1. Servants and waitresses 94,789 or 28.7%
2. Factory operatives 36,458 " 11.06%
3. Dressmakers 34,306 " 10.04%
4. Saleswomen 20,578 " 6.2%
5. Seamstresses 15,845 " 4.8%
6. Laundresses 15,085 " 4.5%

It will be noted that the third group, which is a skilled trade, has very few representatives among the prostitutes.

Earnings:—Until recently in our Bedford records, we have not systematically recorded wages earned before entering prostitution. With the beginning of this study, we endeavored to obtain the data from the prostitutes now in the institution. We find, however, that the girls are very hazy as to the exact amounts earned. They “don’t remember” because “they always gave all their earnings to their mother” is a frequent statement. In 162 cases, however, they appeared to be sufficiently accurate as to the maxima and minima of earnings to furnish reasonable proof of the truth of their statements; particularly when taken in connection with our knowledge of the girls’ ability. The average minimum is $4 and the average maximum is $8. It will be noted that even the average maximum is below $9, an amount generally conceded to be the minimum on which a girl can live decently in New York City. See [Table IX]. By far, the largest number earned less than this, the average being pulled up by the few girls who were more competent. In this connection we made an inquiry of 194 young women who were at Bedford at the time the study was made, as to whether they were living at home and as to the disposition of their earnings at the time they entered prostitution as a business. Out of 194, one hundred and twenty-two claim to have been living at home. Of these, 32 were supported by their parents or husbands and did not work outside of their home; 53 were working and giving all they made to their mothers; 39 were giving part of what they earned; 24 were living with relatives and of these, 15 gave all they earned to their relatives, while 9 gave a part as board; 20 young women were working and boarding with strangers. They claim they paid board ranging from $1.50 a week in one case to one case which claims to have been paying $13.50. The greatest number paid $4.00 per week. Twenty-six of the girls were domestics living where they worked. See [Table XI].

It is interesting to compare the statements in regard to wages made by the girls in Bedford with the statements of those in other institutions and especially with the statements made by the street cases. [Table LI] presents this comparison. It will be noted that of the 420 cases considered, the average maxima and minima varied between $9 and $13, a much higher point than is reached by girls in the institutions. The total shows data for 238 girls who were domestic servants and 907 engaged in other occupations. In the cases of institution girls, the knowledge that the statement which they give can be checked up and verified by the institution officials, will, in most instances, deter them from going wide of the mark. As this was impossible in the majority of cases interviewed on the street, I feel that not as much reliance can be placed on data as to salary. Granted, however, that the data are reliable, there would seem to be no indication of real economic pressure as a reason for entering an immoral life.

Social Relations:—Statistics with regard to social relations must be taken with several grains of salt. A girl confined in an institution is very anxious to maintain relations with men outside and sometimes represents a man as her husband who is simply the man she has been supporting by her wages of prostitution. Usually we find this out sooner or later; but as we include in these statistics a considerable percentage of girls whom we have known only for a few months, we cannot be certain. According to present knowledge, out of 647 cases there are 193 married women or 29.8 percent of the whole. (See [Table XII].) In this connection it may be said that marriages are apparently entered into with as little consideration as one would give to the purchase of a new hat, and a husband who has ceased to please is thrown aside as easily as an old garment. New connections are entered into with very little regard to the legal aspects of the case. Many a girl has said to me when arguing the matter of a new relationship and the lack of legal separation from the first, “But, Miss Davis, he did not deserve any consideration!” One girl who has committed bigamy by marrying the second man, gave as her excuse, which I think was perfectly genuine, that she wished to be respectable! In a large proportion of cases of girls sent here for prostitution, one or more men and sometimes as many as six stand ready to marry each as a means of securing her release. These are not always the men with whom the girls have been living nor the men whom they have been supporting. The most extreme case that has come to my attention is that of one of our girls who stopped a man on the street as she was being taken to the train by our officer saying: “She is taking me to prison. Will you marry me to save me?” He said “Yes,” and actually wrote me asking to be allowed to do so. It should be said in connection with married women, that we have record of comparatively few husbands who are in good and regular standing, as the tables in our annual reports will show.

It is equally difficult to get at the actual truth as to the number of children that the unmarried women have had. The table shows the admissions of 219 women on this point. There are 73 unmarried women who admitted having had children; 16 were pregnant at the time of entering the institution and 18 had previously been pregnant; 428 claim to have had no children. In this connection it may not be amiss to note the fact that an unmarried woman who has had a child is more apt to belong to the mentally defective class discussed later on. The cleverer women know how to prevent conceptions.

Religion:—[Table XIII] shows the religious affiliation of the Bedford girls. At Bedford, separate services are held for Catholic, Protestant and for Jewish women. On entrance they are asked to state their previous religious connection or preference. They are advised, if they have no definite religious preference, to attend the church to which their parents belonged. They are also told that they may not change after once having declared themselves. The table shows that 41.1 percent are Catholics, 38.9 percent are Protestants and 19 percent are Jews. The colored girls are almost all included in the Protestant section.

The warden of the Jefferson Market District prison states in regard to the religious affiliations of the 7,408 women sentenced from Jefferson Market Day and Night Court in 1912, that there were 3,533 Catholics or 47.6 percent, 2,525 Protestants or 34.08 percent and 1,301 Jews or 17.4 percent.

The religion of the women committed for all offenses from all the courts of Manhattan and the Bronx in 1912 is as follows:

Catholic 4,630 or 44.4%
Protestants 3,677 " 35.2%
Jewish 1,880 " 18.03%
Total 10,424