In choosing a wage standard to represent the primary poverty line, I somewhat arbitrarily fixed upon $10 per week. In either of the four states named, such a wage must mean poverty and lead to the employment of children at the earliest possible moment. Intemperance appears in four cases, but that does not mean that it did not enter into other cases at all. In the four cases noted the fathers were earning from $12 to $18 per week, and while it is possible that with such wages they might be honestly and honorably poor, since even $18 is not a very princely wage, it is a fact that their expenditures upon drink constituted the real cause of the poverty which forced their children to work. On the other hand, I do not suppose that all the cases of child labor due to the primary poverty of their families are noted. In the last column several cases are given of children who were “sick when attending school,” or who “could not get on at school.” For reasons given in an earlier chapter, I am inclined to believe that these cases would have to be transferred to the other column if it were only possible to investigate them more fully. TABLE SHOWING REASONS FOR THE EMPLOYMENT OF 213 CHILDREN ═══════════╤═══════════════════╤═══════════════════╤═══════════════════ No. of │ Occupations[F] │Reasons given which│Reasons given Other Children │ │ indicate Primary │ than Apparent │ │ Poverty │ Primary Poverty ───────────┼───────────────────┼───────────────────┼─────────────────── Boys, 34.│Glass factory │Wages of father 9│Parents saving 8 │ Workers.[G] │ less than $10 │ money to buy │ │ per week │ their homes, │ │ │ etc. │ │Father sick or 5│Children working 2 │ │ injured │ to keep father │ │ │ who is able to │ │ │ work but won’t │ │Father dead 2│ │ │Father 1│ │ │ unemployed │ │ │Father in prison 1│Not determined 6 ───────────┼───────────────────┼───────────────────┼─────────────────── Boys, 23.│Textile mill │Wages of father 14│Tired of school 13 │ workers. │ less than $10 │ │ │ per week │ Girls, 57.│ │Father 6│Discouraged by 6 │ │ unemployed │ being “put │ │ │ back” at │ │ │ school every │ │ │ time family