LATEST OFFICIAL FIGURES ON CHILD LABOR. From United States Census of Occupations, 1910. New York State.
| Age | 10 to 13 years | 14 to 15 years |
|---|---|---|
| Manufacturing and mechanical | 518 | 18,502 |
| Extraction of Minerals | 3 | 47 |
| Agriculture | 1,566 | 5,034 |
| All other occupations | 2,765 | 36,659 |
| Total in all gainful occupations New York State | 4,852 | 60,242 |
| Total in all gainful occupations United States of America | 895,976 | 1,094,249 |
| Total child laborers in the United States of America | 1,990,225 |
WAGES AND THE COST OF LIVING. Together with its relation to Prevention of Conception. Compiled by C. V. Drysdale, D.Sc.
Apart from the special problems of experts, the great economic question of the day is that of the remuneration of labor and its relation to the cost of living. In Parliament and the press the questions of a minimum or living wage and of the purchasing power of existing wages are continually debated; and it is perfectly evident from the tone of these debates that we are confronted with a most serious difficulty, for which none of the political parties or economic authorities has any satisfactory solution. The recognition of this difficulty is due not to the fact that any new phenomena are present, or that the workers are worse off than at many periods in the past; but to the fact that the compilation of more accurate and official statistics during recent years has brought to light facts which were formerly only surmised, and has made two important conclusions practically indisputable. These are as follows:
A. That the wages of a large fraction of the working classes are insufficient, even when most skilfully employed, for the adequate support of a normal family.
B. That during the last ten or fifteen years of social legislation and of strenuous effort on the part of the working classes and social reformers, the purchasing power of average wages has declined instead of increasing, and this decline shows no definite sign of being arrested.
In order to improve the efficiency of production, it is important that the efficiency of the race should be improved. Hence the reduction of births should be especially encouraged among the poor and those suffering from physical or mental defect or disease, who, it may be noted, should have the strongest personal motives for voluntary restriction.
The restriction of births in proportion to economic or physiological deficiency would steadily improve economic conditions in the following ways:
(a) It would immediately reduce the burden upon the poor with their existing wages.
(b) It would immediately check increased demand, and therefore a further rise in price of food.