The close correspondence of these various estimates gives them a high degree of credibility. If we fix these standards in mind, and then look back over the wage scales given on the foregoing pages, we are struck with the utter inadequacy of the annual incomes of the foreign-born to meet even these minimum requirements of decency. It is obvious that an enormous number of immigrant families, if dependent solely on the earnings of the head of the family, would fall far below any of these standards, and that many of them, even when adding to their resources by the labors of wife and children, and the contributions of boarders, cannot possibly bring the total income up to the minimum limit. Even the average income in many occupations is far below this minimum, and it must be considered that while an average indicates that there are some above, there must also be many below, the line. What must be the condition of those below! The average family income of the foreign-born studied in the Immigration Commission’s investigation of the manufacturing and mining industries was $704. Mr. Frederic Almy states that 96 per cent of the Poles under investigation in Buffalo earn less by $110 than the $634 per year which was set as the “lowest tolerable budget.”[237] A vast amount of information covering a number of miscellaneous aspects of human life, which fall under the general head of the standard of living, is furnished by the Immigration Commission, in its report on the manufacturing and mining industries. Some of the most important of these facts are summarized in the following tables. First, as to the situation of young children in the homes of immigrants. PER CENT OF CHILDREN 6 AND UNDER 16 YEARS OF AGE[238] ══════════════════════════════════╤════════════════╤════════════════ │ MALE │ FEMALE ──────────────────────────────────┼────┬──────┬────┼────┬──────┬──── „ │ At │ At │ At │ At │ At │ At │Home│School│Work│Home│School│Work ──────────────────────────────────┼────┼──────┼────┼────┼──────┼──── Native-born white of native father│ 5.4│ 90.9│ 3.6│ 6.9│ 90.5│ 2.6 Native-born of foreign father │10.2│ 83.9│ 5.9│12.6│ 83.5│ 3.9 Foreign-born │13.2│ 77.0│ 9.9│19.1│ 73.6│ 7.3 ══════════════════════════════════╧════╧══════╧════╧════╧══════╧════ Footnote 237: _The Survey_, Feb. 4, 1911, p. 767. Footnote 238: Rept. Imm. Com., Imms. in Mfg. and Min., Abs., pp. 194–195. Among the following races the following per cent of foreign-born male children of the specified age were at work: German, 13.9; south Italian, 13.3; Lithuanian, 14.3; Portuguese, 15.7; Ruthenian, 14.6; Scotch, 19.0; Syrian, 22.6.