H pi IT DEC _ j USING CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYED WOMEN IN THE BOROUGH OF MANHATTAN A STUDY MADE BY THE BUREAU OF SOtlAL HYGIENE WITH THE CO-OPERATION OF AN ADVISORY COMMITTEE Advisory Committee MRS. FRANCIS McNEiL BACON MKS. WILLIAM HENRY HAYS MRS. AUGUST BELMONT MRS. ALFRED E. HESS MRS. WALTER DOUGLAS Miss NELLE SWARTZ Director of Study DR. KATHARINE BEMENT DAVIS General Secretary, Bureau of Social Hygiene, Inc. Assistant Director DK. HESTER DONALDSON JENKINS THE BUREAU OF SOCIAL HYGIENE Incorporated 370 SEVENTH AVENUE NEW YORK CITY HOUSING CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYED WOMEN IN THE BOROUGH OF MANHATTAN A STUDY MADE BY THE BUREAU OF SOCIAL HYGIENE WITH THE CO-OPERATION OF AN ADVISORY COMMITTEE Advisory Committee MRS. FEANCIS McNEiL BACON MBS. WILLIAM HENRY HAYS MRS. AUGUST BELMONT MRS. ALFRED E. HESS MRS. WALTER DOUGLAS Miss NELLE SWARTZ Director of Study DR. KATHARINE BEMENT DAVIS General Secretary, Bureau of Social Hygiene, Inc. Assistant Director DR. HESTER DONALDSON JENKINS THE BUREAU OF SOCIAL HYGIENE Incorporated 370 SEVENTH AVENUE NEW YORK CITY Copyright 1922, by The Bureau of Social Hygiene, Inc. TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE INTRODUCTION Reasons for undertaking the study and some of its results. . . 5 CHAPTER I Method of investigation 13 CHAPTER II Organized Homes 19 CHAPTER III Rooms Registries 23 CHAPTER IV Employed women, in stores, offices and factories 39 CHAPTER V Business and professional women 49 CHAPTER VI Employed colored women 57 CHAPTER VII Suggestions as to housing (from the questionnaires) 65 CHAPTER VIII Some housing experiments 71 TABLES I Table A Organized Homes 78 II Rooms Registries Tables R.R/ 1 to 16c 82 III Organization Tables Org. 1 to 7 105 IV Occupation Tables Oc. 1 to 12 112 V Business and Professional Women Tables B.P. 1 to 5 . . 128 VI Study of Colored Women Col. 1 to 15 132 VII Correlation Tables T. la-6b. . 151 [3] INTRODUCTION The question may very naturally arise as ;to why .the Bureau of Social Hygiene should concern itself in any* way J witK J "the housing problem. In answer we must consider the very great broadening in the use of the term Social Hygiene which has occurred in the last few years. Previous to the World War we in the United States had been accustomed to think of it as applying solely to such questions as the tolerance of a segregated district, regulation of prostitutes by registration or otherwise, medical examination of prostitutes, the white slave traffic, the relation of the police to the whole question, in short, to all the various phases of the Social Evil, particularly its commercialized forms. In England, as well as on the continent of Europe, the concep- tion of Social Hygiene included a consideration of all influences deleterious to social well-being. Thus in France so-called Social Hygiene Societies included in their program the fight against intemperance and tuberculosis. No less an authority than President Emeritus Eliot of Har- vard not long ago pointed out that the housing problems must be taken into account by those agencies which interest themselves in Social Hygiene. There is no difference of opinion as to the effect of extreme over-crowding resulting from an insufficiency of dwelling-houses in the lowering of all standards. The high rents consequent upon these conditions undoubtedly impose a strain upon unattached em- ployed women at the subsistence level of wages. There is no occasion to enlarge upon the seriousness of the housing situation in Greater New York and particularly in the Borough of Manhattan. For those who work in the latter borough and must live elsewhere the problem of transportation is involved. In the past two years agencies both public and private have taken up the housing problem from various points of view, con- sidering causes and remedies for existing conditions. In all of these studies, however, it has been the question of family housing that has been under consideration. [51 6 HOUSING CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYED WOMEN. Giving to the character of its work, questions concerning the effect of the housing situation upon the self-supporting girl and wpman h.ave -he'en , frequently referred to the Bureau of Social H.ygiefie.. We have not, been in a position to answer most of these with anything like denniteness. For example, "Is it true that practically all young women em- ployed in department stores live at home?" Talking of the hous- ing situation recently with the head of one of our large retail establishments he remarked, "It does not particularly concern us for less than six per cent, of our women employees live outside of their parents homes." Another writes, "Is it desirable that more organized and sub- sidized homes for girls be established? Do working girls want to live in them?" Or, "How effective are rooms registries?" "Are they exten- sively patronized?" "Are more needed?" etc. etc. In view of these questions and our own feeling that conditions of housing are among the fundamentals in our problem we decided to undertake at least a brief survey of the situation. We preferred to approach the subject from the side of the women actually self-supporting at the time of the study. How far factors resulting from over-crowding such as insufficient air- space, lack of opportunity for cleanliness, loss of personal modesty, or possible transmission of disease, affect the earning capacity of women subjected to them, was a subject we did not undertake to investigate. There can be no difference of opinion as to their anti-social consequences. The difficulties of such a study made by a private organization are many and have chiefly to do with the fact that it has no au- thority behind it and is dependent for its material upon its ability to "sell" the idea of its desirability. The relative advantage of the questionnaire versus the personal interview method was con- sidered. The former seemed certain to give the greater volume of data in proportion to time and money expended and was decided upon although its limitations were recognized. It seemed inadvisable to prolong the study for the purpose of securing additional data inasmuch as rates of wages and level of rents are liable to variations within rather short periods. The information presented was obtained ; first, from fifty-eight INTRODUCTION. Organized Homes in the Borough of Manhattan; second, 9460 employed women filled out and returned our questionnaire ; third, data was furnished concerning 9060 other women who had applied for rooms at the Rooms Registries studied between January 1, 1920 and April, 1921. Some of the facts obtained from a study of the statistical data I (a) There are fifty-eight non-commercial Organized Homes in Manhattan affording accommodations to 4417 employed women. The increase of 20 per cent, since 1915 in the number cared for has not kept pace with the demand. All the homes have long waiting lists see Table A. (b) Out of 8635 replies to the question as to present housing only one per cent, came from women now living in Organized Homes. Nineteen per cent, of 6966 women replying to this ques- tion would prefer to live in such homes (Org. Tables 3 and 4 and B. & P. Table 5) (See Table A and Chapter II for further discussion). II (a) During the year 1920 over 19,000 women applied to the three largest Rooms Registries in Manhattan. The Young Women's Christian Association registered 15,540 applicants in its various branches ; Bureau of Boarding Houses, 2836, and the Young Women's Hebrew Association, 1032. (b) In the Central Branch of the Young Women's Christian Association the average price paid for room was $7.46 per week, the largest number taken at any one price (i.e. the mode) being $7.00. (c) At the Young Women's Hebrew Association all but 9 women were placed in permanent quarters, 51 per cent, of all applicants placed being supplied with board and room in the same place. (d) Both the average rent per week and the mode of rent paid by applicants to the Young Women's Hebrew Association was less than for the Young Women's Christian Association, the aver- age rent in the former being $6.25, while the mode was only $5.00. In both cases the rates are less than the corresponding figures for the women employed in stores, offices and factories who filled out the questionnaires, as is shown by Org. Table 1. 8 HOUSING CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYED WOMEN. PRICE PAID FOR ROOMS ORG. TABLE 1 ROOMS REGISTRY CENTRAL BRANCH PRICE OF ROOM PER WEEK No. OF CASES % PRICE OF ROOM PER WEEK No. OF CASES % Less than $10.00 $10.00 . . 2,012 763 46 17 Less than $10.00. . $10.00 5,221 937 77 13 Over $10.00 1,571 36 Over $10.00 572 8 Mode $10.00 4,346 763 Mode $7.00 6,730 2,055 Average $10 63 Average $7.85 The difference is at least partly accounted for by the fact that many strangers in the city go to the Rooms Registries before they secure positions. For further data drawn from the Rooms Registry records see Chapter III and the R. R. Tables. Ill (a) While all of the women studied are employed in offices, stores and factories in Manhattan, fifty per cent, live outside the borough. For them transportation is a serious problem .(Org. Table 7). (b) One-half of all the women reporting have dependents (Org. Table 5). (c) Sixty-nine per cent, of those reporting live with their families. Out of 5293 women working in fifteen department stores (some large and some small) 4206 or 79 per cent, stated that they live with their families (Org. Table 3 and page 44). (d) Nineteen per cent, of those who did not live with their families were living in housekeeping apartments, while sixty-three per cent, would prefer housekeeping if they could afford it. (e) The ages vary from twelve individuals fourteen years old to two who are seventy-five. Seventy-two per cent, are under thirty. The largest age group is twenty to twenty-four. (f) Wages or salaries vary from that of six individuals who earn less than $6.00 to that of two who earn $75.00 per week. (g) The average weekly rent paid by the group is $10.63, INTRODUCTION. 9 while the mode is $10.00. The average is somewhat raised by the very high rents paid by a comparatively few individuals. Other interesting facts are brought out by the Correlation Tables T la-T 6b. IV One thousand and forty-two out of the 1456 business and professional women who filled out the questionnaires were teachers in our public schools. (a) The average salary for this group was $2350.69. The mode lay in the group earning between $1500 and $1800. Here again the average was raised by the comparatively few highly paid individuals (B. P. Table 3). (b) The mode in this group was $10.00 for weekly rent, the same as that of the workers in shops, offices and factories, but the average, $13.53, is nearly $4.00 higher (Oc. Table 6). (c) A study of Oc. Tables 6 and 8a shows that in this group as in the others the very high percentage live with their families or in housekeeping apartments and prefer so to live. In other words, women want their own homes even though it entails more work and more responsibility. V Data was available concerning 386 colored women who ap- plied for rooms at the Colored Branch of the Rooms Registry of the Young Women's Christian Association in Harlem. And 678 employed women filled in the questionnaire. (a) The mode for rent paid by colored women who applied at the Colored Branch was $2.00 less than that of those applying at the Central Branch, while the average paid was $1.99 less (R. R. Table 4). (b) Nearly half of these were transients (48 per cent.) and all were found rooms only (R. R. Tables 1 and 2). (c) Thirty-seven per cent, only were under 30 years of age. (d) The mode for rent paid by the 678 workers who filled out the questionnaires was the same as that found in the Rooms Registries, namely, $5.00. The average was $5.19 (Col. Table 3). Table 3). (e) The average wage received by the entire group filling in the questionnaire was $17.20 per week. It seems probable that the wage level is about the same for both groups studied. (f) Only forty-one per cent, of these women lived with their families (Col. Table 9). This is a smaller group than any for 10 HOUSING CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYED WOMEN. which we have data with the exception of the white domestic servants. (g) Of those who expressed a preference as to housing (509 out of 678) seventy- three per cent, would prefer to keep house in an apartment if rents were not prohibitive (Col. Table 13). Like their white sisters they prefer their own homes. (h) The percentage of women having dependents is precisely the same as in the white group. Further details of the situation as to colored women will be found in Chapter VI and in Col. Tables 1-15. VI The consideration of the needs of the older woman is im- portant. She is not received in most Organized Homes. She is frequently not wanted in rooming and boarding houses. In occu- pations other than professional her earning capacity decreases after forty years. She greatly prefers an independent home (Table T 4a). VII There is no indication of any lowering of rents. R. R. Table 16 (a) shows increases in the first three months of 1921 over those paid in 1920. A discussion of the various suggestions as to housing made by the women themselves who filled the questionnaires will be found in Chapter VII, while Chapter VIII describes several interesting experiments in the housing of employed women. Only a partial analysis of the data presented in the tables is given above. Many other relationships can be discovered by more intensive study of the tables. We have deliberately refrained from illustrating this study by relating any of the many "human interest" stories in our posses- sion. We have preferred to present our results in statistical form. Certain general conclusions, however, have been reached by the Committee : First: Notwithstanding the admirable and at this time un- doubtedly necessary work done by organized and subsidized homes, this method of caring for employed girls is economically unsound. Even were it desirable to meet the housing situation in this way it would be absolutely impossible to secure benefactions adequate to the needs. Second: Rooms Registries are a most important agency in making available to the employed woman clean, comfortable and INTRODUCTION. 11 safe quarters. They likewise serve a useful purpose in bringing respectable lodgers to householders who are in a position to rent one or more rooms as well as valuable to professional rooming house keepers. They are as yet in no case even approximately self-supporting. They need further standardization, co-operation and above all publicity. Many a girl who has been led by news- paper advertisements to take a room, undesirable from both con- siderations of health and morals, has not known of the existence of such a helpful agency. Undoubtedly further development will lead to reduction of costs, but for the immediate future they must be supported largely by private contributions. Third: The great desire on the part of the majority of em- ployed women is a home of their own. This was shown in every group studied. The greatest contributions to the whole problem of their hous- ing will lie along the line of experimentation as to what can be done to provide one or two room suites with bath and tiny kitchen- ette either in houses containing only this type of apartment or in houses or tenements containing also large suites. The solution of the question will only be reached when such apartments can be built and rented within prices which can be met by the various employed groups and still net say five per cent, on the investment. Location and transportation facilities must also be considered. The problem is not an easy one to solve. METHOD OF INVESTIGATION The plan of study and sources of information In 1915 Miss Esther Packard, working under a committee of the Metropolitan Board of the Young Women's Christian Asso- ciation, made an excellent study of living conditions of employed women in New York City. The plan included, first, the investiga- tion of the resources, policies and work of the non-commercial Organized Homes for girls, together with the study of the social needs of the girls living in them, and, second, the study of the housing conditions of girls who are living away from home, but who were not reached by these houses. The study, on the insti- tutional side, was made by visiting each such home in New York City, talking with the superintendent in charge, and, in some cases, examining the records and accounts. In order to get into intimate touch with the life of such places, an experienced investi- gator lived in fifteen of these homes, averaging a week in each. In the six months given to this investigation, data was obtained from 842 girls. Owing to the great economic changes of the last six years, a cer- tain part of the data that was obtained, notably in regard to prices and wages, is not accurate for today. Other sections of the report, such as that on the constructive work of Organized Homes, restrictions and regulations in homes, with the attitude of the girls toward them, and the question of self-government, were treated so ably in the Young Women's Christian Association report, and are so unchanged today, that there is no need to repeat that work. The plan adopted by the committee for the present study pro- posed first, to bring up to date, by personal visits and inquiry, the Young Women's Christian Association investigation of the Organized Homes ; second, to make a study of the principal Rooms Registries which secure living quarters for women, to see in how far they contribute to the solution of the problem; and third, to study the living conditions of selected groups of employed women by means of a questionnaire. [13] HOUSING CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYED WOMEN. The questionnaire The questionnaire, as worked out, was simple, yet it called for the data in regard to present and preferred housing, cost of living, salaries, ages and dependents that the committee desired. The person filling it in was not asked to give her name or address, nor the firm for which she worked ; thus her anonymity was perfectly preserved. We hoped that this fact would take away all feeling that she was betraying her personal circumstances, but it did not do so to the less intelligent women. Many a girl said stiffly, "That is my personal affair," and an unfortunately large number were unwilling to give such important data as earnings and amount of rent paid. Moreover, despite the efforts of the com- mittee to make the questionnaire concise yet clear, many answers were ambiguous, and in some cases did not seem to fall within the phrasing of the question. Owing to the anonymity of the ques- tionnaires, the investigators had no means of checking the ac- curacy of the statements on the cards, and they recognize that either unconscious or wilful misstatements might very easily be made. All of this makes it difficult to draw exact deductions from the material, although the committee feels that general and average results would be but slightly affected by the probable inaccuracy of some of the data. Method of obtaining answers to the questionnaires The plan of the directors was to interest general or employ- ment managers or social workers in factories, stores and offices in our object and gain their co-operation. Starting out .with some of the large establishments, we seemed very successful. The men and women approached recognized the hard conditions produced by the housing shortage, sympathized with the object of the sur- vey, and said they would gladly hand the questionnaires to their women workers. But in no case would they permit our investiga- tors to approach their employees directly. This was the first disappointment, for, as we found out by experience, every middle- man between us and the worker lessened the chance of her interest in the plan and her co-operation. In some cases, however, the manager was so enthusiastic that the employees responded readily. Another approach was to the teachers in the public schools. Dr. Ettinger very kindly permitted the directors to go to the METHOD OF INVESTIGATION. 15 principals of the schools, and state their object, and if the prin- cipal was interested, he would lay the questionnaires before his teachers, who would then fill them in if they chose. No superior in any institution made it obligatory on his em- ployees to give this information. For several months members of the staff went to various estab- lishments trying to interest employers and principals in the sur vey. At first it seemed as if an enormous amount of data would be the result, but gradually the following difficulties declared them- selves some managers of big establishments received the ques- tionnaires courteously, but never turned them over to their em- ployees; others offered the questionnaires to their workers, who were too uninterested to fill them in. In still other cases, the managers made considerable effort to get their workers to fill in the cards, but met with only partial success, owing to suspicion, lack of public spirit, or absence of interest on the part of the employees. The best results were obtained from the more in- telligent class, who gave thought to their answers, and the poorest results came from the foreign-born factory workers. A special study was made of the colored women of upper Harlem, as the congestion there is very great and the need for more houses and better protection for young womanhood is clamorous. A colored woman was secured from the Young Women's Christian Associa- tion to take the questionnaires to employers. In this case one of the great difficulties was that the women in filling in the ques- tionnaires would often omit the most important questions, thus rendering their data less valuable. The total number of questionnaires filled in fairly satisfactorily in this investigation was 9460. Several hundred others had to be thrown away, because they contained no information of value, a good many containing only the occupation and age of the worker. Still others were returned too late to be included in the tables. The data from white workers came from 22 factories, 15 stores, 17 offices, 3 professional club lists, the public schools and libraries, the Manhattan Trade School, 5 clubs and settlements and 6 publishing houses. The data for the colored women was taken from 65 establishments, including 29 small factories, the Young Women's Christian Association and 9 offices, 1 store, 5 laundries and several sewing and dressmaking establishments. 16 HOUSING CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYED WOMEN. The three investigators visited fruitlessly some three hundred firms who refused to hand out the questionnaires. Their reasons were various and some of them cogent. The manager of one big institution said that their employees were very nervous about wages and would view such a questionnaire as a means of learning whether they could not live on less than they were earning, in short as a prelude to reducing wages. Others said that question- naires had been overdone, and that their employees were tired of giving out information. A manager of a large bank felt that the employees would suspect the directors of ulterior motives if they allowed such a questionnaire to be circulated. In still other cases, the employers would have co-operated had they not been moving or in some especial rush of business. The directors of the survey were obliged to recognize while it was practically no effort for an intelligent worker to fill in a ^questionnaire, that for a manager to lay the matter before several hundred employees so as to gain their interest, and then distribute and collect questionnaires, was a considerable task; and they are very grateful to those public-spirited and courteous employers and managers who undertook this work. In a small number of cases a manager or employer was plainly not interested in such survey, nor in the housing question. The questionnaires were filled in, as we have said, mainly by workers in stores, in factories, in offices, and in public schools and libraries. To these were added lawyers and physicians, whose names were obtained from official lists, members of the Business and Professional Women's Club and the Civic Club, residents of social settlements, nurses' clubs, organized homes and trade schools. From this last named source we obtained the records of women who work daytimes and study a trade in the evening, and this included domestic workers, a good many dressmakers and sewing women and others not found in the above lists. The offices were some of them small offices with one stenographer and some of them large establishments with 50 to 5000 clerical workers. Those who gave the information range from statisti- cians to telephone girls, with general office workers in the lead. In the stores, naturally, saleswomen predominate, but cashiers, clerical workers and stock girls also are numerous. Hand workers, young girls acting as messengers, etc. and a very few highly paid METHOD OF INVESTIGATION. 17 women, such as buyers and advertisers, are included in this group. Domestic and personal workers include besides cleaners, cooks and maids, all personal attendants, such as untrained nurses, gover- nesses, etc. and also women doing such personal work for clients as is done in beauty parlors, manicuring, hairdressing and simi- lar work. The factories embrace a varied group, best understood from the Table Oc. 3. The business and professional women include besides the lawyers, physicians, nurses, librarians, teachers and social workers listed, smaller numbers of sellers of bonds and insurance, busi- ness managers, bankers, architects, musicians and writers and journalists. II ORGANIZED HOMES FOR EMPLOYED WOMEN IN THE BOROUGH OF MANHATTAN, NEW YORK CITY Definition By Organized Homes, we mean boarding houses for self-sup- porting women and girls, whose object is not commercial and which furnish a certain amount of social life and supervision to the residents. The list that the committee presents does not in- clude, on the one hand, purely commercial houses such as the Martha Washington Hotel and the Rutledge Hotel, which, never- theless, occupy an important place in the city's available accom- modations for women ; nor, on the other hand, does it include homes for delinquent girls or places that are purely charitable. Number The list of Organized Homes here given differs from that of 1915 in the following particulars. In 1915 the total number of homes in the Young Women's Christian Association report was fifty-four. Of these 11 have since gone out of existence, one, St. Mary's, 141 West 14th Street, has been omitted as being a purely charitable institution. One, The Shelter for Respectable Girls, has changed its name to the Sister Catherine Home, but has not otherwise changed. The number included in our present list is fifty-eight. Thirteen of these have been opened since 1915. Three previously opened, not included in the Young Women's Christian Association list have been added. The total number of girls ac- commodated in 1915, at once, was 3674, and in 1921 is 4417, showing an increase of 743. This increase of 20.22 per cent, has not kept pace with the increase in demand. The demand for these homes is so great that in response to inquiries it was learned that practically every home was full, and nearly every home had a waiting list. Several had a list so long that their directors re- fused to add any more names. In the summer months the houses are not so crowded, but even then there are few vacancies. The Central Club for Nurses claims to be able to fill four hundred more rooms, and begs for an addition to its building. [19] 20 HOUSING CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYED WOMEN. Plan The ordinary plan for Organized Homes is one fairly large building containing a number of either single or double rooms and occasionally a dormitory, as well as sitting rooms, rooms where light laundry work may be done, baths, and sometimes a roof garden. The public rooms are tastefully furnished and made attractive to the girls and their callers. In most homes there is either a dining room or a cafeteria open to the public as well as to residents, and sometimes there are both. In the Colored Women's Residence Hall, connected with the Colored Branch of the Young Women's Christian Association, no meals are served. A plan for an Organized Home that is essentially different from the above is that of the Girls' Community Club. This consists of several model rooming houses grouped around a club house. The Studio Club, one of the Young Women's Christian Association's Organized Homes, is also beginning to add rooming houses on this plan, as it is realized that the recreational and eating facilities of the club could serve more girls than can be housed there. This plan will be treated more fully later. Price of rooms and board In these homes, the change in prices is as follows : The prices for a room and usually two meals a day and three on Sunday in 1915 (Y. W. C. A. Report, pages 12-17), ranged from $1.50 to $12.00 a week. The prices for the same in 1921 range from $4.00 to $17.00 (Table O. H. 1). This is an increase of 166 per cent, in the minimum and 41.6 per cent, in the maximum rates. Financial aspect of Organized Homes Organized Homes are able to give better living at a relatively low price than can be had at the same rate in other places, for several reasons. In the first place, they are seldom, if ever, en- tirely self-supporting. The building is generally given outright, and also the furnishings, and sometimes it is endowed. The Girls' Community Club claims that it is now self-supporting and can pay 10 per cent, on the investment, but it was started by gifts of money. The second factor in the moderation of charge in these ORGANIZED HOMES FOR EMPLOYED WOMEN. 1 homes is the absence of any attempt to make a profit. No owner makes his living from these homes ; they are non-commercial. The result of these two factors is that the residents in an Organized Home although they may not get better room and board than they could get elsewhere for the money, at least get better parlors and opportunities for recreation and many of the advantages of a club at a price for which they could not possibly buy them elsewhere. Economic consideration Whether as a large economic problem it is well to accustom girls to a scale of living for which they cannot pay and which they cannot keep up after marriage; or whether, if on a large scale, homes are established that accommodate women for less money than commercial establishments could afford, it would not tend to depress women's wages, are fair questions. Perhaps an ideal plan would be to furnish the very best accommodations that could be secured for a price within the reach of the class in mind, and still yield from 5 to 10 per cent, on the investment of capital. Whether this can be done at the present cost of construction without interesting philanthropy to present the original building is doubtful. Data from questionnaires Turning to the questionnaires for data, we find that out of 5000 manual, clerical and mercantile women, seventy-nine stated that they live in Organized Homes; and of 1456 business and professional women, thirty-six lived in such institutions. Of the seventy-nine, only twenty-five said that they preferred Organized Homes, but of the thirty-six professionals, thirty-four preferred this life. The ages of the manual, clerical and mercantile women in Homes, show that most of them are between fourteen and twenty- five years of age, while the largest number of the professional group is between twenty-five and thirty-five. As the age limit for the Homes is generally thirty-five, the ages are of necessity low. The fact that the Young Women's Christian Association's HOUSING CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYED WOMEN. Homes take in a certain number of transients without respect to age or wage is an interesting one. These houses thus meet a real need in providing respectable accommodations for older women who are in the city for but a short time, or who need a place to come to while looking for permanent quarters. The prices for transients are, however, much higher than those for permanent roomers, $1.50 a night being not uncommon. Ill STUDY OF ROOMS REGISTRIES Next in importance to a sufficient supply of safe rooming ac- commodations for employed women is some arrangement by which they may find the rooms. To meet this need, there are a number of rooms registries in Manhattan. These generally consist of an office in which is kept the list of available rooms, boarding houses and Organized Homes to which persons desiring accom- modations may apply, in some cases paying a small fee and in others receiving gratuitous service. The committee obtained a list of Rooms Registries in Manhattan which included nine agen- cies finding accommodations for women. The information follow- ing is the result of correspondence, personal visitation and de- tailed study of records. The Rooms Registry of The League of Catholic Women is only a few months old and has but few records. It has taken this work from the hands of the Carroll Club. The director states that it places about seventy-two girls a month. About fifteen are placed in Catholic Organized Homes and the rest are sent to rooms in private apartments. The Rooms Registry of the Community Service has grown out of its activities for the soldiers and until very recently has worked almost exclusively for men. Since April, 1921, however, it has become a general Rooms Registry, and is investigating rooms for women as well as men. Its records are not as yet of value. The Travelers' Aid Rooms Registry is exclusively for tran- sients and keeps very slight records. The Columbia University Board and Room Direction has a Rooms Registry for students of Columbia. In the summer of 1920 it was asked to provide for 3500 students for the summer session, and during the year to provide for 3000 students. The prices of the rooms that are available range from an occasional room for $5.00 to $16.00 a week. The average price, they say, is $8.00 a week. Students quite generally want kitchen privi- leges where they may do their own laundry and some cooking, and thus reduce costs. Near Columbia is the Institute of Musical Arts, which has a [23] 24 HOUSING CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYED WOMEN. Rooms Registry for its students. This meets much the same con- ditions as Columbia except that it places relatively few and keeps few records. As its applicants are music students they have to pay a little more than the Columbia students. These school regis- tries are samples of the Rooms Registries to be found in connec- tion with many of the private day schools of the city. One of the most important Rooms Registries for women in Manhattan, of those chosen for special study, is that of The Asso- ciation to Promote Proper Housing for Girls. As the cards for individual records are very incomplete, we cannot handle these records statistically. The Association to Promote Proper Housing for Girls, Inc., Bureau of Boarding Houses In February, 1913, at a conference of women interested it was decided to open a Bureau of Boarding Houses for Girls, where all the vacancies in the organized houses for girls might be re- ported daily, so that girls applying for board might be placed with the least expenditure to them of time, anxiety and carfare. The demand from girls for room and board proved far in excess of the accommodations to be found in the Organized Homes and it became necessary to investigate boarding and rooming houses to meet the need of the girls for a decent and safe place to live. In order that a special effort towards standardization might be made of boarding and rooming houses, the Association to Pro- mote Proper Housing for Girls was formed in 1915 and the bureau fell under its care. In connection with the Bureau of Boarding Houses is run the Girls' Community Club, but the budget of the Bureau of Board- ing Houses is entirely separate. As the object of this bureau is service and its office receipts are very small, the only charge being twenty-five cents paid upon first application by any woman who is earning over $6.00 a week, and a fee of one dollar for registered boarding houses it is not self-supporting. It is financed by a board of directors and a membership of about 900 members and donors. The work of the bureau has expanded so rapidly, an opportunity for a branch association having opened, that an increased income is now desired. The Bureau of Boarding Houses employs a staff of four women, STUDY OP ROOMS REGISTRIES. 25 who examine every house and room to which it sends applicants. Great pains are taken to find out whether the rooms submitted are really vacant and suitable before the applicants are sent to see them. The staff reports weekly to an investigation committee, which is composed of representatives from different parts of the city. The committee must pass on all houses before they can be ad- mitted to the list of the bureau. If it is necessary, the matter is referred with criticism to the landlady, who has a chance to bring up her standard, which the committee has not found sufficiently high. The standards of this committee in common with those of the other registries studied are cleanliness, suitable furnishings, ample heat, telephone (in the house or at some near-by place where arrangements can be made to call the landlady) and a thoroughly responsible person in charge. The Young Women's Hebrew Association The Rooms Registry Bureau located in the 110th Street build- ing of the Young Women's Hebrew Association is supervised by an independent committee of women and is maintained by a sepa- rate budget. It employs a secretary and an assistant. Its policy is to discover private homes of good character which will offer room and board to employed girls at moderate rates. It chooses homes where the girls can be in a measure members of the family, and where the landlady will take a personal interest in the girl. Accordingly, its records show a large proportion of girls placed with room and board. The Young Women's Christian Association The Young Women's Christian Association maintains six Rooms Registries, one at each of the following branches : Central, Har- lem, West Side, Bronx and The Colored Women's and one at the Margaret Louisa. These six registries are co-ordinated through the Bureau of Rooms Registries, a department of Young Women's Christian Association city administrative system, estab- lished in 1919 when the demands upon the separate registries were such that the need of a central clearing house and a co-ordinat- ing system through which uniform standards and methods might be reached was found to be imperative. 26 HOUSING CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYED WOMEN. With the establishment of the bureau, duplication has been done away with. All the information obtained by any branch is at the service of all the others, thus effecting a great saving of time and effort, as well as of money, and an improved service. Through the bureau the various registries are kept in touch with such organizations and institutions as relate to the Rooms Registry service. The bureau keeps a constant survey of con- ditions as they affect and are affected by Rooms Registry, and endeavors to bring the possibilities of the Rooms Registry service to the attention of persons and organizations that might profit- ably make use of it, if they are not already doing so. During the year 1920, these six registries received a total of 15,540 applications for rooms. Of this number 7285 are known to have been placed. The large majority of these applicants were placed in private homes which had been investigated by the registry staff workers. This work entailed the services of nine persons giving their entire time to the work and five more giving part time, the total service being that of 10 1-2 persons. The total expenditure for Rooms Registry work in the Association for 1920 was $18,121.09. This expenditure represents the salaries, carfares, file cards, stationery, postage and incidental expenses. It does not, however, include office rent, heat, light, or telephone, as those items are covered by the general budget. Under the supervision of the bureau standards of Rooms Registry work in the Association have risen steadily. Each room now listed by the Association represents not merely a careful in- vestigation of the house and neighborhood, but a personal call upon one reference given by the housekeeper who lists the room. The bureau requires that at least one reference be a woman, preferably both, and that the references be based upon a personal acquaintance with the housekeeper and her home. The reference of a purely business acquaintance is not considered adequate. The entire work of investigation is closely co-ordinated under the bureau, and each investigation is passed upon at the bureau before it is permitted to go on file at any branch. Registries chosen for special study The only Rooms Registries whose records extended over a con- siderable period and had been kept with sufficient completeness to STUDY OF ROOMS REGISTRIES. 27 make a statistical study worth while are those of the Young Women's Hebrew Association and the Young Women's Christian Association. We chose the Central Branch and the Colored Branch of the latter as typical of the work done by that organization. Method of obtaining the data used in tables These organizations were most courteous in permitting us to use the files of their Rooms Registries. We chose to take all cards which gave the necessary data filed from January 1, 1920, to March 31, 1921, a period of fifteen months. At the Central Branch of the Young Women's Christian Association a careful comparison month by month of the number of cards used with the total number of applicants shows an equal proportion and thus gives a fair cross-section of the whole. The data was taken from the cards by workers from The Library Bureau and later tabulated by them. The card used in these three registries, and, indeed, in prac- tically all of the Rooms Registries of the city, was the same; the completeness with which it was filled out varied widely. It seems to be considered a delicate matter to obtain data as to the ages and incomes of the applicants. In a great many cases this was omitted, and the Bureau of Boarding Houses so seldom got this data that their cards were not useful to this study. On the Young Women's Christian Association cards, the ages are given only as "under thirty" and "over thirty", whereas in the Young Women's Hebrew Association the ages are given exactly. In the Central Branch of the Young Women's Christian Association the salaries are not recorded, whereas they are in the Colored Branch. One difficulty of which all registries complain, is that the appli- cants for accommodations do not report whether they have taken the rooms or not, so that the number of those placed in rooms are always incomplete. These various omissions account for the large number of "not given" in the resultant tables. The Rooms Registries keep a careful description of each room offered to the applicants, but they do not record this description on the cards filed, because of its length. To have taken this data would have been a prohibitively large undertaking. Therefore, we do not know from our records whether a "room" means a room 28 HOUSING CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYED WOMEN. in an apartment with a private family, or one in a professional rooming house, or a room in a hotel or an Organized Home. The directors of the Rooms Registry of the Young Women's Hebrew Association say that in their case it almost always means a room with a private family. They feel that this gives the young girl the best chance of a homelike atmosphere, and when they can arrange it they always ask that the roomer may have her meals in the same house. There are a great many facts, the knowledge of which should be of service in determining the value of the room to the occu- pant, such as whether she has the use of the parlor for company whether she shares her room with anyone, or has any help in pay- ing for it, whether her earnings are supplemented in any way. whether her room is well lighted, heated and ventilated. In the absence of this data, and in the incompleteness of the data given, the committee recognizes that its conclusions can be but tentative. Discussion of Tables Women st tidied Rooms Registries' data included women of the ages of 15 to 70 (Table R. R. 11), of 35 nationalities (Table R. R. 14), 15 leading churches (Table R. R. 15), of two colors and 84 main occupations with subdivisions (Table R. R. 5). This is a pretty fair cross-section of the employed women of Manhattan. There is some difference between the classes placed in rooms by the two branches of the Young Women's Christian Association and the Young Women's Hebrew Association. The Young Women's Christian Association .Central Branch, seems to place women of somewhat higher economic class than does the Young Women's Hebrew Association, the highest room rent paid by the former being $9.00 more than the highest paid by the latter (Table R. R. 4), and the average rental being $7.85 in the Young Women's Christian Association and $4.09 in the Young Women's Hebrew Association. The average salary received by the Hebrew applicants is only $22.18. Unfortunately, the salaries of those placed by the Young Women's Christian Association Central Branch are not given. The earnings of the colored women run some $7.00 lower than those of the Hebrew girls (Table R. R. 8b) ; the average earnings recorded in the Hebrew Rooms STUDY OF BOOMS REGISTRIES. 29 Registry being $22.18 and the average for the colored women being $15.00. As to occupations, the Central Branch records its largest groups as trained nurses, high-grade domestics and clerical workers; the Hebrew Association places more saleswomen, dress- makers, sewing women and clerical workers; and the Colored Branch takes care of more domestics than any other class, teachers forming the next largest group (Table R. R. 5). Occupations We have arranged the occupations in a list of 34, varying from day worker to architect, with many of these items including a variety of workers. For instance, the term "Domestics, high- grade" includes companions, governesses, housekeepers, children's nurses, etc. ; "sewing women" includes embroiderers, seamstresses, bead and crochet workers; while "factory hands" covers a large variety of jobs. Of these 34, the largest group of workers is the nurses and masseuses, who number 992, or over ten per cent, of the total number of workers. Next come the high-grade domes- tics, who number 965, again about ten per cent, of the total. If we take all grades of domestics, we get the surprising percentage of 21 per cent, for the Central Branch, 6 per cent, for the Hebrew Association, and 44 per cent, for the Colored Branch. This fact suggests an interesting change in the habits of domestic workers. Formerly, all servants lived in the houses where they were employed. In New York, the scarcity of land and houses has resulted in apartments so small that the servants can no longer be accommodated there, but must "live out". As they get their food in the houses of their employers, these ser- vants take rooms outside, unless they live at home. This is ap- parent in the tables, where we find 44 per cent, of the applicants to one registry are domestics. Among the colored women, after the domestic workers, the professional women form the largest group 25 per cent. but these professionals are much less highly paid than the profes- sionals among the whites. The list of colored professional women includes fifty-six teachers, twenty-six nurses and masseuses, ten social and religious workers, and four instructors of music. None of the highest paid professions are represented. 30 HOUSING CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYED WOMEN. Churches Taking up the church affiliations of the applicants to the three registries, we learn (from their spoken statement) that the ap- plicants to the Young Women's Hebrew Association are largely Hebrew and (from the tables) that the applicants to the Colored Branch are entirely Christian. However, the Central Branch of the Young Women's Christian Association placed, in fifteen months, not merely Protestants, their co-religionists, but 119 Jews, 1951 Catholics, and 445 women of professedly no church. Ages The ages of those placed by the Rooms Registries vary from 15 to 70. In the Central Branch Registry, the ages are given as "Under Thirty" and "Over Thirty." On that basis, we find 59 per cent, of this registry under thirty years of age, 88 per cent, of the Hebrews under thirty, and 73 per cent, of the colored women under thirty. We conclude that the girl more than the woman applies to these registries for housing, but it would not be fair to conclude that there are more women in New York under thirty than over thirty who need accommodations (Table R. R. ii). Permanence Of the applicants for rooms to the Young Women's Hebrew Association nearly all desire to take permanent rooms, while those placed by the Young Women's Christian Association Central Branch, are found evenly divided between those taking permanent lodgings and those needing only temporary quarters (Table R. R. 2). Prevalence of furnished rooms Of the applicants to the Young Women's Christian Association 98 per cent, live in furnished rooms and 2 per cent, only take rooms and meals in the same house. In the Young Women's Hebrew Association the percentage of furnished rooms is only 49 but in the Young Women's Christian Association Colored Branch it is 100 per cent. The prevalence of furnished rooms confirms data obtained from the questionnaire to the effect that boarding houses are rare these STUDY OF ROOMS REGISTRIES. 31 days. The reason generally given is that food and service are so costly that a few boarders do not pay. Hence the tendency to shut up the dining rooms of the boarding houses and send all the people to the big restaurants and cafeterias. The only boarding houses to which the Young Women's Hebrew Association sends its girls are the six kept by a former social worker who runs these houses as a piece of social service, although, of course, they yield her a living. Cost of rooms The Rooms Registries give data on the cost of rooms only, never of apartments. From 7500 cards of the Young Women's Chris- tian Association Central Branch, the lowest price recorded as paid for a room per week is $2.00 and the highest, $31.00. These two figures are both unusual and not very significant, the real signifi- cance being in the mode. By "mode" we mean the figure about which group the largest number of correlated figures. For in- stance, the mode of price of rooms in this case is $7.00; that is, there were more people paying $7.00 than any other price (Table R. R. 3). There is no appreciable difference between the prices paid by the transient and those paid by the permanent lodgers (Table R. R. 3) although in the Colored Branch the permanent rooms run a little higher than the transient. Of the three Rooms Registries, the Hebrew Association places girls in the cheapest rooms, and the Central Branch in the highest priced. Rather curiously, the cheapest rooms of the Colored Branch are $3.00, while those of the Central Branch are $2.00. and of the Hebrew Association $1.50. Probably the over-crowd- ing in Harlem has shut out the lowest prices in the colored dis- trict (Table R. R. 4). The head of the Young Women's Hebrew Association Rooms Registry advises her applicants not to pay over half of their earn- ings for room and board, unless they are earning more than $30.00 a week. Assuming, for convenience, that $5.00 is the average price for board alone we find that according to Table R. R. 9. 118 out of the 576 women recorded in this registry pay over half of their weekly earnings for room, plus $5.00 for board. One is even calculated as paying $7.00 out of the $8.00 that she earns, although probably $5.00 is too much to allow for board in this 32 HOUSING CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYED WOMEN. case. These rooms, too, are far from adequate for health and happiness. The light in many houses, both natural and artificial, is very poor ; the gas is often so bad that the occupant of the room cannot read after dark. The average earnings of the Hebrew group are $22.18 a week, and the average rental is $4.09; that is, the average percentage of income paid for rent by this group is 18 per cent. Some interesting comparative data as to the relation between earnings and rent is furnished by the monograph prepared by the Bureau of Municipal Research in April, 1921, on "Quantity and Cost Budget for Clerical Workers in New York City." By the "Minimum Health and Comfort" standards, a single woman earning $1118.00 a year is accorded in the budget $260.00 for room and $359.75 for clothes. $1118.00 a year is $21.50 a week. Out of $21.50 a week, this typical clerical worker spends $5.00 a week for room, which is 23 per cent, of her earnings. She spends $6.92 weekly for food, or 32 per cent, of her earnings, and a total of 55 per cent, for her board and lodging. This detail of the budget was obtained from the Rooms Registries that we have been using. "Of these," runs the report, "certain of the agencies re- port a limited supply of rooms for $4,00, and others consider the minimum rate as $6.00. There seems to be a sufficient number of rooms in two or three sections of the city for $5.00 to warrant the adoption of this as a common minimum rate for this investi- gation." Although the large proportion of women who have filled in our questionnaire are earning over $1118.00 a year, the percentage of this budget might be used as a standard of comparison ; namely, 23 per cent, of earnings to be paid for rental, or 55 per cent, for board and lodging, which is practically the estimate of the Young Women's Hebrew Association. Age Taking up the question of ages, we find that practically the same rents are paid by women over thirty as by girls under thirty years of age (Table R. R. 12a). Table R. R. 12b shows that the lowest rent paid was the same for all the age groups except that between 20 and 25 years, which reached the minimum price. The highest prices were paid between the ages of 25 and 30. The STUDY OF ROOMS REGISTRIES. 33 highest room rent paid at all was $20.00, only one person paying it. The highest mode was between the ages of 25 and 30 and the lowest was between the ages 35 and 40, so that women do not seem to advance from glory unto glory as they grow older. At the Young Women's Hebrew Association the highest salary mode is $25.00, for the age group of 25 to 30 years (R. R. 13), and we note that this group pays the highest rental (R. R. 12b), the mode being $5.00 as against $3.00 and $4.00 for the other groups. The colored records show a higher mode of rents (Table R. R. 7c), but the maximum is only $12.00, considerably lower than the highest paid by whites. In this case, the highest rents are paid by the age group 35 to 45, the mode being $7.00. It would seem desirable that there be enough rooms for the white women of the class reached by the Young Women's Hebrew Asso- ciation Rooms Registry, at an average rental of $6.00, or room and board for $11.00. The average earnings are $22.18. The colored women should have sufficient number of rooms at an aver- age rent of $3.00 a week or room and board for $7.00, as their average earnings are $15.00. Comparison by years In noting the cost of rooms, it is not without interest to com- pare the rent of January, February and March of 1920 with the same months in 1921 (Table R. R. 16, a-b-c). In the Young Women's Hebrew Association the lowest rent paid was $2.00 for each month of both years, but the highest jumped from $10.00 in January, 1920 to $20.00 in February, 1921, and dropped to $12.00 in March. The average shows a steady rise in 1920 January being $3.72, February $3.76 and March $4.54, and in 1921 the same rise is noted. This time it is also an advance on the rents of the previous year, as it is $4.10 in January, $4.34 in February, and $4.99 in March. Thus 1921 shows an increase of $.06 a week for January, $.14 for February and $.73 for March. The Colored Branch of the Young Women's Christian Asso- ciation tells a different story. Starting in January, 1920, with a higher minimum rent, namely, $5.00 a week, they dropped to $4.00 in March, 1920. In 1921 they started in January with #4 HOUSING CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYED WOMEN. $5.00 and dropped in March to $4.00. Their highest rents were paid in January and February of 1921, when they paid $10.00, but dropped to $7.00 in March. Their average rentals ran, in 1920, $6.08 in January, $5.43 in February and $6.29 in March. In 1921 they were $6.33 in January, $5.77 in February and $5.60 in March. In these fluctuations, no law is discernible, but a slight; decrease is remarked in March, 1921. The table of the Central Branch of the Young Women's Chris- tian Association shows these facts: The lowest price, $2.00, went up in January and February, 1921 to $3.00, but declined in March to $2.00 once more. The highest rental was paid in January, 1920, after which there was a steady decline the year 1921 being lower than 1920. The average rentals for 1920 were January $7.64, February $7.55 and March $7.46, a slight decrease. In 1921, they were in January $8.17, February $8.10 and March $8.24, an increase over 1920 of $.53 for January, $.55 for February, and $.78 for March. Comparison These three tables show, except for unexplained fluctuations in the colored district, a fairly steady rise of rents from January to March of each year, and an increase of $.04 to $.78 a week be- tween 1920 and 1921. From this data, we can certainly get no suggestion of a decrease in the prices asked for single rooms from March, 1920 to March, 1921. The contribution of Rooms Registries to the housing problem The object of the Rooms Registries is to bring the room and roomer together. It gives the roomer some choice of places to live, and guides her to the most fitting. It protects her from dangerous or undesirable places, and similarly protects the land- lady from undesirable roomers. By making it possible for self-respecting apartment owners or renters to get a decent and fairly congenial class of roomer, and so be willing to accept lodgers, they practically create more ac- commodations. By investigating rooms and landladies and keep- ing in touch with them they make the rooms much more available to the stranger and keep the rooming house industry fairly steady. STUDY OF ROOMS REGISTRIES. 35 Incidentally, they are able to give a great deal of valuable ad- vice to young women who do not know the city and who need direction. Through the war they performed a great service in helping to secure proper accommodations for the thousands of young women who came to New York to replace men withdrawn from industry. During this period their methods were greatly improved and their facilities increased. For the past year and a half the falling off in the number of applicants is undoubtedly due to the industrial depression and the return to their own homes of many young women who have lost their positions. Cost of Rooms Registries An important question which necessarily conditions the exten- sion of these useful agencies is the cost. Those discussed are non- commercial in character. Their support comes from a benevolent public. Their value depends on the thoroughness with which their investigation of rooms is made and the care in assigning applicants. The time given each applicant is a proportion between the number of applicants and the number on the staff. The Rooms Registry Bureau of the Young Women's Christian Association is by far the largest in the city. Its director was not able to give cost of rent, heat, light or telephone service as that was not segregated for each separate department in the budget of the Metropolitan Board. She did, however, furnish the follow- ing statement for the cost of the six Rooms Registries for the year 1920. It covers all expenses exclusive of those mentioned. We quote : "The following figures give some idea of the relation of service- to staff employed and budget expenses. Two computations are given: one on the basis of the number of applications, the other on the basis of known placements. Inasmuch as there are always a great many persons taking rooms assigned who do not report back to the registry, and inasmuch as oftentimes it costs more in time, effort and money for the applicant who does not accept what is offered her, the computation on the basis of application seems more just. 36 HOUSING CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYED WOMEN. COMPUTATION ON BASIS OF NUMBEE APPLYING Applications 15,54*0 Number on staff 10.5 Number of applicants per person employed. 1,480 Total expenditure $18,121.09 Cost per applicant $1.16 COMPUTATION ON BASIS OF KNOWN PLACEMENTS Placements 7,285 Number on staff 10.5 Number of placements per person employed. 693 Total expenditure $18,121.09 Cost per placement $2.48" Known placements are 46.8 per cent, of the applications. The only income from the Rooms Registries of the Young Women's Christian Association is the two dollar per year fee charged landladies who register with them. At the present time there are over 3000 different investigated houses on their lists. No fee is charged the applicants. From the published report of the Bureau of Boarding Houses for 1920 we obtain the data as to number of applicants and the cost. In their financial report expenses of the Rooms Registry are separated from those of the other activities of the Association to Promote Proper Housing for Girls. These include rent, heat and telephone : COMPUTATION ON BASIS OF NUMBEE APPLYING Applications *. 2,836 Number on staff 4 Number of applicants per person employed. 709 Total expenditure (exclusive of repayment of loan with interest) $7,847.20 Cost per applicant $2.76 STUDY OF ROOMS REGISTRIES. 37 COMPUTATION ON BASIS OP KNOWN PLACEMENTS Placements 1,292 Number on staff 4 Number of applicants per person employed. 323 Total expenditure (exclusive of repayment of loan with interest) $7,847.20 Cost per placement $6.15 45.5 per cent, of those applying were placed. The only revenue from the registry is the twenty-five cents charged new applicants earning over $6.00 per week and the fee of $1.00 paid by the registered landladies. Organized and subsidized boarding houses for girls are not sufficiently numerous to meet the need of protected housing for unattached girls in a great city like New York. Even with the high cost per placement, or even per applicant, of the Rooms Registries it is a fair question whether it would not be more socially profitable for the philanthropist anxious to help solve the problem to invest in the latter rather than the former. Adequate publicity would undoubtedly bring their help to in- creasing numbers, but with limited financial resources the care of a much greater number of applicants, at least in the case of the larger registries, would result in decreased efficiency. IV WORKERS IN STORES, OFFICES AND FACTORIES Occupations other them business and professional The questionnaires were obtained from four main sources, stores, offices, factories and public schools, and are generally organized under the heads of Mercantile, Clerical, Manual and Business and Professional. As the questionnaire given to the teachers and other profes- sional and business women differed slightly from that offered to the other groups, we will consider first the former three groups, leaving the business and professional group for special treatment. Occupations The detailed list of occupations in the stores is shown in Table Oc. 1. These include saleswomen, clerical workers, manual workers, and domestic and personal workers. The detailed list of occupations represented in our question- naires from factories is given in Table Oc. 3. This includes the large groups to be found in the stores, excepting saleswomen. The workers in offices include only clerical workers such as stenographers, typists, operators of telephones, dictophones, comptometers, filing and other clerks. Residence All of these women are employed in Manhattan, but only 3807, or about one-half, live in Manhattan itself. Of the remainder 1341 live in Brooklyn, 117 in Queens, 714 in the Bronx, 52 in Staten Island, 348 in Long Island, 465 in New Jersey, 155 in Westchester County, and 327 elsewhere. Of these, a larger pro- portion of factory workers than of the other large groups live in the city (Table Org. 7). Ages The ages of the workers have been arranged by groups of five years; the first group is from ten to fourteen, but the youngest worker on the cards was fourteen. There are twelve in this [39] 40 HOUSING CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYED WOMEN. youthful group. The oldest is in the 74-79 group and stands alone. There are two in the 70-74 group and eighteen others over sixty years of age. The majority are from 15 to 40 years old, and 78 per cent, are under 30 years of age (Table T. 4a). Earnings The question as to earnings is one of the most important in our questionnaire, for the quality of housing that a woman may have depends largely on her earnings. To our disappointment, 963 out of the 7538 questionnaires withheld information on this point. In the office of one department store this question was blue penciled before the cards were distributed. From the re- mainder, we learn that the weekly earnings of these women range from the entirely inadequate sum of $4.00 a week to the very comfortable salary of $75.00 a week. But the $75.00 was much farther than the $4.00 from the average, which is only $19.94. Considering the organizations that pay the wage, we find that the workers in offices earn a little more than those in stores and factories, the average earnings being $21.00 to $19.15 in the stores, and $18.62 in the factories. The highest salary, $76.00, is also paid to an office worker. The lowest wage, namely, $4.00 a week, is paid in a store (Tables Oc. 7 a-b-c). Earnings by age The correlation of earnings by ages is interesting. The highest wage paid to the little girls, that is, those under 15, is $13.00, then it runs way up to $75.00 for the next age group. But this is unusual. The maximum wage of women from 20 years old to 40, rises steadily from $43.00 to $75.00. After the age of 40 the earnings diminish, getting down to $18.00 as the highest earnings of the old women, those over 70 years old. Except for two members of the age group of 15-19, who earn $60.00 and $75.00 a week, the curve rises steadily from $13.00 at 14 years old to $75.00 at 35-39, and then down to $18.00 for the 75-79 age group (Table T 4a). The average earnings do not, however, vary so regularly. The youngest workers average $15.75 a week, then the averages for the next age groups are: $19.85, $21.32, $21.07, $19.95, $20.76, at the age of 44. In this table the women working after that WORKERS IN STORES, OFFICES AND FACTORIES. 41 age are so few that they have been grouped together, and the average wage is $18.21 a week. This shows the highest average weekly earning for manual, clerical and mercantile workers as coming between the ages of 25 and 35. In this they differ from the business and professional women whose highest average earn- ings is in the age group 55-59. In other words, mental work is better paid as one grows older, while manual workers tend to earn less after the age of 35 (Tables T 2 a-b). Earnings by organizations In stores and factories are found workers of various sorts, manual, clerical, domestic and mercantile. For some pur- poses we have tabulated these workers according to their occupa- tion, for instance, as saleswomen, stenographers, cashiers, etc. For other purposes, we consider them as members of an organiza- tion, a store, a factory, or an office. Considering organization groups we find that the lowest earnings of the workers in offices is $6.00 a week, and the highest $75.00 ; the mode is $19.00, and the average $21.00. Workers of all sorts in stores begin with only $4.00 a week and do not get beyond $65.00 a week, thus having a mode of $16.00 compared with the clerical $19.00, and an average of $19.15 to the clerical $21.10. The workers in factories earn from $6.00 to $61.00 a week and their mode is the same as that of the clerical workers, but their average is a few points lower than that of those in stores. The averages run for offices $21.00. for stores $19.15, and for factories $18.62. More briefly, workers in offices are paid a little better than those in stores, and on an average those in factories are paid the least (Table Org. 2). Earnings by occupations Now let us turn to the occupations of the workers as these occu- pations appear in the four organizations. Office workers are employed not only in offices, but also in stores and factories, and are paid a mode of $19.00 a week in offices and factories and of $17.00 in stores. Manual workers are to be found in both stores and factories. The mode of their salaries is $23.00 in stores and $15.00 in factories. There are in fac- tories and stores a certain number of domestics and personal workers, especially where lunches are served to employees. These 42 HOUSING CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYED WOMEN. workers make from $4.00 to $25.00 a week in stores and from $6.00 to $25.00 in factories and trade schools (Tables Oc. 7 a-b-c). Rents by occupations The rent paid weekly by women differs somewhat in the dif- ferent occupational groups. Of the total number who filled in the questionnaires, 2523 office workers, 680 saleswomen, 364 manual workers and 85 domestic and personal workers omitted to answer this question. One hundred and fifty-five living presum- ably with their families say they pay nothing for their lodging. The others range from $2.00 a week to $38.00 (Table Oc. 6). The highest rent, $38.00, is paid by a saleswoman, and the lowest rent among the group of maximum rents, $21.00, is paid by a domestic and personal worker. The maximum for office workers is $33.00 and for manual workers $30.00. Curiously enough, the mode of cost of rent for all of these workers, as well as for the business and professional class is the same, $10.00, but the aver- age for the office workers is $9.05 (Table Oc. 5a), lowest for the domestic and personal workers $7.12 (Table Oc. 5c), the manual workers averaging the highest, $9.48 (Table Oc. 5b). Rents by salaries Are the rents paid by these women reasonable? We can not judge what value the renters obtain for their money, but we have data as to their incomes and can judge whether a proper relation exists between the income and the expenditure for housing. Only one girl earning the smallest wage in our table (Table T. 2a) tells what she pays for rent. She earns between $4.00 and $6.00 per week and pays between $4.00 and $5.00 per week for her room. Eight other women earning low wages actually say they are paying more than they earn for rent. These are the extreme cases, and doubtless are to be explained by private in- comes, help from parents or friends sharing the rent, but we find comparatively few in the entire group who spend for their rooms an amount equal to the allotment, 23 per cent., estimated by the Bureau of Municipal Research in their "Quantity and Cost Budget for Clerical Workers in New York City" (see page ). If 23 per cent, is accepted as a fair estimate of what they should pay, we find that these women are not being housed for a just propor- WORKERS IN STORES, OFFICES AND FACTORIES. tion of their earnings. Only 10 per cent, of the entire group pay less than a quarter of their earnings for rent, 52 per cent, pay from a quarter to a half and 38 per cent, pay over half. The table below, a summary of Table T. 2a, shows the proportions which the women in the different salary groups are paying. PERCENTAGE OP WOMEN IN EACH SALARY GROUP WHO PAY THE SPECIFIED PROPORTIONS OF THEIR EARNINGS FOR ROOM RENT. PROPORTION OP EARNINGS PAID FOR RENT SALARIES OR T?* A i>xrrwna oiro \\Twtr' rjAKJN INUS irrfK VY ilirJK Less than a quarter From a quarter to a half Over half Less than $12. 00 0% 39% 61% $12.00 $15.99 5% 42% 53% 16.00 19.99 20.00 23.99 6% 12% 48% 57% 46% 31% 24.00 27.99 14% 62% 24% 28.00 31.99 13% 65% 22% 32.00 35.99 22% 58% 20% 36. 00 and over 38% 54% 8% TOTAL 10% 52% 38% No one earning less than $12.00 per week paid rent amounting to less than a quarter of her earnings (one-quarter is the closest approximation to 23 per cent, which we are able to make from our table). Of the women earning $36.00 or more, 38 per cent, keep within this proportion. Over half of their earnings are paid for rent by 61 per cent, of the women in the lowest salary group, and by only 8 per cent, in the highest group. The need for cheaper rooms is evidently very pressing, but especially so for the lower salaried women. The mode for rents in the total group is $10.00, while the mode for earnings is $19.00. The average amount paid for rent is $8.99, and the average salary or wage, $19.94. The average rent paid is 45 per cent, of the average salary. Housing It is around the kind of housing in relation to rents that the interest of our study centers. Yet in spite of the importance of 44 HOUSING CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYED WOMEN. the question as to type of present housing, one hundred and six of this group failed to answer. A very large proportion of the workers, especially the younger ones, live with their families. Of those so living there are 82 per cent, of the office workers, 62 per cent, of the mercantile workers, and 70 per cent, of the factory workers (Org. Table 3). A very common reason for the refusal of many managers of large concerns to co-operate with us by distributing the question- naire cards was that the housing problem did not concern their employees as most of them were young and lived at home. In a large department store its social worker made a pre- liminary survey and selected out of 2683 employed women the 208 who stated that they did not live at home to fill out the cards. In calculating the percentage of women in this group who live at home these figures have been taken into account. Even allow- ing for the very small per cent. (7.7) in this one store of those who live outside the family the proportion for the entire group rises to 20 per cent. plus. The most common housing is in the apartment. Eleven per cent, of the office workers, 21 per cent, of those in stores and 20 per cent, of the factory workers live in apartments, and when we realize that a very large proportion of those who live with their families also live in apartments, the number becomes very high. Furnished rooms accommodate 8 per cent, of all the workers, boarding houses only 3 per cent, and Organized Homes, although they are crowded to the limit, accommodate only 1 per cent, of those studied (Table Org. 3). Housing and earnings Comparing housing accommodations with earnings we find no relationship between the amount of wages and the fact that an employed woman of any age prefers to live with her parents or other relatives. The range of wages for women who so live varies from $4.00 to $60.00 per week. Boarding houses are most popular with women earning from $15.25, and furnished rooms with those earning from $10-35. Organized Homes take in the lower waged girls, earning between $12.00 and $30.00 generally. Housekeeping appeals to those earning all grades of salaries from $5.00 to $75.00 a week, but WORKERS IN STORES, OFFICES AND FACTORIES. 45 the largest number of those living this way earn between $15.00 and $35.00 a week (Table T. 3b). Housing and rents Again comparing amounts paid for rent with type of housing we find that those who live with their families cannot or did not ' analyze their own budget in such a way as to indicate the propor- tion of their wages which should be regarded as paid for rent. Thus 339 of the women living at home and filling out the ques- tionnaire say that they pay their whole income for their rent. This probably means that they turn over their pay envelopes to their parents and in return are given what they need for clothing and incidental expenses. One hundred and fifty-six claim to pay nothing for their living; they, one assumes, are of well-to-do parents who give them their living. Thirty-two hundred and fifteen living with their parents do not tell how much they pay, probably because they pay an irregular sum. Where it is stated that a definite amount is paid for rent this varies from $2.00 to $30.00 per week. In the latter case we can probably assume either that the worker is paying the entire cost of a family apartment or that she failed to grasp the meaning of the question. Only three individuals living in boarding houses paid over $20.00 per week for rooms. The range was from $2.00 to $29.00 and the average, $10.28, was slightly higher than for any other type of living. Furnished rooms cost from $2.00 to $38.00, but both average rent and mode are less than in boarding house. The returns from the small group who live in Organized Homes are not of any importance as they probably include both room and board in many instances. The range of rents paid in housekeeping^ apartments is not greater than in other types of living, nor is mode or average higher (Table T. la). The average rent paid by all women in this group who answered the question is $9.00 per week. Preferred housing We are well aware that people cannot always live as they choose, so that a knowledge of the actual housing of a group will 45 HOUSING CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYED WOMEN. not necessarily tell us their preferences. Fortunately, for the choice of the women whom we have just studied, we are not de- pendent on their statements as to how they live at present, but can supplement this with data as to the kind of housing they prefer. We have seen that the largest number of these women live with their families, or in apartments, probably very often both with their families and in apartments, so that a number somewhere be- tween 17 per cent, who say that they live in apartments, to 87 per cent. including with these those who live at home actually live in the apartment house. To compare with this sliding figure, we find 68 per cent, of the workers in stores, offices and factories preferring housekeeping apartments. On the other hand, 8 per cent, prefer boarding houses, but only 3 per cent, live in them, and 23^ per cent, prefer the Organized Homes while only one per cent, can get into them. Furnished rooms are apparently more used than liked, for 8 per cent, of these workers live in them and only one per cent, choose that lonely way of living. If we compare the different groups as to their preferences, we find the curious coincidence that the percentage of the office women and the factory women is exactly the same for each kind of housing; namely, 65 per cent, who prefer the housekeeping apartment, 8 per cent, the boarding house, 1 per cent, the fur- nished room and 26 per cent, the Organized Home. The mer- cantile women give a little higher percentage for the apartment 72 per cent., and a little less for the Organized Home, 19 per cent., with 7 per cent, for the boarding house and 2 per cent, for the furnished room (Table Org. 4). Obviously the furnished room is the easiest solution for the single, unattached woman, but it is very unsocial, and most young girls and many older women would not take it if they could help it. They greatly prefer either the independence and hominess of an apartment with friend or relative, or the general sociability of the club or Organized Home. These workers can seldom afford a hotel. Further light on the housing preferences of the workers is thrown by their suggestions as to housing, to be found in Section VII. WORKERS IN STORES, OFFICES AND FACTORIES. 47 Dependents One argument that has often been advanced for keeping the wages of women lower than those of men is that men commonly support families, while women are generally alone, with only themselves to support. The falsity of this assumption is plainly demonstrated by our figures as to dependents. Fifty per cent, of all the non-professional women whom we asked, say that they have dependents. Over 3000 did not answer this question, but the assumption is that they have none. Some of them however, may have failed to answer for other reasons, in which case 50 per cent, is not a high enough figure. The dependents supported by these women workers are parents, children, grandparents, aunts, brothers and sisters, nephews and nieces and unrelated individuals. In our tables we have classified them as "parents", which might mean father or mother or both or some other relative with them; "own children", in which class we put parents when the children are in addition to parents, and "other persons" (Table Org. 5). Of the workers in offices, 47 per cent, had dependents, of whom 1148 were parents, 49 own children, and 214 other persons, the percentage of women in the group who support their parents being noticeably high. The women in stores support fewer parents and more own children and relatively more other persons. Fifty-four per cent, of the factory women support dependents, two-thirds of them being parents, and own children next in number. These three groups of women have more dependents than the business and professional group, 43 per cent, of whom take care of others besides themselves. When we consider the age of these workers, three-fourths of them being under 30 years of age, we would hardly find a group of equally young men supporting more dependents. And we do not find that the woman worker, with dependents, and working at a lower wage than a man, is given any compensating advantage when it comes to rents. No consideration as to sex of the occupant enters into price fixing. V BUSINESS AND PROFESSIONAL WOMEN Occupations We are now ready to take up the second class of white workers in Manhattan whom we have studied, namely, the business and professional women. As we have said, we approached these women through the principals of the public schools and through clubs and official lists. The schools gave us our largest number, 1042 teachers out of our list of 1456 women. We obtained data also from physicians, lawyers, librarians, writers, nurses, social workers, and a small number of business women, including brokers, business managers and sellers of insurasce and bonds. Doubtless some of the buyers and managers in stores who filled in our ques- tionnaires might properly come in this class, but it seemed ad- visable to consider all who were employed in stores as a separate group, Ages The majority of this group studied are between the ages of 20 and 45 years, but twelve are under 20 and 12 are over 60. The average age is the same as that of the manual, mercantile and clerical group, but there is a larger proportion over 45 years of age. One hundred and nine took advantage of woman's tradi- tional prerogative and refused to tell their ages, Salaries That the professional woman is not necessarily better paid than her sister in the store or office is proved by the lowest salary on the business and professional questionnaires. It is $600.00 and is paid to a substitute teacher. But the largest income recorded on any of our questionnaires is $15,000, and is earned by a lawyer. There are eleven incomes on this list that are higher than $5,000, and all are earned by physicians and lawyers. The lowest salaries in this group are paid to the public librarians, except the one $600.00 of which we have spoken. A number of public school principals, having reached their highest limit receive $4750.00. [49] 50 HOUSING CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYED WOMEN. The mode of the salaries of this group is $1500.00 to $1800.00, and the average is $2350.69. A comparison of the earnings of this class of women with the other classes handled in this investigation shows that they are two to three times as large. The average income of the business and professional women is $2350.69 a year, or $45.20 a week. The average earnings of the office worker is $20.02, of the manual worker, $22.00, and of the domestic and personal worker, $15.00, or one- third of the average earnings of the professional group. The average earnings of mercantile workers is $19.15 a week. The relation of ages to earnisgs It is always interesting to note the factor of age in a problem of living and earning. Does an increase in years and experience become an asset or is it a handicap? Consulting our tables on this point, we get some valuable data as to this particular class. The youngest group of girls, those from 15 to 19 years old, receive from $600.00 to $1500.00. The oldest person in the list is over 60 years old and receives $3000.00 a year. Those between 20 and 30 years of age receive between $600.00 and $4200.00 annually. Between 30 and 40 years of age, they get from $900.00 and $4750.00, with one earning $6000.00. The highest income ($15,000.00) belongs to a woman between 50 asd 54, and the second highest, $8000.00, to a woman between 40 and 44. Seven thousand dollars is earned by a woman between 50 and 54, and the four women who earn $6000.00 are, one between 30 and 34, two between 45 and 49, and one between 55 and 59. The lowest salaries are paid to the girl of 15, and a woman between 55 and 59. The mode of earnings increases in age groups as follows : For the age group, 15 to 19, the mode is $900.00 to $1199.00 a year; from 20 to 24 it is $1200.00 to $1499.00; from 30 to 49 it stands at $2700.00 to $2999.00 ; from 50 to 54, it is $3000.00 to $3299.00; between 55 and 59 it climbs to $4750.00. The highest salaries for each age group increase with the age 15 to 54, then decrease to 69. It would seem that our question has been answered and the point proved that for business and professional women age and experi- ence are an advantage up to the age of 54. But a factor enters BUSINESS AND PROFESSIONAL WOMEN. 51 here that makes any such conclusion for all women of this class less sure; namely, the large proportion of teachers who answered the questionnaires; for the salaries of the teachers in the public schools rise automatically with length of service until they reach the maximum height, after which they do not decrease with in- creasing age. Rents More of this group of women hesitated to tell the rent they pay than declined to tell their ages. Three hundred and thirty- seven women did not give the cost of housing. Forty-six of these women have the good fortune to live at home and pay nothing for their living. Five of these women pay only taxes, from which we infer that they own their homes. The lowest rent given is $2.00 a week, a sum so small that we imagine it is paid to a rela- tive. The highest is $63.00, which should buy very attractive accommodations. The mode is $10.00, which is not high as the prices of rooms run at present. Although the highest rent paid by these women exceeds that paid in any other occupational group that we have studied, the mode is the same for all groups (Table Org. 1). Rent by earnings The relation between rent and earnings for this class seems somewhat erratic; some of those who earn most, pay least, and some who earn least pay much. So many factors besides power to earn govern the amount paid for rental, among them being standards of comfort, help offered by families, number of de- pendents, and the thrift or extravagance of the individual. Never- theless, we are interested to note the relation between the rent and the earnings of this group of business and professional women. Forty-six business and professional women pay no rent. Their earnings range from $600.00 to $15,000.00 a year, but only three earn over $3000.00. Some probably live with their parents at no personal cost, but it seems likely that those earning $3000.00 and over own their houses and so pay no rent. Of the women earning from $900.00 to $1500.00 a year, the mode of rent is $8.00 to $10.00 a week; for the groups earning 52 HOUSING CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYED WOMEN. from $1500.00 to $3000.00 the mode of rent stands at $10.00 to $15.00 a week. The table is as follows: $900.00-$1500.00 $ 5-$10 a week $1500.00-$3000.00 $10-$15 " " $3300.00-$3600.00 $15-$20 $4500.00-$4800.00 $30-and higher Thirty-eight women, whose earnings range from $1500.00 to $10,000.00, pay over $30.00 rent, and of them 15 pay over $40.00, and one pays $63.00 a week. The general mode of rents is $10-15 a week. As the average rent of this class is $13.71 a week, and the average earnings are $2352.23 a year, or $45.22 a week, we do not find the dispropor- tion that exists in the case of the other workers. Housing In planning the questionnaire, it was found very difficult to frame the questions as to present housing with sufficient explicit- ness and yet not too much detail. The questions necessarily over- lap sometimes, and to others the answers are ambiguous. For instance, women who say that they live with their families may mean their parents, their husband and children or their brothers and sisters. They may support their families or be supported in part by them. They may live in an apartment with the family or in a house. Similarly, when one answers that she lives in an apart- ment and pays a high rent, we do not know whether she pays it all herself, or divides it with some one, except on the cards where it is, very rarely, stated something like this, "Rent, $30.00 a week, of which I pay one-third." When the board and room are given together it introduces another factor into the rent situation. When a hotel or a furnished room or an Organized Home is given as the present housing, the case is simpler, seldom complicated except by a possible roommate. Of 1456 business and professional women, 1415 answered this question, as to present housing. Seven hundred and seven live with their families, 374 in housekeeping apartments, 93 in board- ing houses or hotels, 132 in furnished rooms and 38 in Organized Homes. Stating it another way, about one-half live with their BUSINESS AND PROFESSIONAL WOMEN. 53 families, and one-fourth in housekeeping apartments (Table Org. 3). In connection with living in the family and aiding in its sup- port comes the question of the social status of the woman. Is she married or single, the head of a family or free to look after herself alone? We have no data as to marriage, but we have some on dependents (Table B.-P. 4). Of the 1456 business and professional women, 830 mentioned no dependents, so presumably had none, 366 support parents, with or without other relatives, 39 support their own children and 43 have other dependents, a total of 43 per cent, of this class who have dependents to share their earnings (Table Org. 5). This is, however, less than in the other classes, for of the office workers 47 per cent, have dependents, in the stores 50 per cent, and in the factories 54 per cent, have dependents. The details of the dependents of the teachers are very interest- ing. Of 1024 teachers, 488 acknowledge dependents, 466 say they have none and 90 do not answer. Roughly speaking, then, about half of these teachers have dependents. Three hundred and thirty have only one dependent each, but 105 have two and 53 have more, while 24 support entire families, in one case five people being men- tioned,: a husband, a child, an uncle, an aunt and a niece. Most of these women are unmarried apparently, as nothing is said of husband or child, and for a young, single woman earning a modest salary to be the support of herself and one or more relatives is very common (Table B.-P. 4). Housing and age It is interesting to see how the housing conditions of these women vary with their age. The youngest group, that from 15 to 18, all live at home, as might be expected, and most of those in the next group, from 20 to 24. Living at home becomes rapidly less usual from the age of 24 to 65, after which only one lives at home, and presumably, it is not her parents with whom she lives. Hotel life falls within the ages of 30 to 59, and Organized Homes are patronized between the ages of 20 to 59. As the age limit of these homes is usually 35, it is rather interesting to find women of over 50 in them. They are the exceptions. The mode of those 54 HOUSING CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYED WOMEN. living in boarding houses is the age group, 30 to 34. Of those who say that they "maintain a home," which generally includes a more or less dependent family, one is under 20 years old, and probably did not interpret the question as we have just done. The mode of this kind of living is the group, 35 to 39, and the large numbers of women living thus are between 25 and 59 years of age (Table T. 5b). Housing and salaries The variation of housing condition with salaries may next oc- cupy us. The ten having the lowest salaries, namely, from $600.00 to $899.00, say that they maintain a home or that they live with their families, probably meaning the same in both cases. The two having the largest incomes, $15,000.00 and $10,000.00 live with their families and probably maintain homes. The mode of salaries for those living in boarding houses is $2700.00 a year; the mode of salaries for furnished rooms is $1200.00 a year, for Organized Homes $1200.00 to $1500.00 a year, and for the hotels it is $2400.00 to $2700.00 annually. These facts simply lead us to the other facts that rooming houses and Organized Homes are cheaper than boarding houses and that hotels are more expensive than either (Table T. 3b). Housing and rents Of 374 who maintain a home, 6 pay only taxes, as they own the house. The mode of price for those who maintain a home is $10.00 a week, the range being from $2.00 to $63.00 a week. The room or suite in the 19 hotels given, cost from $9.00 to $38.00 a week, only one being above $38.00. The boarding houses range from $6.00 to $38.00, the mode being $18.00 a week. The fur- nished rooms run from $3.00 to $20.00, the mode being $8.00. Board and lodging in the same place ranges in price from $7.00 to $25.00. The Organized Homes inhabited by these women de- mand but $4.00 to $10.00 a week for room (T. Ib). The largest rents are paid by those maintaining a home, the maximum $63.00 a week probably including rent for a family. Living with the family costs from $1.00 to $50.00 for rent, and from $6.00 to $46.00 for room and board. In the case of the BUSINESS AND PBOFESSIONAL WOMEN. 55 smaller sums, as also where the girl pays nothing at home, of course the cost of living is not indicated. Here again we find the cheapest accommodations are the furnished room and the Or- ganized Home. Preferred housing We have seen what kind of housing this class has ; do they have what they like best? Or if not, what are their preferences? Three hundred and forty-seven express no preference at all. Of the 1109 who answered, 49, or 4 per cent, want a house of their own; 437, or 39 per cent, prefer an apartment ; 13 like apartments but prefer not to do any housekeeping; 63, or 3 per cent, prefer to live in an hotel or apartment hotel ; 20, or 2 per cent, like board- ing houses ; 67, or 1 per cent, furnished rooms ; 36, or 3 per cent, like life in an Organized Home, and 11, or 1 per cent, prefer a club; 473, or 47 per cent, prefer to live at home or with their families, but whether in a house, an hotel, or an apartment, do not say. We have some data on the housing preferences of professional women for different ages. All of the age groups put as their first choice, living with their families. As this is, however, not primarily a housing, but a social question, we are more interested in their second choice. In the age group, 18 to 25, the second choice is the apartment, in the age group 21 to 25 it is the apart- ment or the hotel, and for all the ages thereafter it is the apart- ment. Organized Homes are preferred by a fair number between the ages of 26 and 30, after that the hotel becomes more popular, but the apartment is an easy first (Table T. 6b). If one were to build for this professional group, obviously the most popular building would be an apartment house or apartment hotel (Table Org. 4). The discussion on "suggestions for housing" shows what several of the members of this group feel would be the satisfactory solu- tion for them. VI THE EMPLOYED COLORED WOMAN General situation For the past two or three years the reports of the housing shortage in that portion of Harlem occupied chiefly by colored people have indicated that the situation there is probably more accute than in other sections of Manhattan. This for several reasons: first, Negro families have a much narrower limit of choice than white people. They cannot spread out into any part of the city they may fancy, but are held by custom, though not by law, pretty closely to well defined areas. Secondly, for the most part they have been in the habit of occupy- ing the houses left vacant by the whites as they moved out of the neighborhood. During the past few years owing to lack of build- ing it has been impossible for the whites to get houses elsewhere, and the colored have been hemmed in with no possibility of expansion. The housing situation has been further aggravated by the un- usual and disproportionate increase in population during the past several years. While the white population of Manhattan has slightly decreased and that of Greater New York increased but 15 per cent, in the decade between 1910 and 1920, the colored population increased 66 per cent. The natural increase of popu- lation has been supplemented by the arrival of many Negroes from the south, for which the increased economic opportunities during the war was partly responsible. There has also been an increased immigration from the West Indies. The lack of proper housing for families is naturally accom- panied by increased difficulty on the part of the employed woman in getting decent accommodations. The situation has been and is particularly serious for the young woman who comes a stranger to the city. Provisions for the care of the transient class of colored people is very slight. This is unfortunately particularly true of the single, unattached colored girl. The Young Women's Christian Association's boarding house, which accommodates eighty-two [57] 58 HOUSING CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYED WOMEN. women, and four small boarding houses are all that is offered out- side of private lodgings. Every apartment is so crowded with roomers as to form a menace to the health and morals of the community. Data taken from the questionnaires Let us now consider the data drawn from the questionnaires, which were the same that we used with the non-professional white women. The cards were filled out by 678 women. Occupations . A glance at their occupations shows that the two great groups are the domestic and personal service workers, numbering 386, and the manual workers, numbering 173. The rest consist of 40 business and professional workers, 52 office workers and 27 miscel- laneous there being no saleswomen in this list. A detailed list of these occupations is shown in Table Col. 1. Age and occupations The ages of these women range from 15 to 70, but only four work after the age of 55. The mode of ages is 20 and the ma- jority are under 30. This is younger than the white workers who form the largest groups between 15 and 40 years of age. Let us see how the ages of these women accord with their occupations. The business and professional women are between the ages of 20 and 40, with only two beyond these extremes. The youth of these women is natural, when we consider that none of the more highly educated or paid professions are represented among the colored women whom we studied. However, this set of occupations begins with a little older group of women than any other, all of which begin in the 15 to 19 age group. The office workers range from 15 to 30, except for a few scattered women. The manual workers range from 15 to 40, and the miscellaneous workers from 15 to 55, with three over that age. We see, there- fore, that the domestic and personal group is older as well as larger than the other occupational groups (Table Col. 6). Residences Practically all of these colored women live in Harlem, only 33 giving their residence as outside of Manhattan (Table Col. 15). THE EMPLOYED COLORED WOMAN. 59 Earnings A good many of the colored women did not tell their earnings, in fact, nearly one-sixth of those who filled in the questionnaires. From the 572 who answered we get the following facts: The weekly earnings of these women range from $6.00 to $46.00 a week. Six dollars is higher than the lowest white worker earns, which is $4.00, but $46.00 is lower than the highest earnings of the non-professional white worker, in other words the minimum earnings of the colored workers whom we have studied is higher and the maximum earnings lower than those of the white workers in the tables. The average wage, $17.20 a week, is lower than the average of the white worker, which is $19.15 (Table Col. 4). Earnings by age The girls of the 15 to 19 age group earn from $8.00 to $25.00 a week. From 20 to 24, they earn from $6.00 to $37.00 a week ; and from 25 to 29, they earn from $6.00 to $43.00. The largest salary earned by a woman between 40 and 45 years 6f age is $46.00, which makes this the highest paid group. The next age group declines to $35.00 for its highest paid woman; the 50 to 54 group declines further to $25.00, and the one person over 60 earns the pitiful sum of $15.00 a week. This shows the peak of earnings to be between 40 and 45, but the mode of highest earn- ings is much below this age, being between 20 and 30 years. After the age of 30, the earnings decline, except in a few cases, to $15.00, the wage of the woman of 60 (Table Col. 8). One wonders how the older colored women who are trying to support themselves on these meagre earnings succeed at all. For the young woman, the case is easier. Earnings by occupations Taking up the earnings by occupational groups, we find that the average earnings of the business and professional women is $26.00, or considerably higher than any of the others. The office workers and manual workers come next with an average each of a little over $18.00. Then the domestic workers follow with only $15.85 for an average, while the miscellaneous workers bring up the rear with the average of $12.52. 60 HOUSING CONDITIONS OP EMPLOYED WOMEN. Rents by occupations The rent paid weekly by the colored women we studied ranges from nothing, paid by nine, and $2.00, paid by 38, to $18.00 paid by one. The mode of rent paid is $5.00, just half of the mode of rent paid by the white non-professional workers. There is some variation in rents according to occupations. The mode of rents for the business and professional women and for the office workers is $4.00, while the manual and domestic workers pay a mode of $5.00 and the miscellaneous workers only $3.00 (Table Col. 3). Rents by salaries We now come to the relation of earnings to the amount paid for rents by the colored workers (Tables Col. 5 a-b). The twelve women who receive the lowest wage, $6.00 a week, pay from $3.00 to $8.00 rent. The highest weekly rent is $17.00, paid by a worker earning only $22.00; the next highest is $16.00 paid by a woman who earns the comfortable wage of $36.00 a week. The woman who earns $33.00 a week, gets her room for the modest sum of $4.00, which leaves a good margin for board and other expenses ; one who earns only $16.00 a week pays the relatively high rent of $11.00. Four of these women pay all or more than their earnings for their rent, and 62 pay over half of their earnings. The mode of earnings is $14.00, and the mode of rents is $5.00 which means that the largest number of colored women studied pay over one- third of their earnings for rent. This is too high, especially when the earnings are so low that the two-thirds margin is scarcely adequate for all other expenses. Evidently, lower rents are very desirable for this class. Dependents How far a woman's earnings go is decidedly affected by whether she has dependents. The number of colored women who say that they have dependents is 340, or half of the number in the group. Seventy-four do not answer this question, but probably have no dependents. This is the same percentage of women supporting others as we found for the white workers. The relatives who are dependent are about the same, too, the largest number being THE EMPLOYED COLOEED WOMAN. 61 mothers, then own children, and a few supporting husband or whole families. With the wages paid these colored folk, and the relatively high rentals, one wonders how they can support in decency any de- pendents (Table Col. 14). Housing Of the 678 colored workers, 63 do not tell how they live. As among white women, we find living with the family the most com- mon housing arrangement; 279 live that way. The next numer- ous way of living is not as with the whites, in housekeeping apart- ments, but in furnished rooms, 215 of these women living this way. We have been told that every apartment in upper Harlem contains as many roomers as it can hold and more than are desir- able for health and morals. This suggests a reason for the low mode. Fifty-three of the women studied live in an Organized Home, most of these in the Young Women's Christian Associa- tion's rooming house. As the Young Women's Christian Asso- ciation was kind enough to undertake to circulate some of our questionnaires we doubtless obtained a much larger proportion of women living thus than a more general survey would have given. Sixty-one say they live in housekeeping apartments, and nine in boarding houses (Table Col. 9). Comparing the ages of the women of this group with their housing, we find that for every age group practically the same order is followed: the largest proportion live with their families, the next largest number in furnished rooms, next in apartment houses, and fourth in boarding houses. Age seems to bear no relation to manner of living (Tables Col. 12 a-b). If age bears no relationship does the occupation of the worker make any difference in type of accommodation? (Table Col. 9). Consulting our tables, we find exactly the same facts true of each occupation as were true of each age group. The fair conclusion would seem to be that Harlem provides mainly the furnished room and apartment house and that the employed women, whether liv- ing with their families or not, must live in one or the other, and that only a few can be occommodated by the Organized Homes and boarding houses. 62 HOUSING CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYED WOMEN. Homing and rents As no factor is able to affect the rigid housing accommodations, let us reverse the question and see how the kind of housing affects the rents paid. Women living with their families pay from $.00 to $16.00 for their lodgings. As, under the circumstances, the woman is equally liable to underpay her prosperous parents or pay more than a fair rent to help her dependent family, this range of prices means little to us. We are interested to know, however, that boarding houses cost these women from $4.00 to $18.00 a week, and furnished rooms from $2.00 to $16.00 although most rents are under $11.00. Organized Homes receive from $2.00 to $13.00 a week, the regulation price apparently being $3.00. So far as our figures go rentals are decidedly lower in this district than in general Manhattan (Tables Col. 10 a-b). Homing by earnings As the mode of rent of the furnished room is $5.00, and that of the apartment house $6.00, and of the Organized Home, $3.00, while living with one's parents follows no rule, we might expect that the women earning the least would live in the Organ- ized Homes, and that those earning most would live in the apart- ment house. Turning to our tables (Table Col. lla), we find that the woman having the largest income, namely, $46.00 a week, does live in a housekeeping apartment; of the three next best paid women two live in furnished rooms and one in an Or- ganized Home. However, it is never from the extremes of high or low that we can best judge, it is from modes and averages. The mode of earnings of those living in apartments is $14.00; of those living in furnished rooms from $14.00 to $20.00; and for the ones living in Organized Homes, it is $12.00. This shows us that, as we had expected, those earning least live in Organized Homes, but it is not true that those earning most live in the apartment they live in the furnished room (Tables Col. 11 a-b). Preferred housing Having learned that most of this class of women live in apart- ments or furnished rooms, we ask how they would prefer to live. One hundred and sixty-nine have no choice, or at least do not THE EMPLOYED COLORED WOMAN. Do express it. In stating the preference, no mention is made of the social circumstances, that is, whether they wish to live with their families, but only the type of house preferred. The first choice is the housekeeping apartment, which is preferred by 371, the second choice is the Organized Homes, which gets 89 votes ; the boarding house comes next with 31, and then the furnished room with 18. We always seem to be obliged to accord the first place to the apartment. The next significant thing about these figures is the wide discrepancy between the number of those who live in furnished rooms and the number who prefer this type of housing. We found that 215 colored women live in furnished rooms and we learn that only 18 wish to do so. This is a sad commentary on the housing accommodations of Harlem. While 53 live in Or- ganized Homes, it appears that 89 would like to do so; and although only 9 live in boarding houses, 31 would be glad to get into them. In fact, these women seem to choose anything rather than the furnished rooms into which they are forced. The age at which these women prefer any kind of housing does not vary much. On the whole, the group preferring the Organized Home is a little the youngest, and the group preferring the apartment a little the oldest, while the group desiring the boarding house is very young only from 15 to 24 for the most part. The oldest person filling in her questionnaire declines to tell her preference probably life has her dull acquiescence with any shelter. The same is true of the other three over 50 years of age. Of those from 40 to 50, the apartment is emphatically the choice (Table Col. 13). Suggestions Out of 678 cards filled out by colored women, only 48 con- tained suggestions as to housing. Of these, nine wished Or- ganized Homes similar to the Young Women's Christian Asso- ciation and one suggested the change that board should be fur- nished in the same building, which is not done in the Colored Branch of the Young Women's Christian Association. One wished country homes for working women, and one definitely sug- gested apartments to consist of two to four rooms, with bath, hot water, plenty of light and air, and larger air shafts. One preferred rooming houses with meals on the premises, and one 64 HOUSING CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYED WOMEN. wished more boarding houses. The rest of them wished small apartments where light housekeeping could be done, and they inveighed rather pitifully against what are the special evils of the Harlem accommodations, lack of air, congestion not only in the house, but in each room, lack of privacy, lack of kitchen privi- leges and the fact that the inferior gas seems commonly to be turned off at 9.30. There are, also, many bitter complaints about the prices of rooms, which often seem to be greater than the wage of the worker warrants. One Young Women's Christian Association secretary, speaking from a less personal point of view, makes the following practical suggestion: "Facilities for personal laundry work, a kitchenette, reception rooms, baths, improved ventilating system, better lighting (both natural and artificial), and above all, proper and more wholesome provisions for men visitors are features of living conditions for women that make a crying appeal for adjustment." The secretary of the New York Urban League says that the Young Women's Christian Association attracts more particularly a superior class of girls and women and that houses to accommo- date the less intelligent or less well educated working girl are the great present necessity. He points out the large numbers of vacant lots in Harlem on which apartment houses could be built if capital were available. VII SUGGESTIONS AS TO HOUSING The last item on the questionnaire was the following: "Make any suggestion that occurs to you as to housing for employed women." Relatively few women availed themselves of this oppor- tunity and quite naturally they were commonly of the profes- sional and clerical class. Factory, mercantile and domestic workers paid little attention to the request. A few, however, ex- pressed their need of lower rents and more housing. The suggestions made by this group show a desire for com- panionship, hence a turning to the Organized Home, where the girls have "a chance to mingle with other girls, try to be friends instead of strangers, form clubs, have companionship," in short, "keep from being lonely and going out to seek pleasure." But some of these girls object to "all their restrictions and regulations," and a good many wish the homes to be open to women over thirty years old. Another set of suggestions is along the line of the apartment house with space saving and money saving devices. Says one woman: "Modern up-to-date housing for women should offer facilities for light housekeeping and the doing of laundry. The present high cost of living makes some definite economy neces- sary for many, and doing one's laundry is one possible and very satisfactory way of economizing." Another says along this line: "Have a place for pressing on each floor. All girls want a place where they can cook occasion- ally." The third suggests a workroom for those who need to sew. All insist on good light and plenty of opportunity to bathe, and one urges an elevator. One girl writes with feeling: "Two or three rooms with all modern appointments, that's living!" Housing suggestions from clerical workers Housing suggestions from clerical workers are more numerous and fuller than the last set : Some of them are as follows : [65] 66 HOUSING CONDITIONS OP EMPLOYED WOMEN. I Organized Homes: 1. For elderly women. 2. Without restrictions of age or salaries. 3. On club plan with unrestricted hours, reception rooms, and recreational director. 4. For girls, where they may, if they choose, cook their own meajs and take care of their own rooms. 5. Club where a girl could get board and room with room- mate for $7.00 or $8.00 a week, with sitting and danc- ing rooms. 6. Don't call whatever you build a "Home for Women"; girls must feel self-respecting. II Housekeeping apartments: 7. Proper housekeeping apartments with lower rents. 8. Model tenements within walking distance of work. 9. Two or three rooms with kitchen, not kitchenette, for from $25.00 to $50.00 a month. 10. Build more medium class apartments for working people, that is of 2 to 4 rooms, if without an elevator not more than four stories high, with light and air, steam and hot water, rent not to exceed $25.00 a month to be paid in weekly installments. 11. Small apartments on co-operative plan with janitor service and concierge who could be hired by the hour for cleaning, etc. Ill Hotels: 12. First-class hotel for women, with small apartments, at moderate price. 13. Women's hotel run for expenses only. Board on European plan. IV General suggestions: 14. Each working woman should have two rooms. 15. Every girl should have a separate room. A number of these women lament the high cost of comfort in relation to their earnings. One says : "Living at home is the only reason I am able to make a presentable appearance. With prices as high as at present, and salaries for clerical workers not up in proportion, what is a girl going to do?" Another writes in the same vein: "If I were free to choose SUGGESTIONS AS TO HOUSING. 67 as a way of living I would prefer a housekeeping apartment. It is therefore very necessary that an employed woman receive a living wage in order to do this, and even then it will be neces- sary for her to share this apartment with one or more employed women, friends or relatives, in order to make both ends meet." One suggestion of economy is that the apartments should be built with no fancy trimmings, "Let the girl do the trimming." A specific suggestion is the following: "The residential sec- tion of lower New York is a positive disgrace to a city like ours. I believe if some of the unsanitary houses were torn down and small convenient apartments at moderate rentals built in their place, and I am sure the average business women would be only too glad to occupy them. It would save them many an hour's journey back and forth to business every day." One clerical worker has worked out so definite a plan that it seems well to give space to it here. She addresses it "To Those Interested in The Welfare of the Anglo-Saxon Woman of The Middle Class Who is Obliged to Enter a Business Career: "I would suggest the acquisition of land in area to permit of the erection of a twenty-five story building around a large court, the court to be laid out as an attractive garden, if only on a small plan. The idea of this is to permit of all bedrooms having outside air and light, and in the case of those facing on the court, a pleasant and cheering outlook. Words cannot convey the relief it is to many persons to turn from the noise and dust of the streets to a quiet nook, however small, where one can see grass and shrubbery. "I would suggest that the building be partly arranged in apartments, consisting of bedroom and sitting room, for one or more individuals, that the balance be devoted to single bedrooms, that there be in charge of the building a House Mother in the real sense of the word, not a martinet, a woman of sympathy, knowledge of the world in a broad sense, deep understanding, to whom the girls and women could go for inspiration and counsel, and who would have an adequate number of assistants in the man- agement of this Home-Apartment-Hotel, selected with the same care as the House Mother. "I would suggest that there be included in the arrangement of the building, a large auditorium, where a dance would be given 68 HOUSING CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYED WOMEN. by the House Mother at least one evening a week, to which tenants would have the privilege of inviting a friend, man or woman, and that there be provided a restaurant and cafeteria, serving whole- some, appetizing foot at cost. "I suggest that a laundry be installed to which tenants could bring their work and have it done at moderate cost. "I believe there are enough men and women in New York City, interested in their fellow-beings, to give sufficiently of their wealth and energy to make this idea a reality. To those who would scoff at it, as Utopian, I would say that their attitude is born of ignorance of the struggle being waged by many thousands of girls of refined instincts and uprearing to live decently in this great city, even on good salaries, in the face of the huge rents and living costs. "The whole existence it is not life is a vicious circle, with little or no opportunity for development mentally, spiritually or physically, and the homesickness, the discouragement and the stunting of mental and spiritual growth are all directly traceable to the never ceasing worry about making ends meet. "If the money were to be given to buy the land, erect and fur- nish the building and then make the charges so low that the enter- prise would be run thereafter merely at cost, it would be one of the greatest acts of altruism ever performed in New York. "These suggestions merely outline what could be done by per- sons of noble impulse and large vision. The president of the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company has shown the world the great measure of good resulting to thousands of people from the great heart and noble soul of one man." Suggestions of business and professional women The business and professional groups expressed themselves with so much clearness and definiteness when they wrote suggestions that we shall quote selections from them verbatim: "Food is so high that eating in restaurants is impossible. Boarding houses are intolerable. Private families have too many restrictions." "The best solution is an apartment house, the apartments con- sisting of one room, bath and real kitchen. The apartment house at 115 West 16th Street is a good example of combination bath SUGGESTIONS AS TO HOUSING. 69 and kitchen. To save space, combination bath and kitchen is fine." "There seems to be a scarcity of comfortable, well-built apart- ment houses in quiet respectable neighborhoods, that are available for people of small incomes. We desire things simple. Every- thing put on for show has to be paid for in rental, often making a home in a suitable neighborhood not to be had by a woman in industry. Small apartments that can be cared for without outside help are a necessity." "I think the great need at the present time is for houses on the Allerton type (for men, 55th Street and Madison Avenue). Many women desire to have the privacy and the joys of. a home, and need suites distinctively for women, or else apartments of four or five rooms. Women earning good salaries do not wish to deprive less fortunate women of their chances of obtaining rooms at the Junior League or Young Women's Christian Association. My room rent was raised 45 per cent, and owing to ill health I was unable to move to smaller and cheaper quarters. I walked up and down street after street trying to get a home in a decent neigh- borhood at a moderate price. I was forced to accept the increased rental as I could not afford the time to appear in court against my landlord." "The people of New York should see that there are some apart- ments in the good sections of the city for refined, educated people, within their means. The one for the Ethical Society at 65th Street and Central Park West, is an example. Most apartments within our means are dark and badly managed, and are infested with roaches, bugs and moths." "The great need is for fiats of 3-4 rooms. Two women could have a four-room flat, two bedrooms, one kitchen and a living room. Three rooms would do for two women who had less salary. The dining room should be cast aside, there should be separate bedrooms of about equal size. The living room should have a closet that would do for clothing, in case it should also have to do as a bedroom, and there should be a dish closet near the door. A four-room flat at present has one living room, one dining room, one bedroom and one kitchen. This is wrong. A dining room is not needed. We need civilized sleeping places and a room to use in common for entertainment and dining. Floor space divided as 70 HOUSING CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYED WOMEN. I have suggested will give a larger common room and two decent bedrooms. Of course there should be a bath." "At present all small flats are either at the back or low down in a poorly lighted corner, or very expensive. Small flats seem also to be taken by women of ill repute. Briefly, build anywhere three or four room flats, ask a possible rent from the tenants' point of view, and keep out prostitutes, and wage-earning women will be helped." In conversation with women who have thought of this question of how the employed woman can live in New York, we have met with many strong expressions of the feeling that it is the woman over thirty years of age, with an income of two or three thousand a year who has the greatest difficulty in finding what she wants. She cannot afford what she desires and has been used to, two rooms and a bath; she can hardly obtain this even by going in with some other woman. If she manages to afford an apartment, she cannot afford a maid, and she ought not to carry a job and do her own housework. She cannot get into the Organized Homes, and no one thinks of providing anything especial for her. Whether the problem could be best met by a co-operative plan, or whether it would be reasonable for some agency to put up an apartment hotel or co-operative hotel or club, where a little sociability can be combined with comfort and privacy and yet be within the means of a woman with, say, an income of $3000.00 is a question. Any such hotel should have a dining room, either obligatory or at choice, although a tiny kitchenette, where one might brew a cup of tea for a guest would add to the joy of the apartment. In such a hotel, the accommodations should vary to suit a single woman, two friends, or a family, and to fit varying incomes. VIII SOME INTERESTING EXPERIMENTS IN HOUSING Co-operative housing Among the various suggestions made in the questionnaires, co- operative housing has appeared a number of times. An effort was made to find out what was actually being done along these lines in the city or sufficiently near to enable an employed woman to avail herself of it. The so-called co-operative ownership of large apartment houses does not help the situation so far as the rank and file of workers is concerned. Such an undertaking as the Jackson Heights Apartments in Queens puts self-owned homes within the means of the small group of well paid business and professional women and is more genuinely co-operative in techni- que than the co-operative apartments in the city which are purely commercial. Two groups of employed women at least are experimenting in what are really co-operative boarding houses. The International Ladies Garment Workers Union furnished the capital to establish a non-profit making boarding house on Lexington Avenue near 36th Street. It is entirely self-govern- ing and charges rates sufficient to lay aside a fund to repay the loan. It accommodates between 40 and 50 women and purposes to be a genuine co-operative enterprise in the near future. An organized group of Finnish women maintain the Finnish Women's Corporate Home at 241 Lenox Avenue which is run on similar lines. The Co-operative League of America states that the only genuine instance of co-operative ownership of a house in Man- hattan so far as they knew is the Beekman Hill Co-operative Association, Inc. The following data was supplied by the presi- dent of the association: Beekman Hill Co-operative Association, Inc., purchased four adjourning houses. These were well built brownstone front houses, 85 feet deep. In order to fit them for use and conform them to the Tenement House Law, a court had to be cut out of the center of the houses, cutting out the two dark rooms in each [71] 72 HOUSING CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYED WOMEN. house. The houses were then arranged in 34 apartments of two rooms, kitchen and bath. They are not uniform in size ; the rental therefore, is based upon the number of square feet in the apart- ment. The rentals run from $50.00 to $57.50 a month. The owner of each apartment is a stockholder in the corporation and has one vote. In some cases two people share an apartment and each has a vote. Each stockholder pays $2000.00 for her stock. Money has been loaned in several instances to women who had not enough to invest in a house, but who could give properly endorsed notes. It is estimated that the rentals will pay 5 per cent, on the capital stock. The cost of making over was paid by a first mortgage, the in- terest of which was taken care of by the rentals. As the mort- gage is reduced, rentals will decrease. There is no dining room on the premises, but there are two general reception rooms on the ground floor. The only service furnished is that of the janitor and his wife. Telephones are in each room, but there is no central telephone. The rooms have no special modern features, but are very light and airy. They are not quite ready for occupancy. Applications for stock and an apartment must be passed on by the Board of Directors, as it is of fundamental importance to secure reliable tenants. Arrangements are made for the with- drawal of stockholders, should that become necessary. The situation of the apartments is from 343 to 349 East 50th Street, in a district not particularly congested, pleasantly near the river and convenient to elevated and surface lines of trans- portation. A Girls' Community Club The Girls' Community Club is a recent development of the Or- ganized Home idea. It differs from other Organized Homes in that it is run on the cottage system. A central club house was rented at 109 East 30th Street by the Association to Promote Proper Housing for Girls. This house contains a dining room, rooms where cafeteria lunches are served, recreational rooms, offices and a small number of bedrooms. In addition to this, the club has taken over four rooming houses within the block. Each house has been made over to accommodate about 25 girls. The SOME INTERESTING EXPERIMENTS IN HOUSING. 73 houses are run by landladies who ask to come into the system, and who are carefully investigated. The club stands ready to lend each a sum of money to furnish her place attractively. This all of them are expected to be able to repay within a year or two, making a comfortable living for themselves and taking the girls for from $5.50 to $7.50 a week for room only. Each house has a parlor in which to receive company, but the recreation center is in the club house. All of the girls living in the model rooming houses must be members of the Girls' Com- munity Club, and must pay for two meals a day and three on Sunday at the club dining room, at the flat charge of $5.00 a week. A cafeteria, open to the public, is a means of income. Dues of $1.50 are received from each member of the club. The cottage plan allows for a small congenial group of girls, who may leave their doors open, visit back and forth and in gen- eral enjoy some of the social life of a college dormitory. It also allows for considerable friendly supervision on the part of the landlady. This Community Club has worked out so satisfactorily that a second center on MacDougall Street has recently been opened. In the Girls' Community Club the members must be under thirty years of age and earn not over $35.00 a week. It is thought that clubs of this sort are not satisfactory where too great a latitude of age is permitted, and that it is better to keep the members somewhere near the same age. Similarity of tastes and occupations are apt to follow similarity of age and income. One thing that separates younger and older women is the desire of the younger to make as much noise as they please and the preference of the latter for quiet. The financial standing of the Girls' Community Club is as follows : Money was loaned, in the first place, to alter and furnish the club house and to pay the rent for three years, but it is claimed that the committee has gradually put the club on a basis where, with its model rooming house, it can yield 10 per cent, interest on the cost. The club house is valued at $95,000.00 and the present monthly profit from the rooms (after rent and other ex- penses have been paid), dues, members' dining room, and cafeteria, is said to average $750.00. This added to income from rents now furnishes an ample revenue to meet the interest. A possible objection to the Girls' Community Club as a housing 74 HOUSING CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYED WOMEN. proposition is that it does not add to the existing facilities for housing. Making over old houses, as it does, would not seem at present to modify the enormous shortage of New York accommo- dations. This, however, might be obviated by building new room- ing houses or possibly by building a large house and keeping each floor as a unit, practically a cottage. An experiment in suburban homes One of the older of the Young Women's Christian Association secretaries, whose work has brought her experience in housing problems, has had the initiative to start a real estate project in Westchester County. Greatly desiring a home, she undertook to furnish one not only for herself but also for others, and by taking advantage of acreage prices of land and quantity con- struction of houses has been able to reduce the cost of buying and building to a minimum. She claims that the cost of building today is not at all prohibitive, indeed, is reasonable if approached in a reasonable way. Her colony is not exclusively for employed women, but includes families as well as spinsters. But as it is the scheme of a woman, it finds place here as a model. She offers a lot 40 x 115 and a house in a "like minded" community for $6100.00, $7200.00, or $8300.00 according to floor plan. The payment of about $60.00, $70.00 or $80.00 per month, respectively, would give occupancy of the house, pay for it in eleven years, and furnish the coal, taxes and electricity. The location is in beautiful Westchester, ten minutes by trolley from express trains to the city. Women who want a home in the country near New York City, and are willing to invest money in it, would find such a scheme very practicable. A group of socialized boardmg houses Although boarding houses are becoming more and more un- usual, an interesting experiment in that line has been made in lower Harlem. Five years ago when there seemed to be a demand for boarding houses for girls, a charitably minded individual fur- nished two buildings, one to be used as a boarding house and the other as a club house for the club called "The Workers Amuse- ment Club." A woman, who had done social work for over twenty SOME INTERESTING EXPERIMENTS IN HOUSING. 75 years, was interested in the project and ran the first boarding house. At that time, she was able to give board and lodging for $8.00 a week. The Young Women's Hebrew Association found her boarding house such a delightful place to send their girls, that they wanted to enlarge it. They persuaded a philanthropist to buy two more houses and rent them to the landlady. The club features were abandoned when the war came and the building was turned into a boarding house. The social worker rented two other boarding houses and now has six, in the neighbor- hood of West 118th Street. Two of these are liable to be sold at any time and she hopes before this happens to be able to buy them or arrange a long lease. A married couple lives in each of the six houses. There is no definite chaperonage and there are no restrictions in the house not even such as come from self-government. No one can be ad- mitted to the houses who is not recommended nor can be kept who is not desirable. Otherwise there are no restrictions as to age, wage, or religion. Most of the girls, however, are between 21 and 85 years of age. The houses are divided into single rooms, double rooms and rooms holding three girls. The price is $11.00 and $12.00 for room and two meals a day. There is opportunity for washing, ironing, pressing and serving tea in the rooms, when the girls wish it. One of the houses contains a general dining room which seats about 80. As meals are served for two hours, the whole 126 can be accommodated. Except for the furniture given at the beginning, and for the fact that a little money was loaned to her by a trust company, and afterwards repaid, the landlady has had no financial help, and the boarding houses have proved self-supporting. She states, however, that $2000.00 a year should be put into replenishings. In two houses there are sitting rooms, but in the others the only arrangements for company are the girls' rooms, which are generally furnished with couches. Where occupied by two or three girls, the landlady feels that the rooms become very proper sitting rooms. She says that in her early experience, she found the sitting rooms the most prolific source of trouble, and she is glad to give them up. In the largest house, she gives an occasional dance. She has encouraged a good many of the girls to join 76 HOUSING CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYED WOMEN. Christmas Clubs and thus encourages thrift. On the whole, how- ever, she lets the girls very much alone. Consequently, this house attracts a good many young women who object to institutional life, and who find an independent and, at the same time, friendly atmosphere here. It is quite possible that other interesting housing experiments for women are being carried on in Manhattan, but if so they have not been brought to the attention of our committee. TABLES TABLE ORGANIZED HOMES FOR GIRLS IN THE BOR NAME ADDRESS CONTROL DATE FOUNDED NUMBER ACCOMMODATED!! CONTROLI Casa Maria . . . ED BY ROMAN CATK 251 West 14th 415 West 120th 207 East 71st OLIC ORGANIZATIONS Augustinian Fathers of Assumption. Sisters of Mercy 1910 1914 1911 1899 1903 1914 1897 1874 1893 1911 1919 1908 1869 1910 1919 1913 1920 1920 1920 1891 1908 1918 1907 1913 1917 1914 1906 1906 1909 1897 1893 1910 1907 30 200 60 24 130 185 110 32 40 35 41 42 38 49 250 82 16 30 50 200 120 65 25 175 40 105 120 16 38 38 50 90 40 50 6. r > Devinclaire . Dominican Home Dominican Sisters of St. Vincent's Ferrirs Parish. Sisters of Divine Compassion House of Our Lady for Business Girls. Jeanne d'Arc Home for French Girls. Our Lady of Peace 54 East 126th 253 West 24th 225 West 14th . . Sisters of Divine Providence Sisters of Divine Compassion Sisters of Mercy Regina Angelorum 116 East 106th 523 West 142nd rnoLLED BY LADIES' 308 Second Ave Felician Sisters of St. Francis CHRISTIAN UNION CON' Branch Home The Eva 102 East 30th The Katherine 118 West 13th Milbank Memorial 11 West 10th The Rosemary 24 West 12th The Sage 49 West 9th CONTROLLED Central Club for Nurses BY YOUNG WOMEN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION 132 East 45th. Colored Women's Residence Hall. . French Branch Boarding Home. . . Harlem Boarding Home 200 West 137th 124 West 16th Temporarily out of quarters. 119 East 21st Taken over existence while seeking new International Institute Boarding Home. 607 Hudson Margaret Louisa 14 East 16th Studio Club 35 East 62nd Annex Tatham House 38th St. and Lexing- ton Ave. 460 West 44th West Side Boarding House CONTROI LED BY MISCELLANEOUS ORGANIZATIONS 119 East 29th Pri vat.pl v 330 West 36th .... 5 Charles 434 West 20th... . 363 West 34th .... 462 West 22nd... . 225 East 63rd 342 West 23rd 307 East 12th Brick Church Charles St. House Privately Chelsea Club Chelsea House Association . . . Chelsea House II Chelsea House Association Federation of Women's Clubs City Federation Hot^l Clara de Hirsch Home The Co-operato Elizabeth Home Children's Aid Society Emeline York-Tyndal 58 East 102nd [78] People's Tabernacle OUGH OF MANHATTAN, NEW YORK CITY PRICE PER WEEK RESTRICTIONS (including two meals a day and three on Sunday, unless otherwise stated) Wage limit Age limit Nationality Occupation Length of stay Religion $8.00 J9.00 (three meals a day) 5.00-10.00 (three Low Young Prefer Catholic* meals a day) 4.00- 6.00 30 4.00 (transients) 7.00 Young 5.25-7.25 (three meals a day) Primarily for French-speaking 4.50-6.50 11.50-17.00 girls Women of educa- tion and refine- ment. 5.50 Low Young Prefer Catholic* 3.00-6.00 (three 45 meals a day) 6.00-8.00 c Protestant 6 00-8 00 15 35 Protestant 6.00-8 00 15 35 Protestant 6.00-7".50 25 35 Business girls Protestant 6.00-8.00 Protestant 6.50-8.00 25 35 Protestant 16.50-20.00 month Nurses 5 years (room only) 4.50-6.00 (room Low 30 Colored only) 9.00-11.00 (three French speaking meals a day) 1.00 night with breakfast Young (18-20) **, Prefer Protes- tants .60 in room with 25 girls 6.50-9.00 5.00 $20.00 30 Limited knowl- 3.00 (room only) 7.00-11.00 30.00 30 edge of English .75-1.50 (a night) 10.00-16.00 30 Students of art 30 days 3.00-8.00 (room 30.00 35 only) 1.00-1.25, tran- sients (a night ) 6.50 20.00 30 7.50-9.00 While out of work 6.50-10.75 25.00 30-35 4 years 6.00-9.00 French 7.50-10.50 Low 30 7.00-10.50 35 6.50-8.50 5.00-7.00 (three 14-21 Prefer Jews meals a day) 6.00-8.00 (three Young meals a day) 4.00-5.00 6.00 Low Young 30 No Jews Protestant [79] TABLE A ORGANIZED HOMES FOB GIRLS IN THE BOR NAME ADDRESS CONTnOL a si |l NUMBEB ACCOMMODATED || French Evangelical Home 341 West 30th 1889 24 Girls' Community Club 109 East 30th 1919 107 Girls' Friendly Society Lodge 223 East 53rd Girls' Friendly Society 1908 110 GIorieux-Dinsdale Club Greer House 1175 Madison Ave. . 123 East 28th New York Deaconnesses Association 1921 15 40 Hannah Lavenburg Home 319 East 17th cal Service. Board of Directors. ... 1904 30 Holy Cross House 300 East 4th Sisters of St John Baptist 1911 34 Home for Colored Girls Huguenot Home . . . 130 West 113th 237 West 24th Cathedral St. John the Divine French Church du St Esprit 1910 1900 20 31 Mrs. Humiston's 170 West 59th 1921 20 Junior League Hotel 541 East 78th Board of Managers and City and 1911 326 Madchenheim-Vereins 217 East 62nd Suburban Homes. 1895 30 The Margaret and Sarah Switzer Church. Board of Managers 1911 4?, Home and Institute. New York Hospital and Nurses' 317 West 45th Board of Directors. . 1918 160 Club. OsbornHall 426 East 26th Bellevue Hospital Alumnae 1910 185 Sister Catherine House 210 East 46th Board of Trustees 1874 20 Smith College Club's Apartment 233 East 17th . Smith College Club 1921 80 Club House. Three Arts Club 340 West 85th Board of Managers 1905 7?, Vacation House . . . ... 220 Madison Ave 1914 32 Varick House Board of Managers 1915 78 The Virginia 228 East 12th New York Ass'n Women Workers 1911 87 White Rose Home 262 West 136th White Rose Mission 1899 15 Young Women's Boarding Home. . 333 West 22nd.. Salvation Army 1919 ?5 Young Women's Hebrew Ass'n 31 West 110th Young Women's Hebrew Ass'n 1903 153 [80] Continued OUGH OP MANHATTAN, NEW YORK CITY PRICE PEB WEEK RESTRICTIONS (including two three on Sunday, unless otherwise stated) Wage limit Age limit Nationality Occupation Length of stay Religion 8.00-8.50 (three French While out meals a day) of work 10,50-12.50 30.00 35 12.00 Single girls 7.75-10.00 Prefer American Prefer Protes- tant 10.00-17.00 (no 30.00 Episcopal meals Sundays ) 400-6.00 25 1 year 6.00 (three meals a Low Young Episcopal 2.00-5.00 (room Colored only) 6.60-7.60 (three French speaking meals a day) girls 7.00 (room only) Young 8.00-12.00 5.25-6.50 (three German Servants While out meals a day) of work 6.50 24.00 25 25.00-35.00 month Nurses (room only) 16.50-27.00 month 40 Bellevue nurses (room only) 7.00-9.00 (three meals a day) 16-35 While out of work 8.00 wk., 1800 yr. (room or apt. only), 'cafeteria in building. 10.00-12.00 30 Students or profes- sionals of music, 7.00 up (room only) 20.00 30 drama or painting. 6.75-8.75 25.00 35 6.00-9.00 (three e meals a day) 3.00-4.00 (room Colored While out only) 8.00-11.00 (three of work meals a day) 6.00-9.00 20.00 25 Jews Jews [fill n INDEX OF TABLES BOOMS REGISTRIES Table R. R. 1 Table R. R. 2 Table R. R. 3 Table R. R. 4 Table R. R. 5 Table R. R. 6 Table R.R. 7 (a) Table R. R. 7 (b) Table R.R. 7 (c) Table R. R. 8 (a) Table R.R. 8 (b) Table R. R. 9 Table R. R. 10 Table R. R. 11 Table R. R. 12 (a) Table R. R. 12 (b) Table R. R. 12 (c) Table R. R. 13 Table R. R. 14 Table R. R. 15 Table R. R. 16 (a) Table R. R. 16 (b) Table R. R. 16 (c) Rooming Accommodations. Permanent and Transient Rooms. Comparison of Rants Paid for Pennanent^and Transient Rooms. Cost of Rooms without Board. Occupations, Detailed List. Occupations, Classified List. Cost of Rooms: Rents Paid for Rooms Only by Occupational Groups in the Young Women's Christian Association, Central Branch. Cost of Rooms: Rents Paid for Rooms Only by Occupational Groups in the Young Women's Hebrew Association. Cost of Rooms: Rents Paid for Rooms Only by Occupational Groups in the Young Women's Christian Association, Colored Branch. Earnings: Salaries Received Weekly by Women in Occupa- tional Groups, Young Women's Hebrew Association. Earnings: Salaries Received Weekly by Women in Occupa- tional Groups, Young Women's Christian Association, Colored Branch. Cost of Rooms: Salaries Received by Women Paying Dif- ferent Room Rents. Cost of Rooms: Comparison of Rents with Earnings. $ Rents are Classified in $5.00 intervals. Ages. Cost of Rooms: Rents Paid by Women of Different Ages Young Women's Christian Association, Central Branch. Cost of Rooms: Rents Paid by Women of Different Ages Young Women's Hebrew Association. Cost of Rooms: Rents Paid by Women of Different Ages Young Women's Christian Association, Colored Branch. Earnings: Salaries of Women of Different Ages, Young Women's Hebrew Association. Nationality. Church Affiliations. Comparison of Rents Paid in January, February and March, 1920, with Rents Paid in same months in 1921, Young Women's Christian Association, Central Branch. Comparison of Rents Paid in January, February and March, 1920, with Rents Paid in same months in 1921, Young Women's Hebrew Association. 1 Comparison of Rents Paid in January, February J "and March, 1921, with Rents Paid in same Months in 1921, Young Women's Christian Association, Colored Branch. [82] TABLE R. R. 1 ROOMING ACCOMMODATIONS DISTRIBUTION OF KINDS OF ROOMING ACCOMMODATIONS Rooms Registry ROOMING ACCOMMODATIONS YOUNG WOMEN'S CHRISTIAN ASS'N 'CENTRAL BRANCH YOUNG WOMEN'S HEBREW ASS'N YOUNG^WOMEN'S CHRISTIANMSS'N COLOREDjBRANCH Not Given Room Only 313 7,02298% 2 576 49% 386100% Room and Board . . . 165 2% 59651% ... H TOTAL 7,500 * 1,174 386 TABLE R. R. 2 ROOMING ACCOMMODATIONS DISTRIBUTION OF PERMANENT AND TRANSIENT ROOMING ACCOMMODATIONS Rooms Registry ROOMING ACCOMMODATIONS YOUNG WOMEN'S CHRISTIAN ASS'N CENTRAL BRANCH YOUNG" WOMEN 's HEBREW ASS'N YOUNG WOMEN'S CHRISTIAN ASS'N COLORED BRANCH Not Given 25 2 Permanent 4 517 62% 1 163 99% 199 52% Transient 2,95& 38% 91% 18748% TOTAL 7,500 1,174 386 [88] TABLE R. R. 3 COST OP ROOMS COMPARISON OF BENTS PAID FOR PERMANENT AND TRANSIENT ACCOMMODATIONS Rooms Registry* RENT PER WEEK YOUNG WOMEN'S CHRISTIAN ASS'N CENTRAL BRANCH YOUNG WOMEN'S CHRISTIAN ASS'N COLORED BRANCH Permanent Transient Permanent Transient Not Given. . 186 155 "4 27 20 132 71 1,246 608 27 408 2 93 iso 7 1 4 1 "i "i "i 15 64 54 36 17 2 8 1 1 "5 37 54 50 26 10 "5 $1.00-1.99 2.00-2 99 6 62 139 521 632 910 873 238 585 3 00- 4.00- 5 00- .00- 7 00- 8 00- 9 00- 10 00- 11 00- . 12 00- 161 3 56 81 23 3 13 13.00- 14 00- . ... 15 00- . . 16 00- 17 00- . .... 18 00- 19 00- 20 00- . . . 13 5 21 00- . . . 22 00- 25 00- ... 5 1 26 00- 28 00- 30 00- . . 1 31 00- TOTALS 4,517 2,958 199 187 Lowest $ 2.00 30.00 7.00 7.46 $ 2.00 31.00 7.00 7.80 $ 3.00 12.00 5.00 6.25 $ 3.00 10.00 5.00 5.76 Highest Mode Average *The Young Women's Hebrew Association is not included in the tabulation since only 9 transient rooms were rented. [84] TABLE R. R. 4 COST OP ROOMS COMPARISON OF AMOUNTS PAID FOR ROOMS ONLY IN THE DIFFERENT REGISTRIES* Rooms Registry RENT PER WEEK YOUNG WOMEN'S CHRISTIAN ASS'N CENTRAL BRANCH YOUNG WOMEN'S HEBREW ASS'N YOUNG WOMEN'S CHRISTIAN ASS'N COLORBD BRANCH Not Given 292 11 $1.00-1.99 1 2 00- 9 76 3 00- 87 160 8 4 00- . . 151 130 62 5.0O- 629 133 118 6.00- 667 34 104 7.00- 2,055 9 62 8.00- 1,387 7 27 9 00- 245 2 10 00- 937 10 13 11 00- 2 1 12.00- 234 3 1 13.00- 3 14.00- 189 15.00- 77 16 00- 19 1 17 00- 5 18 OO- 12 19.00- 20.00- 11 1 21.00- 5 25.00- 4 26 00- 1 31.00- 1 ... TOTALS 7,022 576 386 Lowest $2 00 $1 50 $3 00 Highest 31 00 20 00 12.00 Mode 7 00 3 00 5.00 Average 7 85 4 09 5.86 *Both transient and permanent rooms are included in this tabulation, because of the small differences between their respective costs, as shown in Table R. R. 3. [85] TABLE R. R. 5 OCCUPATIONS. DETAILED LIST OF OCCUPATIONS Rooms Registry OCCUPATIONS YOUNG WOMEN'S CHRISTIAN ASS'N CENTRAL BRANCH YOUNG WOMEN'S HEBREW ASSOCIATION YOUNG WOMEN'S CHRISTIAN ASS'N COLORED BRANCH 1. Not given 9 25 1 2. Artists 302 12 3. Accountants 35 3 4. Bookkeepers and cashiers 169 63 2 5* Business women. . . 6' Comptometer operators 239 19 38 3 8 7. Clerical 643 94 6 8. Day workers 9. Domestics High Grade 863 19 8 83 10. Domestics Medium Grade . . 11. Domestics Low Grade 141 251 20 26 12. Dressmakers and corsetiers 294 114 38 13. Factory hands .... 14. Filing clerks 80 123 25 17 6 15. General workers. . . 16. Hair workers and manicurists 17. Instructors of music 65 94 7 17 4 6 4 18. Librarians and editors 19. Machine operators 20. Nurses and masseuses 117 70 927 12 43 39 1 6 26 21. Office and depart- ment managers . . 22. Practitioners. . 23 46 5 9 23. Professionals architects and lawyers 38 3 1 24. Religious and Y. W. C. A. workers 25. Saleswomen 26. Secretaries and executives 19 277 439 1 185 21 3 5 5 27. Sewing women, plain and fancy. . 28. Social workers .... 29. Stenographers and telegraphers 30. Teachers 365 108 669 474 154 11 157 39 35 8 3 56 31. Telephone and cash girls 32. Typists and dic- tophone girls. . . . 33. Ushers 231 88 18 19 34 2 3 1 34. Waitresses 264 3 21 TOTAL. . 7.500 ' 1,174 386 TABLE R. R. 6 OCCUPATIONS OCCUPATIONS GROUPED BY KIND OF WORK Rooms Registry OCCUPATIONAL GROUP YOUNG WOMEN'S CHRISTIAN ASS'N CENTRAL BRANCH YOUNG WOMEN'S HEBREW ASSOCIATION YOUNG WOMEN'S CHRISTIAN ASS'N COLORED BRANCH Not given Professional. . . 9 2,106 28% 25 104 9% 1 96 25% Office work 2 416 32% 411 36% 19 5% Saleswomen 2774% 185 16% 51% Manual occupations. Domestic and per- sonal service All others 80911% 1,58421% 299 4% 33629% 686% 45 4% 8523% 16844% 122% TOTAL 7,500 1,174 386 Total given . 7 491 100% 1 149 100% 385 100% [87] TABLE E. B. 7 (a) COST OF ROOMS RENTS PAID WEEKLY FOR ROOMS ONLY BY WOMEN CLASSIFIED ACCORDING TO OCCUPATIONAL GROUPS Young Women's Christian Ass'n Central Branch RENT PER WEEK PROFESSIONAL OFFICE WORKERS SALESWOMEN MANUAL OCCUPATIONS DOMESTICS AND 1 PERSONAL SERVICE ALL OTHERS NOT GIVEN I Not Given 81 89 4 32 74 10 o 000 $2.00-2.99 2 1 1 5 9 3 00 14 18 3 22 26 4 87 4 00 24 46 7 34 31 . . . I'll 5 00 128 178 23 104 171 25 oq 6 00 171 272 23 84 92 23 2 fifi7 7 00 554 575 65 221 587 4Q 4 2 0^ 8 00 422 490 56 123 235 60 1 t 387 9 00 83 88 10 22 33 9 24^ 10 00 299 303 46 67 175 47 OQ7 11.00 1 1 2 12 00 79 86 13 20 29 7 0^4 13 00 2 1 3 14 00 78 47 5 11 37 11 189 15 00 26 31 4 3 2 6 77 16 00 12 5 1 1 . * 19 17.00 3 2 5 18 00 5 6 1 12 19.00 20 00 1 7 1 2 11 21 00-21 99 1 3 1 5 25.00 1 3 4 26.00-26.99 1 1 31.00 1 1 TOTAL 1,987 2,250 259 752 1 503 262 9 7022 Lowest $2.00 $2 00 $3 00 $2 00 $2 00 $3 00 $2 00 Highest . 25 00 26 00 15 00 21 00 31 00 18 00 31 00 Mode 7.00 7 00 7 00 7 00 7 00 8 00 7 00 Average 8 22 7.95 7 96 7 22 7 47 8 12 6 86 7 85 Since most of the cases in every step fall at the even dollar point, this point is taken as the most probable value of the lowest, highest, etc., case falling within tEe step. [88] TABLE R. R. 7 (b) COST OF ROOMS RENTS PAID WEEKLY FOR ROOMS ONLY ACCORDING TO OCCUPATIONAL GROUPS Young Women's Hebrew Ass'n RENT PER WEEK PROFESSIONAL OFFICE WORKERS SALESWOMEN MANUAL OCCUPATIONS DOMESTICS AND PERSONAL SERVICE ALL OTHERS O fc 1 Not Given 1 3 1 4 2 11 $1 00-1 99 1 1 2 00 3 22 9 31 6 5 76 3 00 14 41 32 52 7 11 3 160 4 00 20 39 28 32 5 5 1 130 5 00 28 56 20 22 2 5 133 6.00 7 00 16 4 14 3 1 1 3 1 ... 34 9 8 00 2 2 1 2 7 9 00 10 00 4 3 1 2 10 11 00 12 00 1 1 1 3 13 00 14 00 16 00 1 1 20 00 1 1 TOTALS 94 184 95 151 20 26 6 576 Lowest $1.50 $2.00 $2.00 $2.00 $2.00 $2.00 $1.50 Highest 12.00 12.00 20.00 16.00 5.00 5.00 20.00 Mode 5.00 5.00 3.00 3.00 3.00 3.00 3.00 Average 4.96 4.27 4.01 3.71 3.15 3.38 3.25 4.09 Since most of the cases in every step fall at the even dollar point, this point is taken as the most probable value of the lowest, highest, etc., case falling within the step. [89] TABLE E. B. 7 (c) COST OP ROOMS BENTS PAID WEEKLY FOR ROOMS ONLY BY WOMEN ACCORDING TO OCCUPATIONAL GROUPS Young Women's Christian Ass'n Colored Branch CLASSIFIED 4 ' 1 a a RENT O B Q ^ O fe S PER WEEK CO a o o o 2 B 111 1 . 1 r 02 5o S Jg W 5 a fc i $3.00-3.99 1 i 4 6 4.00- 16 i 8 26 i 52 5.00 29 5 2 11 69 2 118 6.00 28 5 3 24 39 4 "i 104 7.00- 16 4 24 17 1 62 8.00- 2 3 13 7 2 27 9.00- 1 1 2 10.00 3 1 "3 4 "2 13 11.00 . 1 1 12.00 "i 1 TOTALS 96 19 5 85 168 12 i 386 Lowest $3.00 $4.00 $5.00 $3.00 $3.00 $3.00 Highest 10.00 10.00 6.00 12.00 11.00 12.00 Mode 5.00 5.00 & 6.00 5.00 & 7.00 5.00 Average 5.70 6.37 5.60 6.45 5^54 6^5 5.86 Since most, of the cases in every step fall at the even dollar point, this point is taken as the most probable value of the lowest, highest, etc., case falling within the step. [90] TABLE R. R. 8 (a) EARNINGS SALABY RECEIVED WEEKLY BY WOMEN CLASSIFIED ACCORDING TO OCCUPATIONAL GROUPS (Note: This table includes women who rent rooms only) Young Women's Hebrew Ass'n WEEKLY SALARY PROFESSIONAL OFFICE WORKERS SALESWOMEN MANUAL OCCUPATIONS DOMESTIC AND PERSONAL SERVICE ALL OTHERS NOT GIVEN 1 Not given 57 35 26 1 34 13 9 2 176 1 $2 00-3 99 4.00- 6.00- 1 "i 1 1 14 5 7 1 "4 "2 2 3 3 2 2 2 1 "i "i "2 1 1 6 22 58 25 41 72 21 77 7 7 29 2 21 1 8 00- 1 3 5 20 4 *28 7 19 2 1 8 10 00- 2 6 20 10 18 24 39 3 2 12 1 4 "5 12 6 10 13 4 11 i 6 12 00- 14 00- 2 1 4 3 1 6 1 3 3 1 7 1 16 00- 18.00- 20.00- 22 00- 24.00- 26 00- 28 00- 30 00- 32.00- 34.00- 10 3 36.00- 38 00- 40 00- 1 1 ... ... 2 2 42 00- 2 44.00- 48.00- 2 2 1 1 60.00- 1 1 ... 60.00- TOTAL Lowest . 94 $14.00 48-50 25.00 28.78 184 $10.00 40-42 25.00 21.99 95 $12.00 30-32 21.00 20.22 151 $10.00 60-62 21.00 20 $6.00 16-18 17.00 26 6 576 $2.00 60-62 25.00 22.18 Highest. . Mode Average [91] TABLE R. R. 8 (b) EARNINGS SALABY RECEIVED WEEKLY BY WOMEN CLASSIFIED ACCORDING TO OCCUPATIONAL GROUPS Young Women's Christian Ass'n Colored Branch WEEKLY SALARY PROFESSIONAL OFFICE WORKERS SALESWOMEN MANUAL OCCUPATIONS DOMESTICS AND PERSONAL SERVICE ALL OTHERS 1 1 Not Given 75 12 5 49 103 7 1 252 $4.00-5.99 1 1 6.00- 3 4 7 8.00- 1 2 3 10.00- 8 1 3 10 1 23 12.00- 4 1 1 15 21 14.00- 3 2 9 16 1 31 16.00- 18.00- 2 i ... 3 4 6 8 i ... 11 14 20.00- 5 1 i 7 22.00- 2 2 24.00- 2 6 2 10 26.00-27.99 i 1 30.00-31.99 2 2 34.00-35.99 1 1 " TOTAL 96 19 5 85 168 12 1 , ^ 386 Lowest. $6 00 $10 00 $10 00 $4 00 $4 00 Highest . 16-18 24-26 34-36 30-32 34-36 Mode . . 11 00 15 00 15 00 15 00 Average 11 86 17 57 19 61 14 17 15 61 [92] TABLE R. R. 9 COST OF ROOMS DISTRIBUTION OF SALARIES RECEIVED WEEKLY BY WOMEN GROUPED ACCORDING TO AMOUNT OF RENT PAID WEEKLY FOR ROOMS ONLY Young Women's Hebrew Ass'n* WEEKLY EARNINGS s i i iS VHROD9H THE YOUNG WOMEN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION Rooms Registry CHURCH AFFILIATIONS YOUNG WOMEN'S CHRISTIAN ASS'N CENTRAL BRANCH YOUNG' WOMEN'S CHRISTIAN ASS'N COLORED BRANCH Not Given Baptist Catholic, Roman Christian Scientist Congregational Dutch Reformed Episcopalian Jewish Lutheran Methodist Presbyterian Protestant unspecified. . Quaker Unitarian Universaiist All others No church TOTALS. . 112 319 1,951 196 268 74 1,195 119 460 567 814 860 6 53 20 41 445 22 "7 2 45 "2 85 16 13 105 7,500 386 [101] TABLE R. R. 16 (a) COST OF ROOMS COMPAKI80N OF BENTS PAID FOR ROOMS IN JANUARY, FEBRUARY AND MARCH, 1920, WITH RENTS PAID DURING THE SAME MONTHS IN 1921 Young Women's Christian Ass'n Central Branch ilKNT PER WEEK JANUARY FEBRUARY MARCH 1920 1921 1920 1921 1920 1921 Not Given 25 2 7 22 82 57 137 81 11 58 23 ' 3 7 28 38 73 113 18 62 'is *ii 2 'i "i 9 1 10 20 69 63 111 46 10 49 'i4 'io 6 4 1 "2 2 2 46 "2 4 19 20 90 64 16 42 'is 1 5 5 1 i 13 1 15 15 80 57 133 60 13 63 'ie "9 5 4 1 1 i i 5 1 3 7 27 23 67 48 3 37 '29 "2 7 2 "i "i i $2.00-2.99 3 00- 4.00- 5.00- 6.00- 7.00- 8.00- 9.00- 10.00- 11 00- 12.00- 13.00- 14.00- 15 00- 22 1 10 10 1 16.00- 17 00- 18.00- 19 00- 3 20.00- 21.00-21.99 25.00- 26.00-26.99 2 "i 1 TOTAL 533 $2.00 26.00 7.00 7.64 401 $3.00 25.00 8.00 8.17 429 $2.00 25.00 7.00 7.55 329 $3.00 18.00 7.00 8.10 488 $2.00 21.00 7.00 7.46 264 $2.00 21.00 7.00 * 8.24 Lowest. ... Highest Mode Average [102] TABLE R. R. 16 (b) COST OF ROOMS COMPARISON OF RENTS PAID FOR ROOMS IN JANUARY, FEBRUARY AND MARCH, 1920, WITH RENTS PAID DURING THE SAME MONTHS IN 1921 Young Women's Hebrew Ass'n RENT PER WEEK JANUARY FEBRUARY ; MARCH 1920 1921 1920 1921 1920 1921 Not Given 1 8 13 10 11 4 6 18 12 14 5 2 "i "e 10 14 5 "2 "7 15 5 10 4 1 2 ' i "3 10 4 7 2 "i i "2 8 11 8 3 1 1 i $2.00-2.99 3.00- 4.00- 5 00- 6 00- 7.00- 8.00- 9 00- 10.00- 1 11 00- 12 00-12 99 16 00-16.99. 20.00-20.99 TOTAL 44 $2.00 10.00 3.00 3.72 62 $2.00 10.00 3.00 4.10 37 $2.00 8.00 4.00 3.76 45 $2.00 20.00 3.00 4.36 28 $2.00 16.00 3.00 4.54 35 ' $2.00 12.00 4.00 4.49 Lowest . Highest. . Mode Average [103] TABLE E. B. 16 (c) COST OP ROOMS COMPARISON OP RENTS PAID FOR ROOMS IN JANUARY, FEBRUARY AND MARCH, 1920, WITH RENTS PAID DURING THE SAME MONTHS IN 1921 Young Women's Christian Ass'n Colored Branch RENT PER WEEK JANUARY FEBRUARY MARCH 1920 1921 1920 1921 1920 1921 $3.00-3.99. 2 3 4 1 18 "2 "5 1 1 3 "2 "i 2 1 ' i 5 4 4 2 1 '2 3 2 3 4.00- 5.00- 5 3 4 1 6.00- 7.00- 8.00- 10-00-10.99 TOTAL 13 $5.00 8.00 5.00 6.08 30 $3.00 10.00 7.00 6.33 7 $5.00 7.00 5.00 5.43 9 $3.00 10.00 3.00 5.77 17 $4.00 10.00 5.00 6.29 10 $4.00 7.00 5.*60 Lowest Highest . Mode Average m INDEX OF TABLES ORGANIZATION GROUPS i. e., grouped according to establishment in which work is done, disregarding kind of work; includes also business and pro- fessional women. Table Org. 1 Cost of Rooms Rent paid weekly Table Org. 2 Salaries or Wages (except business and professional women. Table Org. 3 Present Housing. Table Org. 4 Preferred Housing Table Org. 5 Dependents. Table Org. 6 Dependents detailed list. Table Org. 7 Location of Housing. [105) TABLE ORG. 1 COST OP ROOMS. RENT PAID WEEKLY Organization Groups RENT PBB WEEK BUSINESS AND PROFES- SIONAL OFFICES STORES FACTORIES AND TRADE SCHOOLS TOTAL Not Given 337 1,968 1233 898 4436 Nothing 46 109 38 16 209 $1.00-1. 99 (taxes) 2.00- 5 7 3 6 4 5 20 3.00- 4 00- 12 19 9 12 46 51 31 33 98 115 5.00- 36 67 139 55 297 6.00- 7.00- 54 47 57 87 117 175 52 43 280 352 8.00- 55 102 208 71 436 9.00- 10.00- 11.00- 12.00- 13.00- 14.00- 51 94 76 72 71 47 35 215 31 78 23 25 85 351 36 146 29 40 29 103 17 47 12 13 200 763 160 343 135 125 15.00- 16.00- 17.00- 18.00- 65 34 62 36 99 12 2 15 95 19 11 21 28 6 6 287 71 75 78 19.00- 20.00- 21.00- 22.00- 23.00- 24.00- 25.00- 26.00- 27.00- 28.00- 29.00- 30.00- 38 47 4 7 32 6 28 6 3 19 2 6 1 15 3 1 1 1 3 1 10 i "7 2 ' i i 'ii i 3 i i 40 83 8 9 33 7 41 9 3 19 3 8 31.00- 1 1 32.00- 33.00- 34.00- i 9 i "2 9 35.00- 36.00- 37.00- 38.00- '2 4 . . . i "2 5 39.00- 40.00- 1 1 Over42.00 14* 14 TOTALS Lowest Highest 1,456 $1.50 63.00 2,975 $2.00 33.00 2,870 $2.00 38.00 1,481 $2.00 30.00 8,782 $1.50 63.00 Mode 10.00 10.00 10.00 10.00 10.00 Average 13.50 9.05 9.09 8.69 10.12 *See Table Oc. 6. [106] TABLE ORG. 2 EARNINGS WEEKLY WAGES AND SALARIES Organization Groups* WEEKLY EARNINGS OFFICES STORES FACTORIES AND TRADE SCHOOLS TOTAL Not Given 42 781 145 968 $4.00-5.99 6 6 6.00- 1 29 2 32 8 00- 1 12 2 15 10 00- . . 13 46 72 131 12 00- 266 111 206 583 14 00- 288 330 292 910 16.00- 339 427 196 962 18.00- 460 372 147 979 20.00- 441 295 139 875 22 00- 390 169 49 608 24 00- 274 143 83 500 26 00- 164 29 21 214 28 00- 60 40 24 124 30 00- 113 38 61 212 32 00- 32 12 7 51 34 00- 36 7 15 58 36.00- 13 1 3 17 38.00- 5 4 3 12 40 00- 15 7 10 32 42 00- 7 2 9 44 00- 6 2 2 10 46.00- 2 2 48.00- 1 1 50.00- 6 2 1 9 60.00- 1 1 1 3 64.00- 1 1 74.00-75.99 2 2 TOTAL . . . 2975 2870 1,481 7,326 Lowest $6 00 $4 00 $6.00 $4.00 Highest 75 00 65 00 61.00 75.00 Mode 19.00 16.00 15.00 19.00 Average. . 21 10 19 15 18 62 19.94 *Salaries of Business and Professional Women were tabulated on an annual basis. (See Table P. B. 3). [107] TABLE ORG. 3 PRESENT HOUSING Organization Groups PRESENT HOUSING BUSINESS AND PROFES- SIONAL OFFICES STORES FACTORIES AND TRADE SCHOOLS TOTAL Not Given Housekeeping Apt. . . . 41 374 26< 22 QQO 1 1 O/ 52 cnn ri rtt 32 OAO Ofi'V 147 With Family. . . Boarding House Furnished Room Organized Home 777- 55% 93 7% 133* 9% 38 3% 2,428 82% 51 2% 111 4% 31 1% 1,731 62% 109 4% 348 12% 31- 1% <&yo *j fa 1,013 70% 42 3% 85 6% 16- 1% ,598 19% 5,949 69% 295 3% 677 8% 116 1% TOTAL 1 456 2 Q75 f) 070 1 4.S1 Q 7QO Given 1 415 100% 2 Q'tt inncp "> Q1Q Ififl'V l,*tol t AAQ mn of 0,7&6 o coe 1/Vi07 l,*^y lUUyc 0,000 100% 19 Lived in hotels. TABLE ORG. 4 PREFERRED HOUSING Organization Groups* PREFERRED HOUSING OFFICES STORES FACTORIES AND TRADE SCHOOLS TOTAL Not Given 517 550 402 1 4AQ Housekeeping Apt. . 1,612 65% 1 RCA 72% 702 fi^^ 4 000 fiRQ Boarding House 187 g% 166 ioi f QQ C_fui 18 ftO-64 11 65-69 1 TYlTALi 1,456 [129] TABLE B. P. 3 EARNINGS SALARIES RECEIVED YEARLY Business and Professional Women SALARY PER YEAR Not Given 20 $600-899 10 900- 94 1,200- 113 1,500- 274 1,800- 183 2,100- llf> 2,400- Ill 2,700- 249 3,000- 150 3,300- r 30 3,600- 54 3,900- 7 4,200- 5 4,500- 21 4,800- 7 5,100- 1 5,400- 5,700- 6,000- 5 6,300- 6,900- 1 8,100- 2 8,400- 1 10,000- 1 15,000- 1 TOTAI 1,456 Lowest $600 Highest 15,000 Mode 1,500 to 1,790 Average $2,350.60 NUMBER [130] TABLE B. P. 4 DEPENDENTS OF WOMEN LIVING WITH FAMILIES DISTRIBUTION OF DEPENDENTS BY OCCUPATION OF WOMEN SUPPORTING THEM Business and Professional OCCUPATION TYPE OF DEPENDENT Parents Own Chil- dren Other Rela- tives Total Depen- dents Per Cent No. Depen- dents Total Cases Librarians Teachers Social Workers Lawyers 14 244 7 1 2 5 1 2 7 58 3 1 2 2 1 1 22 304 15 2 4 3 1 11 28.9 49.4 42.8 40 40 37.5 50 44 54 312 20 3 6 5 1 14 76 616 35 5 10 8 2 25 Physicians Nurses . . . 1 Banking Miscellaneous 6 4 TOTAL 272 15 75 362 46.5 415 777 Total number having dependents 362 Percentage having dependents 46 . 5 TABLE B. P. 5 PREFERRED HOUSING CLASSIFICATION OF RESPONSES TO QUESTION TWELVE! "iF YOU WERE FREE TO CHOOSE, WHAT TYPE OF HOUSING WOULD YOU PREFER?" Business and Professional PREFERRED HOUSING NUMBER PERCENTAGE Not Given 347 House 49 4% Apartment 437 39% "Non-Housekeeping" Apartment "Home" or "With Family" Hotel or Apt. Hotel . 13 473 63 1% 43% 6% Boarding House 20 2% Furnished Room 7 1% Organized Home 36 3% Club 11 1% TOTAL 1,456 1,109 = 100% [131] VI INDEX OF TABLES COLORED WOMEN. Occupations (Detailed List). Occupational Groups (Classified). Rents: Rents Paid by Women in Occupational Groups. Earnings: Salaries Earned Weekly in Occupational Groups. (a) Relation of Rent to Earnings, Non-Domestics (b) Same, Domestics. Ages: Ages in Occupational Groups. Relation of Age to Rent Paid. Relation of Age to Earnings. Present Housing: Present Housing Accommodations in Occu- pational Groups. Table Col. 10 (a) Present Housing: Rents Paid in Present Housing, Non- Domestics. Same, Domestics and Personal Service. STUDY OF Table Col. 1 Table Col. Table Col. Table Col. Table Col. Table Col. Table Col. Table Col. Table Col. Table Col. Table Col. 10 Table Col. 11 Table Col. 11 Table Col. 12 Table Col. 12 Table Col. 13 Table Col. 14 Table Col. 15 (b) (a) (b) (a) (b) Present Housing: Salaries Earned by Colored Women Living Under Present Housing Conditions, Non-Domestics. Same, Domestic and Personal Service. Present Housing: Ages of Colored Women Living Under Present Housing Conditions, Non-Domestics. Same, Domestic and Personal Service. Preference for Housing: Ages of Women Expressing Preference for Types of Housing Accommodations. Dependents. Place of Residence. [132] TABLE COL. 1 OCCUPATIONS (DETAILED LIST) OCCUPATIONS NUMBBB Not given 20 Attendants, maids Bookkeepers, cashiers 5 Cafeteria worker 1 Chambermaids Clerical workers 22 Cleaners 3 Cooks 25 Day workers 36 Dish washers 1 Domestics 238 Dressmakers, drapers, etc 22 Elevator girl 1 Factory hands 90 Hair workers 3 Housekeepers 1 Ladies* maids Laundresses Nurses, druggists, etc 16 Nurse maids 15 Piano player Secretaries Sewing women, plain, fancy 61 Social worker 1 Stock and floor girls Stenographers 14 Students Switchboard operators Teachers 13 Typists 3 Usher 1 Waitresses 24 Y. W. C. A. workers 9 Total.. 678 {188] TABLE COL. 2 OCCUPATIONS CLASSIFIED LIST Colored Women OCCUPATIONS NUMBER Business and Professional Office Workers Saleswomen Manual Occupations Domestic and Personal Service Miscellaneous . . TOTAL. 40 52 173 386 27 678 [134] TABLE COL. 3 RENTS RENTS PAID BY WOMEN IN OCCUPATIONAL GROUP Colored Women DO- RENTS PER WEEK BUSI- NESS AND PROFES- SIONAL OFFICE WORK- ERS SALES- WOMEN MAN- UAL OC- CUPA- TIONS MESTIC AND PER SONAL MIS- CELLA- NEOUS TOTAL SERVICE Not Given. 3 12 20 31 4 70 Nothing. . . 1 . . . . . . 4 4 ... 9 $1.00-1.99 . 2.00- "2 "8 '28 '38 3.00- "s 7 14 63 'io 102 4.00- 12 13 29 58 4 116 5.00- 1 7 31 76 2 117 6.00- 4 3 19 51 1 78 7.00- 2 1 15 28 4 50 8.00- 5 2 18 23 1 49 9.00- 1 5 12 1 19 10.00- '3 7 5 15 11.00- "2 1 3 12.00- 2 i 2 5 13.00- 1 1 14.00- "2 2 15.00- "i 1 16.00- "i i 2 17.00- . . . 18.00- ... ... i ... 1 TOTAL. . . 40 52 173 386 27 678 Lowest. . . . Highest. . . Nothing $16.00 $2.00 2.00 ... Nothing $14.00 Nothing $18.00 $3.00 9.00 Noth'g $18.00 Mode 4 00 4.00 5 00 5 00 3.00 5.00 Average . . . 5.43 5^20 ... 5!30 5.06 4.60 5.19 [135] TABLE COL. 4 EARNINGS SALARIES EARNED WEEKLY BY WOMEN IN OCCUPATIONAL GROUP Colored Women WEEKLY EARNINGS BUSINESS AND PROFES- SIONAL OFFICE WORKERS MANUAL OCCUPA- TIONS DOMESTIC AND PERSONAL SERVICE MISCEL- LANEOUS TOTAL Not gpven Nothing 7 6 2 11 2 74 8 1 106 5 $4.00-5.99 6.00- 8.00- 10.00- 12.00- 14.00- 16.00- 18.00- 20.00- 22.00- 24.00- 26.00- "2 1 4 4 3 1 4 3 i 3 10 7 7 10 i i "2 6 2 16 41 15 13 32 9 13 1 "4 7 25 65 106 29 25 30 2 15 1 3 2 2 2 6 1 1 1 9 15 30 88 164 56 50 76 12 33 Q 28.00- 30.00- i i 2 2 6 1 1 4 10 32.00- 34.00- 36.00- 38.00- 6 3 2 i 8 3 1 42.00- 46.00- 1 i . . . 1 1 TOTAL Lowest 40 $12.00 52 Nothing 173 Nothing 386 $6.00 27 Nothing 678 Nothing Highest 42 00 $46 00 $34 00 38 00 $20 00 $46 00 Mode 35.00 15.00 15^00 15.00 Average 25 67 18 52 18 27 15 85 12 32 17 20 [136] ^O NT 00'9fr$ 00'8S$ ^ 5 oi 10 00*02$ 00'9I$ O5O O OS 00 -H^ O ' " " [137] TABLE COL. 5 (b) RELATION OF RENTS TO EARNINGS DOMESTICS Colored Women RENTS PER WEEK WEEKLY EARNINGS 1 8 8 00 # 8 o r ^ 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 1 a & 3 1 S3 & Tt< e^ CO 00 * I 1 Tt* 3 CO 8 00 SI o 00 n Not Given. . 3 4 6 1 8 16 12 12 4 "5 8 1 9 18 17 20 15 7 8 3 2 5 2 7 3 3 2 2 1 13 i 2 i 9 51 4 30 60 53 66 56 24 22 8 5 1 2 1 Nothing $2.00-2 99 . 1 6 2 2 4 2 3 1 3 4 5 4 4 1 1 1 1 5 12 7 11 15 6 3 4 2 3.00- 4.00- 2 1 2 5 4 2 2 5.00- 1 1 1 1 1 6 6.00- 4 1 7.00- 8.00- 9.00- 1 1 1 10.00- 1 1 11.00- 1 12.00- 1 1 13.00- 1 14.00- 15.00- 1 1 1 1 16.00- i 17.00- i 2 1 TOTAL. . . . 4 7 25 65 106 29 25 30 15 i 1 i 74 386 [138] TABLE COL. 6 AGES IN OCCUPATIONAL GROUP (AGES IN S-YEAR INTERVALS) Colored Women DO- AGES BUSI- NESS AND PROFES- SIONAL OFFICE WORK- ERS SALES- WOMEN MAN- UAL Oc- CUPA- TIONS MESTIC AND PER- SONAL MIS- CELLA- NEOUS TOTAL SERVICE Not Given . 5 5 8 28 3 49 15-19... 1 11 34 31 5 82 20- ... 12 20 59 109 12 212 25- ... 12 11 35 83 2 143 30- ... 6 2 13 42 2 65 35- ... 3 3 10 35 2 53 40- ... 8 27 35 45- ... i 4 19 24 50- ... 2 10 12 55- ... 1 1 60- ... 1 1 65- ... 70- ... "i "i TOTAL 40 52 ... 173 386 27 678 [139] ose^KNccuccoia^c^THi-H . ,- 00'8I$ 00'9l$ 00'0i$ 00'6$ 00'8$ 00'9$ 66'T-001$ CO O "f O CO CO CO i-l O "f O WIN'-' 'Ibei [140] tf TVMOJ, 9S3fS88SSS :- o fl/VQl70><>^(NCO UU olo 00'9I$ (N 10 ess -H co csi co rH ; ; ; ; ; s 00*^1$ "*- co rH co ' ' ' I 8 00*01$ O.CO^^rHCOOrHrH | | | J o CO 00*8$ ^^^o, :--:-:::: rH fQ- i A/VQ "3 '16 3.00- 3 10 10 '15 i 39 4.00- 4 20 i 20 5 8 58 5.00- 4 2 m 18 8 41 6.00- 5 10 "i 11 27 7.00- 2 16 2 i "i 22 8.00- 2 10 10 4 26 9.00- 1 6 7 10.00- 2 7 "i 10 11.00- 1 1 2 12.00- 2 "i 3 13.00- 14.00- 2 "2 15.00- 16.00- . i i 17.00- . 18.00- 19.00- 20.00- Not Given "i 28 "s '2 '39 Nothing ... 5 5 TOTAL 26 134 2 84 22 24 292 [148] TABLE COL. 10 (b) PRESENT HOUSING RENTS PAID IN PRESENT HOUSING Domestics and Personal Service Colored Women PRESENT HOUSING RENTS PAID PER WEEK Apart, houses, (alone or friends) With parents, rela- tives, etc. Boarding house Fur- nished room Organ- ized home Not an- swered Total $1.00-1.99 2.00- "i *i9 "e "3 i *30 3.00- 5 20 12 22 3 62 4.00- 2 22 1 22 1 2 50 5.00- 5 33 34 1 6 79 6.00- 7 14 28 1 10 60 7.00- 6 9 1 12 1 29 8.00- 3 7 1 5 4 20 9.00- 2 5 . 4 1 12 10.00- 1 . 2 1 4 11.00- 1 . 1 12.00- "2 2 13.00- "i 1 14.00- "i 1 15.00- 2 2 16.00- "i 1 17.00- ( t 18.00- "i ' i "2 19.00- 20.00- Not Given "3 'ii "i "i "6 '25 Nothing ... 2 ... ... ... 3 5 TOTAL 35 145 7 129 31 39 386 [144] TABLE COL. ^Ll (a) PRESENT HOUSING WEEKLY EARNINGS BY COLORED WOMEN LIVING UNDER PRESENT HOUSING CONDITIONS Non-Domestics Colored Women PRESENT HOUSING WEEKLY EARNINGS House- keeping apart- ment (alone or Living with parents, tiusband, Boarding house Fur- nished room Organ- ized home Not given Total friends) etc. Not Given 4 10 8 9 1 32 Nothing 3 1 1 5 $4.00-5.99 6.00- i * 3 i "5 8.00- i 2 2 3 8 10.00- 5 5 12.00- ' "2 15 "4 2 23 14.00- 5 37 14 i 1 58 16.00- 15 4 i 7 27 18.00- 3 10 8 2 2 25 20.00- 3 16 20 1 6 46 22.00- 1 3 i 5 10 24.00- 3 6 6 "2 1 18 26.00- 3 2 5 28.00- 1 1 ' 'i 3 30.00- "2 3 4 9 32.00- 34.00- "i "2 "3 'i "i "s 36.00- 1 1 i 3 38.00- 42.00- " i i 46.00- "i ... ... 1 TOTAL 26 134 2 84 22 24 292 [145] TABLE COL. ll t (b) PRESENT HOUSING WEEKLY EARNINGS BY COLORED WOMEN LIVING UNDER PRESENT HOUSING CONDITIONS Domestic and Personal Service Colored Women PRESENT HOUSING WEEKLY EARNINGS Apart, houses, (alone or friends) With parents, rela- tives, etc. Boarding house Fur- nished room Organ- Mzed home Not an- swered Total $6.00-7.99- 2 2 4 8.0O- ' 4 1 1 " i 7 10.00- 5 7 3 6 "i 25 12.0O- 3 26 "2 23 6 5 65 14.00- 7 33 1 49 6 10 106 16.00- 15 1 9 2 2 29 18.00- '3 7 2 10 2 1 25 20.00- 1 10 1 11 1 6 30 22.00- 2 2 24.00- 1 "e '4' "4 15 26.00- i 1 28.00- i 1 30.00- i 1 38.00- i 1 Not Given "9 '36 16 7 "6 74 TOTAL 35 145 7 129 31 39 386 [146] TABLE COL. 12 (a) PRESENT HOUSING AGES OF COLORED WOMEN LIVING UNDER PRESENT HOUSING CONDITIONS Non-Domestic Colored Women PRESENTJHOUSING AGES Apart, houses, (alone or friends) With parents, ausband, etc. Boarding house Fur- nished room Organ- ized home Not an- swered Total Not Given . 3 14 4 21 15-19 3 30 ' 'l 10 "3 3 51 2O- 1 44 . 32 14 12 103 25- 6 28 22 1 3 60 30- 3 9 ' i 5 3 2 23 35- 4 6 5 1 2 18 40- 1 2 4 2 8 45- 3 1 1 5 50- 1 1 2 55- . 60- 65- 70- i i TOTAL 26 134 2 84 22 24 292 [14.7] TABLE COL. 12 (b) PRESENT HOUSING AGES OF COLORED WOMEN LIVING UNDER PRESENT HOUSING CONDITIONS Domestic and Personal Service Colored Women PRESENT HOUSING AGES Apart, houses, (alone or friends) With parents, rela- tives, etc. Boarding house Fur- nished room Organ- ized home Not an- swered Total 15-19 1 20 5 3 2 31 20- 6 44 '3 37 12 7 109 25- 11 25 2 36 6 3 83 30- 5 15 14 2 6 42 35- 1 17 10 3 4 35 40- 5 9 i 8 4 27 45- 3 4 7 "2 3 19 50- 2 4 2 2 10 55- 1 1 60- "i 1 Not Given i 7 i 9 "3 7 28 TOTAL 35 145 7 129 31 39 386 [148] TABLE COL. 13 PREFERENCE FOR HOUSING AGES OF WOMEN EXPRESSING PREFERENCE FOR TYPES OF HOU6IN<3 ACCOMMODATIONS Colored Women AGES PREFERENCE FOR HOUSING House- keeping Apart. Furnished Rooms Boarding Houses Organized Homes Not Given Total Not Given 15-19 28 34 105 84 38 33 21 17 10 2 3 5 1 3 2 1 1 1 10 9 5 3 1 1 1 5 12 45 13 5 3 5 1 13 23 48 40 16 14 7 4 2 1 i 49 82 212 143 65 53 35 24 12 1 1 i 20- 25- 30- 35- 40- 45- 50- 55- 60- 65- 70- 1 TOTAL .... 371 18 31 89 169 678 [149] TABLE COL. 14 DEPENDENTS Colored Women DEPENDENTS NUMBER Not Given 74 No Dependents 264 Parents 7 Father . . . 15 Mother 145 Mother and Sister 6 Mother and Brother 1 Children 95 Sister .... 33 Sister and Brother 2 Grandmother 5 Grandchildren 1 Aunt 7 Husband 3 Family ... 6 Others ... 13 TOTAL 678 TABLE COL. 15 PLACE OF RESIDENCE Colored Women PLACE OF RESIDENCE NUMBER 63 Manhattan 582 6 Rrnolclvn 6 Tjomr Island 2 T^PW Twsev 3 1 W r pt/ > hester 4 T^lMpwhere 12 TOTAL 678 [150] VII INDEX OF TABLES CORRELATION TABLES: Table T. 1 (a) Workers in offices, stores and factories. Rents by present housing. Table JT. 1 (b) Business and professional women. Rents by present housing. TableJT. 2 (a) Workers in offices, stores and factories. Wages by rents. Table T. 2](b) Business and professional women. Salaries by rents. Table T. 3 (a) Workers in offices, stores and factories. Wages by present housing. Table T. 3 (b) Business and professional women. Salaries by present housing. Table T. 4 (a) Workers in offices, stores and factories. Wages by ages. Table T. 4 (b) Business and professional women. Salaries by ages. Table T. 5 (a) Workers in offices, stores and factories. Ages by present housing. Table T. 5 (b) Business and professional women. Ages by present housing. Table T. 6 (a) Workers in offices, stores and factories. Ages by preferred housing. Table T. 6 (b) Business and professional women. Ages by preferred housing. [151] TABLE T. 1 (a) WORKERS IN OFFICES, STORES AND FACTORIES RENTS BY PRESENT HOUSING 1 "\T/-\m LIVING BOARD- FUR- ORGANT HOUSE- RENTS -Li CIA WITH ING NISHED IZED KEEPING TOTAL jrlVEN PARENTS HOUSE ROOM HOME APT. Not Given 72 3,215 9 30 4 413 3,743 All Board 339 1 3 13 356 Nothing 156 2 2 3 163 $2.00- 2.99 6 1 2 4 13 3.0O- 3.99 2 19 5 16 3 41 86 4. '00- 4.99 1 32 1 23 3 36 96 5.00- 5.99 108 16 47 3 87 261 6.0O- 6.99 2 87 11 60 4 62 226 7.00- 7.99 6 121 17 71 11 79 305 8.00- 8.99 4 170 25 55 16 111 381 9.00- 9.99 3 69 11 25 2 39 149 10.00-10.99 6 390 26 75 14 158 669 11.00-11.99 3 29 4 12 3 33 84 12.00-12.99 2 146 27 42 4 50 271 13.00-13.99 27 7 14 5 11 64 14.00-14.99 2 33 9 16 2 16 78 15.00-15.99 2 153 10 18 2 37 222 16.0O-16.99 10 5 12 1 9 37 17.00-17.99 5 1 3 1 3 13 18.00-18.99 24 4 8 6 42 19.00-19.99 1 1 . 2 20.00-20.99 21 6 3 . 6 36 21.00-21.99 2 2 4 22.00-22.99 "i i . . . 2 23.00-23.99 . i 1 24.00-24.99 . 1 1 25.00-25.99 i "6 'i 3 2 13 26.00-26.99 1 1 . . . 1 3 29.00-29.99 'i . . . 1 30.00-30.99 "2 . . . 2 33.00-33.99 i 1 38.00-38.99 ... i 1 TOTAL 106 5,172 202 544 78 1,224 7,326 Lowest $3.00 Nothing Nothing Nothing $3.00 Nothing Nothing Highest 25.00 30.00 29.00 38.00 17.00 26.00 38.00 Mode 10.00 12.00 10.00 8.00 10.00 10.00 Average 9'50 9.00 10.23 9.01 8.92 8.67 9.00 [152] TABLE T. 1 (b) BUSINESS AND PROFESSIONAL WOMEN RENTS BY PRESENT HOUSING L IVING RENT PER WEEK S ! .s^o A e c.-SpS a &< 1 Jb 1 ,0 1 Boarding House Furnished Room Organized Home Not Given I Not Given 23 6 284 1 1 22 337 Nothing 46 46 1 00-1 99 4 1 5 2.00- 3.00- 4.00- 5.00- 6 6 9 17 . . . 1 5 3 11 . . 1 4 7 2 1 i 7 12 19 36 6.00- 21 16 1 15 1 54 7 00- 15 1 14 12 3 2 47 8 00- 16 13 22 1 3 55 9.00- 10.00- 11.00- 12.00- 13.00- 14.00- 15 00- 18 29 24 22 24 23 9 i "i 18 40 41 21 38 20 32 1 6 2 10 6 12 12 11 5 12 1 1 6 2 8 1 6 2 1 5 2 1 'i i 51 94 76 72 71 47 65 16 00- 8 15 7 3 1 34 17.00- 18.00- 28 4 2 23 18 7 14 1 i 62 36 19.00- 20.00- 21.00- 22 00- 17 8 1 i 2 1 19 23 1 3 "s 1 3 1 1 i "i '4 38 47 4 7 23 00- 16 15 1 32 24.00- 25 00- 2 2 3 19 3 4 i ... 6 28 26 00- 2 4 6 27 00- 2 1 3 28 00- 4 1 12 2 19 29.00- 30.00- 31 00- i 2 4 "2 2 6 1 32 00- 33 00- . ... 1 1 34 00- 7 2 9 36.00- 38.00- 40 00- "i i 1 i "i i i 2 4 1 42 00- . . . i 1 43 00- i 1 45 00- i 1 46 00- i i 2 47 00- i 1 48 00- i 2 3 50 00- i 1 2 51 OO- 2 2 63 00- 1 1 TOTAL 374 19 777 93 114 38 41 1,456 PQ 66'88-00'88 66'88-00'88 i -sissssslsas s - | 1 66 '08-00' 08 66 '62-00 '62 66 '92-00 '92 rH - CO 66 '92-00 '52 66'*2-00'?-2 66 '82-00 '82 CO 66 '22-00 '22 66 '12-00 '12 :::::::::-::-:-::-::::: : : to 03 66 02-00 02 1 66 '81-00 '81 ..... .-0,,-og .-... .... s 66'il-OO'iI CO -7 66'8-00'8 .^^^^s^^ss 00 " 505 ^-" * ."""* rn^33 i r-l CO rH CO O * 10 * CO *CO IGJO^Ot^-rH 'OlrHrH r-t - - -CO N(N OS OO C s }C s lCO'--Tt-Tt CO CO rH 8 888 CO O< >. O' 8S -CM'OOl>- . ,H tn CO (N CO (N (N % 888 g S S2S 2 888; ^8^ d 2 888 % *^ OO C^ CO CO CO CO GO C^l C^ CO CO C^ ^^ o-;^^ooco OO 00 ^T I> iH T-* $ 888 Hgs^^s C^ 1 ^^ ^? ^*" CO CO - CO -l O iO C<> rH C^J i I < I -! coo cor> 00 * o* g TT i s [160] TABLE T. 5 (b) BUSINESS AND PROFESSIONAL WOMEN AGES BY PRESENT HOUSING LIVING AGES 3*3 1 s 1 c3. ^> o -d gl '3 HS -d "S |M1 ;S J .2 "5 S ^""l 3 o i c 1 1 1 ^ w ^ CQ fe O H 15-19 12 12 20-24 15 252 12 14 3 4 300 25-29 48 176 17 25 10 5 281 30-34 56 2 106 19 26 9 5 223 35-39 75 1 87 14 21 4 7 209 40-44 60 5 44 10 14 4 6 143 45-49 44 4 20 5 5 1 3 82 50-54 35 5 18 5 4 2 2 71 55-59 9 1 4 1 1 2 18 60-64 8 2 1 11 65-69. 1 1 Not Given 20 i 42 7 "3 3 4 80 Over 21 4 13 3 1 4 25 TOTAL 374 19 777 93 114 38 41 1,456 [161] g < I g E- O a o ii S2 S^ I* o 1* O 81 U T I O ' ' r-O CO O< r-4 ,-H CO O O I> *" i cU CO o^o^ cot> TT [162] TABLE T. 6 (b) BUSINESS AND PROFESSIONAL WOMEN AGES BY PREFERRED HOUSING , H R H & 5 D 5 /: 5? a H ft! - & O Q AG H SB g ll 3 K O W c g w Q H H Q g WERED <; ? 3 gji ll 1 O 1 p CD 3 ft d.