Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-01-25
CHILD LABOR FIGURES
STRIKING STATISTICS FROM CEN
sUs BUREAU BULLETIN.

The extent to which child labor is en-
ployed In the United States is set forth In
a bulletin issued by the census bureau
today. The statistics presented are for
1900 and relate to the employment OF chill
dren az breadwinners, Of whom 1,7JO, 600 in
round numbers. between the ages OF ten
ana nfteen-years, were so employed. Bread
winners are defined as those earning money
regularly by labor contributing to the fam
lily support, or appreciably assisting in
mechanical or agricultural industry.
BY far the most important occupation for
children Is that of agricultural laborers,
the number of children ten to fifteen years
OF age so employed being LOS, 4A6. About
two-thtrds of the total number OF child
preadwfnners were employed on the farm
ana most OF these children were members
of the farmers families. Next in impor-
tance comes domestic service, or the occu-
patton of servants and walters OF wait
resses: In which 1Ss.0G5 children were en-
pioyed, most Of them being girls. About
one-third Of the children employed in gain
ful occupations were fifteen years Of age,
and more than one-half were fourteen or
fifteen years. The number fourteen years
OF age was 790,623. or 45.2 per cent of the
total.
OF the total number Of child breadwin-
ners ten to fifteen years of age 72.2 per
cent were boys and 27.s Der cent girls.
Dreadw1nners is much greater among for
eign-born children than among native chill
dren. The percentage Of breadwinners
among negro children is much higher than
among white children.
Majority in the Cotton Mills.
The cotton mills furnish employment to
children to greater extent than any other
manufacturing or, mechanical industry. In
1900 the number of cotton mill operatives
ten to fifteen years Of age was 44,427. OF
the 71,622 messengers and errand and ONCE
boys In the United States g. per cent were
district telegraph messengers and errand
boys. 1913 per cent were office boys and 14.7
per cent were bundle and cash boys or girls.
Nine-tenths Of the children employed in
such service are boys.
The occupation of the textile worker, or
the needle trades, furnished employment to
5000 children between ten and fifteen years
of age, of whom 5,136 were boys and 20 1884
were girls. The total number of children
ten to fifteen years of age engaged in the
tobacco and cigar factories was il, 462. OF
the 1898 glassworkers reported in 1900
5,365. or 1O.7 per cent, were from ten to
fifteen years Of age.
OF the 1861 children for whom statistics
were specially compiled 1885, or 75.9 per
cent. were living in homes with their par
ents; $3.50, representing 14.3 per cent or
approximately one-seventh of the total num-
Der, were living with widowed mothers and
57S. or "a per cent, with mothers who were
living apart from their husbands and whose
economic position was therefore likely to
be analogous to that of widow. The num-
Der of children that were either fatherless
or were not living with fathers was 4,943
representing about one-fifth of the total
number.
Percentage of School Children.
The percentage of school children in the
total population five to nine years of age
enumerated in the United States was 533
which is only little higher than the per-
centage GO.6) shown for selected families
included in this study. OF the number of
children ten to fourteen years of age in
these families only 31.9 per cent were at
school, while the corresponding percentage
for the total number of children of that
age in the United States was 1913 But
after these children reach the age at which
the opportunity for employment as wage
earners begins their school attendance suf-
fers.
In the families with child breadwinners
schooling rarely extends beyond the age Of
thirteen. OF the children fourteen years
OF age 97.4 per cent were employed and only
1.6 per cent were at school.
OF the total number of children ten to
fourteen years of age in the United States
IL per cent were illiterate, as compared
with 1873 per cent for the child breadwn-
ners of the same age included in this tabu-
lation. For the messengers and errand and
office boys the per cent of illiterary is COM
paratively small.
BY far the greatest degree of illiteracy
is that shown for the children in cotton
mills. In the south almost one-half of the
cotton mill operatives ten to fourteen years
of age are illiterate and about one-fourth
of those fifteen to twenty years of age.
The smaller percentage in the older group
of operatives would indicate that a good
many Of these children learn to read and
write after they are ten years of age But
the percentage Of illteracy in the elder
group is still very high, rendering it prob
able that large numbers of these children
are destined to remain illiterate for the rest
of their lives