National Industrial Conference Board

“ As a matter of fact, standards of living have changed greatly within the last five years. On the one hand, there have been substitutions as prices have mounted, and on the other, wage increases greater than advances in the cost of living have in many instances enabled families to buy more and better goods than ever before. ”

“ For the purpose of this study, the cost of living was estimated with reference to the needs of a man, his wife and three children under fourteen years of age. No attempt was made to secure family budgets from representative wage-earners. Instead, the amount of food, clothing, fuel, heat, light and other items needed to meet the requirements of a decent standard of living was carefully estimated on the basis of several budget studies made by other authorities, and prices of these various items were obtained. ”

“ Thus, life insurance premiums are paid by many of the mills; social activities are supported by a few and a nursing service by some. Although allowance for parochial schools is included in the budget, there are good public schools available in the city without cost. Taking these circumstances into account the estimates of the sums needed to maintain an American standard of living in Fall River in October, 1919, are as representative as any which can be reached. ”

“ The majority of wage-earners probably pay between $1.75 and $3 per week and do not have a bath. The demand for the larger apartments with baths far exceeds the supply. Many families are forced to live in inferior and crowded quarters at the present time because no others are to be obtained.
Two dollars twenty-five cents a week or $117 a year for four rooms and toilet may be set as a minimum figure for housing a family of five in Fall River, according to existing conditions. Three dollars fifty cents a week or $182 a year will secure somewhat better accommodations. ”

“ It may be said, therefore, that the cost of ready-made clothing in Fall River increased 102% between October, 1914, and October, 1919. When clothing is made at home, however, the increase has undoubtedly been greater, owing to the fact that prices of yard goods have advanced more than prices of made up garments, although as already indicated, the absolute cost is less. To allow for this, the increase in cost of the minimum clothing budget has been placed at 125%. ”

“ These sums provide for the maintenance of a family of five at an American standard of living, where the father is the sole wage-earner. It should be recognized, however, that the foreign families are frequently larger and that in many of them there are several wage-earners. Their standard of living, on the other hand, is intrinsically lower. ”

“ Almost all wage-earners in Fall River carry burial or life insurance and the insurance business is said to be thriving. The Philanthropic Burial Society alone, a local organization which has extended its activities to New Bedford and elsewhere, has a membership of 30,000 in Fall River. This society pays a funeral benefit of $125 in return for monthly dues of 15 cents to 30 cents. ”

“ The most important industry in Fall River is the manufacture of cotton cloth. There are in the city 111 cotton mills and an additional number of industries directly allied to cotton manufacturing. Retail selling is confined, with the exception of two or three large food stores and three or four department stores, largely to small neighborhood stores, the proprietors of which are of the same nationality as the people to whose trade they cater, or, in the case of specialty clothing stores, Jews. ”

“ To obtain the cost of clothing for a family of five, budgets were constructed containing the different articles which probably would be purchased in the course of a year and prices were collected from a number of stores which cater to wage-earners. ”

“ In addition, Fall River has 73 lodges of various fraternal organizations for men, many of which provide insurance benefits for their members. Many of the mills are reported to be carrying life insurance policies for their employees valued at from $500 to $1,000. A contributory system of cash benefits for sickness also obtains in some of the mills.
The price of daily newspapers, French and English, is two cents and the Boston Sunday paper, which is extensively read, is seven cents.
A considerable proportion of the amount spent for sundries apparently goes to the support of the church. ”

“ Fall River and its People
The population of Fall River in 1915 was approximately 125,000, of whom 75,000 were native born and 50,000 foreign born. A large percentage of the native born are of foreign parentage. French Canadians and Portuguese are the leading foreign nationalities and are represented in approximately equal numbers. Together they comprise over half the foreign-born population. The English are next most important in numbers, approximately 10,000. Over 4,000 were born in Ireland, over 3,000 are Poles and some 2,000 are Russians, the majority of the latter undoubtedly Jews. ”

“ Families in Fall River often are large; the French Canadian and Portuguese not infrequently have eight or more children, and sometimes 12 or 15. This means that in many families there is inevitably a period of poverty before the children become old enough to work; this is often partially relieved by the employment of the mother. When, however, the children begin to go into the mills, a considerable increase in income takes place very rapidly. ”

“ THE National Industrial Conference Board is a co-operative body composed of representatives of national and state industrial associations, and closely allied engineering societies of a national character, and is organized to provide a clearing house of information, a forum for constructive discussion, and machinery for co-operative action on matters that vitally affect the industrial development of the nation. ”

“ It was the belief of the secretary of the society that most of its policy-holders were insured in other organizations also. The Metropolitan and Prudential Life Insurance Companies have offices in Fall River and together they insure 75,000 persons. Their policy-holders make payments averaging about 10 cents per week. ”

“ These averages may be compared with the results of an investigation made by a totally different method by the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics in Fall River in 1918 when the average cost of living of 158 families earning roughly from $900 to $2,500 per year was found to be $1,320.84.3 For 12 of these families, yearly expenses averaged $826.23 ”