This group of five propositions in regard to the number and distribution of the foreign born engaged in domestic service seems to indicate that in this country, with the exception of the sections employing colored servants, domestic service is as a rule performed by persons of foreign birth belonging to a few well-defined classes as regards nationality, who prefer city to country life. The facts given are an understatement of the influence exerted on domestic service by persons of foreign extraction, since they do not take into consideration the factor of foreign parentage.
A second group of propositions may be suggested in regard to the general distribution of domestic employees.
(1) The number of domestic servants is absolutely and relatively small in agricultural and sparsely settled states.
This will be evident by the reference to the accompanying chart, which shows the number of persons to each domestic servant in each of the states. The states last in the list, where the smallest relative number of servants is employed, are all large in area, and as a rule have the smallest population in proportion to the area of settlement. This condition is probably due to the two facts that all housework is as a rule performed without remuneration by housewives, since they are more free from social and other interruptions than are women in cities, and also to the aversion of domestics as a class to country life.
(2) The number of domestic servants is absolutely and relatively large in those states containing a large urban population.
Chart showing the Number of Persons to each Domestic Employee in the Various States and Territories and the District of Columbia
