"The destruction of family life; not in any imaginary or mystical sense, but by the demands of the day's work, and by the very demonstrable and material method of typhoid fever and industrial accidents; both preventable, but both costing in single years in Pittsburgh considerably more than a thousand lives, and irretrievably shattering nearly as many homes."[49]
Assuming, throughout this discussion, that $6.00 a week ($1.00 a week less than Miss Butler's estimate), or $312.00 a year is the lowest fair individual wage; and $11.00 a week, or $572.00 a year is the lowest fair family living wage:[50] it is easy to show from reliable reports that scores of thousands of individuals and heads of families fall below this standard. But in considering any figures quoted here, or to be found elsewhere, it should always be remembered that the actual wage may be much below the rate of wage. One employed at the rate of $6.00 a week may not make anything like that because of loss of time.
How much is lost through unemployment, it is hard to say. The United States Industrial Commission was of the opinion, that "it is impossible to collect statistics of any value whatever relative to the unemployment of unorganized labor, among whom lack of employment is a much more serious thing than it is with skilled or organized labor."[51] It would seem, however, that in the clothing trades, the employees lose at least one day in every six.[52] According to a Federal report issued in 1911, in Baltimore one-fifth of the force worked between five days and full time; one-tenth between four and five days; one-seventh between two and three, and five per cent, two days or less.[53] A report of the New York State Bureau of Labor for 1906[54] contains the following suggestive table regarding the unemployment of certain classes of _organized_ labor. It may rightly be assumed that among unorganized workmen conditions are worse.
NO. AND PROPORTION OF UNEMPLOYED WAGE-EARNERS
----+--------+--------+--------+-----++---------------------------------- | No. of | No. of |No. idle|Per || Per cent idle Mon.| unions | memb'rs| at end |cent |+------+------+------+------+------ |report'g|report'g|of month|idle || 1905 | 1904 | 1903 | 1902 |1902-5 ----+--------+--------+--------+-----++------+------+------+------+------ Jan.| 191 | 84,539 | 12,682 |15. || 22.5 | 25.8 | 20.5 | 20.9 | 22.4 Feb.| 190 | 85,155 | 13,031 |15.3 || 19.4 | 21.6 | 17.8 | 18.7 | 19.4 Mch.| 192 | 25,956 | 2,952 |11.6 || 19.2 | 27.1 | 17.6 | 17.3 | 20.3 Apr.| 192 | 90,352 | 6,583 | 7.3 || 11.8 | 17.0 | 17.3 | 15.3 | 15.4 May | 192 | 91,163 | 6,364 | 7.0 || 8.3 | 15.9 | 20.2 | 14.0 | 14.6 June| 192 | 92,100 | 5,801 | 6.3 || 9.1 | 13.7 | 23.1 | 14.5 | 15.1 July| 195 | 94,571 | 7,229 | 7.6 || 8.0 | 14.8 | 17.8 | 15.6 | 14.1 Aug.| 195 | 94,220 | 5,462 | 5.8 || 7.2 | 13.7 | 15.4 | 7.1 | 10.9 Sep.| 195 | 94,290 | 5,252 | 6.3 || 5.9 | 12.0 | 9.4 | 6.3 | 8.4 Oct.| 195 | 92,052 | 6,383 | 6.9 || 5.6 | 10.8 | 11.7 | 4.2 | 9.8 Nov.| 195 | 93,042 | 7,052 | 7.6 || 6.1 | 11.1 | 16.4 | 14.3 | 12.0 Dec.| 195 | 93,318 | 14,352 |15.4 || 11.1 | 19.6 | 23.1 | 22.2 | 19.0 ----+--------+--------+--------+-----++------+------+------+------+------ Mean for year| | | 9.3 || 11.2 | 16.9 | 17.5 | 14.8 | 15.1 -------------+--------+--------+-----++------+------+------+------+------