ft— |
|
|
..f |
yZ |
|
1 |
Y—~ 1 |
t—^ |
4-- |
1 |
||||
|
/T K |
1 ■ |
||||||||||||||
|
\ \ |
A |
/ y |
|||||||||||||
|
\ \ |
fl |
/ \ |
r\ |
||||||||||||
|
\ \ |
/ |
/ 'i |
' \ |
||||||||||||
|
V ' |
' |
/ |
V |
||||||||||||
|
' |
1 |
/ |
|||||||||||||
|
f\ |
/ |
||||||||||||||
|
J |
|||||||||||||||
|
IZ |
|||||||||||||||
|
tz |
|||||||||||||||
|
tz |
|||||||||||||||
|
tz |
|||||||||||||||
|
_ |
^ |
. wrrKLY tARNit/tj
. AvcMtt anNiuti (ttxqp
TAMILV No. 103
|
a/uoHu |
Mtft jvnrt jvLf.* AUS.I Autit scptu ecuf m<ai erc./t jahu ma uaaj] apius tiAv, .not /tot net isoi not /tot /tot /tot /tct /tot /tot /tot /tot /tot |
||||||||||||||
|
it II 14. n I* * « * a |
— |
||||||||||||||
|
— |
1 |
, |
— |
||||||||||||
|
1 |
■ |
||||||||||||||
|
--n |
_JL |
||||||||||||||
|
|
—J |
i /^ |
,„^ |
^T^ |
. ■ . 1 PJ^ |
'y. |
— |
||||||||
|
\/ |
1, r" |
\/ |
r |
\ / |
|||||||||||
|
- -J — - |
V-- |
V-' |
-V--1 |
v/--- |
r^\td |
— |
|||||||||
|
.. Ill] |
A |
\/ |
— |
||||||||||||
|
-- i |
-1 |
|
h"- |
7 — |
— — |
|
— |
|
1 |
^f^^ |
|
||||
|
,^- |
— y |
, /~. |
^^ |
||||||||||||
|
-- 4^ |
/ |
— |
|||||||||||||
|
1 |
\ / |
||||||||||||||
|
\/ |
' ' |
||||||||||||||
|
v |
— |
||||||||||||||
|
— |
1 |
||||||||||||||
|
1 1 |
|||||||||||||||
|
I 1 |
"" |
. wrrifLY CAKniMtj _._ rAiK irAnoARDai3.n>
TAMILV No. 110
|
WrCHLT |
M4n mt39 ^uffm juvns At/ea j/^r/» oct/t nov^i4. dcch j4n9 ress maps apih jtpfna. /SC0 1909 tS09 /»06 fS08 t»Qi 1909 n09 1909 J9Q9 l»C9 i$C9 /i09 /909 |
||||||||||||||
|
/I |
. . |
|
|||||||||||||
|
1 |
\ |
A |
|||||||||||||
|
— |
_. /I — |
— '*^'^- |
f_ |
. _ |
>^s,=» |
■f^- |
rA- |
-— |
A — |
— .- |
— |
||||
|
II |
/ \ |
r\ |
f |
\/ |
/ |
\ /- |
'^ / |
||||||||
|
-- |
r "I T * |
V"- |
- - - - |
"/"\ |
J- - - • |
\h- |
- •(- ' |
— -vv- |
'V |
||||||
|
\ \ \ |
\ |
1 ' |
/ \ |
1 |
\ f |
u |
|||||||||
|
ill/ |
\ |
— -.^ |
^1 ^ |
\ 1 |
V |
||||||||||
|
1 1 w |
\ |
/ |
\ 1 |
||||||||||||
|
if 11 |
\ |
/ |
\ 1 |
||||||||||||
|
\\ \\ |
\ |
/ |
w |
||||||||||||
|
1 1 |
\ |
/ |
V |
||||||||||||
|
, |
wcritLf eAKjj/t/ej .^
Avnute tAKMNssatat _
.._„. MIHIIAUM fTANOAKOtttSf*
APPENDIX , 167
VI. Making Both Ends Meet.
Opinion may well differ regarding the value of general estimates of the amounts necessary for the maintenance of a subsistence or a fair standard. A thoughtful reader of these individual family budgets is forced to admit that the amounts which they al- low for the various items are in most cases pain- fully small. Here the item of food assumes fair proportions; there fifty or sixty dollars are spent for recreation; again the cost of clothing reaches $150; yet, on the whole the smallness and not the largeness of the items is impressive.
To those members of the middle income class, who estimate yearly income in thousands of dollars, incomes of hundreds of dollars seem insig- nificant, yet it remains true that among the wage- earners engaged in American industry, not more than one in ten has an annual income of $1,000, and over, while fully half fall below $600. The vast majority of wage-earners must therefore estimate their incomes in terms of hundreds. The individ- ual budgets, cited in the appendix, which might be duplicated at will, in tens of thousands of instances, bespeak eloquently the economic struggle of those who do the work of the modern industrial world.
INDEX
Adult Males : Wages of, 126.
Budgets, Economic changes, 67. Budget Making: Family, 6.
Clothing :
Fair Standard of Living, 74.
Minimum Standard of Living, 65. Cost of a Standard of Living, 82.
Summary, 96. Crises :
Effect on Income, 28.
Efficiency Standard of Living:
Necessity for, 122. Expenditure and Family size, 50. Expenditures :
By Income Group, 51.
Objects of, 49, 51.
Fair Standard of Living:
Cost of, 89.
Defined, 70. Family Budgets:
Analysis of Individual, 45.
Compilation of, 47. Family Income:
Contribution of women and children, 108.
Distribution of, 113.
Percentage from various sources. 111.
Family Income — confd. Sources of, 34, 99, Standard of Living and^ 128. Family Size:
Expenditures and, 60. Food: Menu for Fair Standard of Liv- ing, 72. Menu for Minimum Standard,
64. Needs of Various Persons for,
59. Kequirements in a Standard of Living, 58.
Goods:
As a Basis for Study, 54.
Housing.
Fair Standard of Living, 73.
Income :
Adult Males, 101.
California, 104.
Compared with Standards of Living, 106.
Lawrence, 103.
Little Falls, 103.
Manufacturing, 101.
New Jersey, 103.
Steel Industry, 102. Contribution of Women to, 33. Family, Sources of, 111. In Kind, 100. Problems of, 11-12.
169
170
INDEX
Income — cont'd.
Standard of Living and, 98.
Standard of Living, Fall River, 116,
Sources of Family, 34, 99.
Supplementary Sources of, 32.
Unemployment and, 105. Income and Expenditure Con- trasted, 37. Income and Living Standards, 13. Industry :
Modern Organization of, 16.
Males :
Income of, 101. Machinery :
• Effect on Income, 26. Minimum Standard of Living:
Cost of, 62.
Elements in, 63.
Overwork :
Effect on Income, 20.
Kailroads :
Opportunities for Advance- ment on, 14.
Sickness and Accident, 22. Standard of Living:
As Shown in Family Budgets, 45.
Averaging Income and Ex- penditure, 47.
Chapin, Study of, 61.
Clothing, Minimum Standard, 65.
Cost of, 82, 124.
Cost of. Summary, 96.
Determination of Efficiency, 124.
Standard of Living — confd. Effects of low, 38. Elements in, 55. Estimates of, 44. Expenditures :
By Income Group, 51.
Family Size and, 50. Fair:
Clothing, 74.
Cost of, 89.
Housing, 73.
Menu for, 72.
Requirements of, 71. Fair or Normal Standard,
Definition, 70. Family Income and, 128. Federal Study of, 62. Food:
Family Needs,
Computation of, 60.
Menu for Minimum Stand- ard, 64.
Requirements, 58. Forms, 55.
Goods as a Basis for, 54. Income and, 13, 98, 116. Income of Adult Males and,
106. Meaning of, 44. Methods of Determining, 63. Minimum Cost of, 82. Minimum, Defined, 63. Necessity for EflSciency, 122. Need for Local Investigation,
130. Objects of Expenditure, 49-51 Specific Items in, 57. Studies of, 46. The Family Standard, 119. Underfeeding, 39. Value of goods, Standard, 70.
INDEX
171
Subsistence :
Minimum of, 36. Supplementary Income Sources, 32.
Unemployment:
EfTect on Income, 26-27.
Income and, 105. Underfeeding:
Extent of, 39. Chicago, 40.
Wage Earner :
Dilemma of the, 41, 121.
Problem of the, 129. Wages :
Forces determining, 17-19.
Adult Males, 126. Women :
Contributing to Family come, 38, 108. Workingman's Dilemma, 41.
In-
|
University of California SOUTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY 305 De Neve Drive - Parking Lot 17 • Box 951388 LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA 90095-1388 Return this material to the library from which it was borrowed. |
|||
|
"""TZIII— — - |
|||
|
GAYLORD |
PBINTEOINU.S.A. |
'jC SOUTMEfN fEGiON
A 000 541 912 2
.'* /-"■/ t*^
.^ r ♦'?*.*: ?:,f.*-^,f 7
'> ^:^r\^'^'t'0 -r
; \ i/;
^ ■^■'*' :..•-, V, i., ar t ,;^,-\, , ,.
'^■m.j¥-
-^■vf
^■¥^U¥.^'
-■, .■"**'V "Sfe V
.v^..4V>T'