| Father’s earnings | Live-births | Deaths 1st year | Infant mortality rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under $625 | 384 | 82 | 213.5 |
| $625 to $899 | 385 | 47 | 122.1 |
| $900 or more | 186 | 18 | 96.8 |
| Ample | 476 | 40 | 84.0 |
Expressed in words, this table asserts that when the family income is under $625 a year, the children born alive die before the first birthday at the rate of 213.5 to the 1,000. In striking contrast when the income is $900 or more, they die only 96.8 to the 1,000. “Ample” was the expression used when the investigator could not obtain exact information as to the amount, but saw no evidence of actual poverty. The same ratio held good when it was calculated for the native-born mothers alone and when it was calculated for the foreign-born mothers alone. Even where mothers are American-born women, staying at home to look after their children, the amount of money to be spent on the child strongly influences its chance of life and death.
According to this table the superiority which children in indigent households show over children in well-to-do households is preeminent skill in dying. When father earns $12 a week the children die at the rate of 213 per 1,000; but when father earns $18 a week, only 96 children per 1,000 pass away the first year of their lives. The lower the father’s wages, the higher the babies’ death rate. Many a death certificate should read, “Died of poverty.”
The following table is compiled from the 5,617 children borne by 1,491 married mothers, in Johnstown, Pa.
| Order of Birth | Deaths per 1,000 |
|---|---|
| 1st and 2nd born children | 138.3 |
| 3rd and 4th born children | 143.2 |
| 5th and 6th born children | 177.0 |
| 7th and 8th born children | 181.5 |
| 9th and later born children | 201.1 |
Apparently the size of the family has much to do with the child’s chance of living, and apparently the earlier in the succession the child is born, the better chance of life it possesses. Death warrants await the coming of the youngest born.
| Table 42.—Infant mortality rate for all children of married mothers included in this investigation, distributed according to the father’s earnings. | |
|---|---|
| Father’s annual earnings | Infant mortality rate |
| Under $521 | 197.3 |
| $521 to $624 | 193.1 |
| $625 to $779 | 163.1 |
| $780 to $899 | 168.4 |
| $900 to $1,199 | 142.3 |
| $1,200 to $1,200 and over | 102.2 |
U. S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR CHILDREN’S BUREAU
Julia C. Lathrop, Chief
INFANT MORTALITY