UNDER $2.00 ████████████████████████████ 56%
$2.00 TO $3.00 ████████████ 25%
$3.00 TO $3.60 ██ 4%
OVER $3.60 ███████ 15%
As to the comparative wages paid here and in the South, it appears
from table number X, that the great mass of workers get higher wages
here than in the places from which they come, fifty-six percent
received less than two dollars a day in the South, while only five
percent received such wages in Pittsburgh. However the number of
those who said they received high wages in the South is greater than
the number of those receiving them here. Fifteen percent said they
received more than three dollars and sixty cents a day at home, while
only five percent received more than that rate for twelve hours work
here. Sixty-seven percent of the four hundred and fifty-three persons
stating their earnings here, earn less than three dollars per day.
Twenty-eight percent earn from three dollars to three sixty per day,
while only five percent earn more than three dollars and sixty cents
per day. The average working day for both Pittsburgh and the South
is ten and four-tenths hours. The average wage is $2.85 here; in the
South it amounted to $2.15. It may be interesting to point out that
the number of married men who work longer hours and receive more money
is proportionately greater than that of the single men, who have not
“given hostages to fortune.”
It has been stated frequently that the Negro exodus from the South
is in a large measure due to the fact that the Southern states have
adopted prohibition. While it is true that most of the newcomers are
from prohibition states, our figures, however, do not warrant the
conclusion that the Negroes came North to use the saloon. We are
inclined to believe that the answers to this question were sincere. The
classification of “drinkers” includes all persons who imbibe however
infrequently and those who drink beer only. Out of the four hundred
and seventy-seven persons who answered these questions, two hundred
and ten or forty-four percent said that they drank, while two hundred
and sixty-seven or fifty-six percent were total abstainers. It is
interesting to note that among those who have families in Pittsburgh,
the percentage of those who drink is smaller than among those who are
single or have families elsewhere. Thirty percent of the former class
drink, while seventy percent do not drink at all. The percentage of
drinkers of those with their families at home, is even greater than
those of the single people, which may be explained by the fact that
many of the younger people have as yet not acquired the drink habit.
The church going proclivity of the Negro is well known and is borne out
by our study. Of the four hundred and eighty-nine who replied to this
question, three hundred and seventy or almost seventy-six percent are
either church members or attendants, and only one hundred and nineteen
or twenty-four percent do not attend any church.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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