CHAPTER VII. GENERAL PROGRESS AND ASSIMILATION. Ownership of homes-Status of children in the households studied-CitizenshipAbility to speak English-[Text Tables 63 to 70 and General Tables 41 to 47]. OWNERSHIP OF HOMES. The accumulation of property serves as an indication of thrift on the part of the owner. If the owner is a person of foreign birth, the acquisition of a home shows also an intention to reside permanently in the United States. In this connection, the following table is submitted, which shows, by general nativity and race of head of family, the number and percentage of families owning homes. The preceding table shows that of the total number of families studied 14.8 per cent own homes. The foreign-born group reports a much higher percentage of families owning homes than either that native-born of native father or that native-born of foreign father, who follow in the order mentioned. Danes report one-half of the families investigated as owning homes, followed by Germans, Irish, English, and Armenians in the order mentioned, the last-named race having only 6.3 per cent of families who own homes. TABLE 63.—Number and per cent of families owning home, by general nativity and race of head of family. STATUS OF CHILDREN IN THE HOUSEHOLDS STUDIED. The table next presented is instructive as indicating the tendency on the part of children in families of the employees of the collar and cuff industry to attend school or to begin to work when the working age is reached. The table shows, by general nativity and race of individual, the percentage of children 6 and under 16 years of age in the households studied who were at home, at school, and at work. TABLE 64.-Per cent of children 6 and under 16 years of age at home, at school, and at work, by general nativity and race of individual. (STUDY OF HOUSEHOLDS.) [This table includes only races with 20 or more children reporting. The totals, however, are for all races.] The above table shows that 3.8 per cent of the total number of children reporting are at home, 89.8 per cent are at school, and 6.5 per cent are at work. Foreign-born families show the highest percentage of children at home, followed in the order named by those native-born of native father and native-born of foreign father. Native-born of native father report the highest percentage at school, followed by native-born of foreign father and foreign-born in the order mentioned. Native-born of foreign father report the highest percentage at work, followed by foreign-born and native-born of native father, the latter showing a somewhat smaller percentage than the two first mentioned. Those native-born of Danish father show the highest percentage at school and Germans the highest percentage at work, neither race showing any individuals at home. CITIZENSHIP. The following table shows, by race of individual, the present political condition of foreign-born males in the households studied who have been in the United States five years or over and who were 21 years of age or over at time of coming to this country. TABLE 65.-Present political condition of foreign-born males who have been in the United States 5 years or over and who were 21 years of age or over at time of coming, by race of individual. (STUDY OF HOUSEHOLDS.) [By years in the United States is meant years since first arrival in the United States.] The above table shows that of the total number of males reporting complete data, 72.5 per cent are fully naturalized and 10 per cent have first papers only. ABILITY TO SPEAK ENGLISH. The following table shows, by sex and general nativity and race of individual, the percentage of persons 6 years of age or over in the households studied who speak English. TABLE 66.-Per cent of persons 6 years of age or over who speak English, by sex and general nativity and race of individual. (STUDY OF HOUSEHOLDS.) [This table includes only non-English-speaking races with 40 or more persons reporting. The totals, however are for all non-English-speaking races.] The preceding table shows that of the total number of persons reporting, 90.9 per cent can speak English; 95.9 per cent of males can speak English as contrasted with 86.7 per cent of females. Nativeborn of foreign father report all of their number as able to speak English, foreign-born showing much smaller proportions. It will be observed that among the foreign-born races the percentage of Armenians speaking English is considerably lower than that of the Germans. The following table shows, by age at time of coming to the United States and race of individual, the percentage of foreign-born persons 6 years of age or over in the households studied who speak English: TABLE 67.-Per cent of foreign-born persons 6 years of age or over who speak English, by age at time of coming to the United States and race of individual. (STUDY OF HOUSEHOLDS.) [This table includes only non-English-speaking races with 40 or more persons reporting. The total, however, is for all non-English-speaking races.] The preceding table shows that 100 per cent of persons who were under 14 years of age at the time of coming to the United States speak English, while 77.7 per cent who were 14 years of age or over at the time of arrival in the United States can speak English. Germans show 100 per cent of persons 14 years of age or over at the time of arrival in this country who can speak English as compared with 67.1 per cent of Armenians who were 14 years of age at the time of coming to this country. The progress made by the members of the non-English-speaking races in acquiring the ability to speak English after stated periods of residence in this country is indicated in the following tables. The first of these shows the percentage of foreign-born persons 6 years of age or over who speak English, by race of individual and by years in the United States. TABLE 68.-Per cent of foreign-born persons 6 years of age or over who speak English, by years in the United States and race of individual. (STUDY OF HOUSEHOLDS.) [This table includes only non-English-speaking races with 40 or more persons reporting. The total, however, is for all non-English-speaking races. By years in the United States is meant years since first arrival in the United States.] The above table shows that 65.5 per cent of persons who have been in the United States under five years can speak English, 81.1 per cent with a residence of from five to nine years are able to speak English, while 97.2 per cent with a residence of ten years or over can speak English. Germans who have been in the United States ten years or over show a considerably higher per cent who are able to speak English than Armenians with a residence of the same period of time. The table next presented shows the number of foreign-born male employees who speak English, by race and by age at time of coming to the United States. |