| Health of family | APPLICANT | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|
| In business | Not in business | ||
| Family all well or without serious handicap | 448 | 249 | 697 |
| Family seriously handicapped by ill health | 95 | 73 | 168 |
| Total | 543 | 322 | 865 |
[162] Of the 894 families investigated, 29 lost the applicant by death before the time of the re-visit.
Since the business grant was given in behalf of the family as a whole, the health of the whole family including that of the head has been considered. Of the 697 families without serious handicap, 448, or 64 per cent, were in business at the time of the re-visit, while 95 of the 168 families handicapped by ill health, or 57 per cent, were in business. This latter proportion seems relatively high. Many a man or woman in frail health can see that his hope for security lies in maintaining a small business against all odds. The man with more capital and better health has a chance to make a better income, but he who is without the alternative of employment for wages cannot permit himself to be deterred. A further study of the records seems to indicate that, among the applicants still in business, the proportion who were doing poorly is decidedly smaller in the case of those not handicapped by ill health than in the case of those burdened by a handicap of this nature, whether slight or serious.
Capital Available.
The part played by the amount of capital available for starting afresh in business was an important one. The term capital as here used includes the grant, and other resources, if any, such as equipment or stock saved from the fire, insurance, savings, gifts, loans, and credit. [Table 59] shows the numbers starting business with given amounts of capital, and shows what part the grant played therein.
TABLE 59.—AMOUNT OF GRANTS TO AND OF CAPITAL AVAILABLE FOR APPLICANTS RECEIVING BUSINESS REHABILITATION[163]
| Amount of grant or of grant and capital | Cases in which grant was as specified | Cases in which capital available for business, inclusive of grant, was as specified |
|---|---|---|
| Less than $300 | 476 | 231 |
| $300 and less than $500 | 159 | 121 |
| $500 and less than $700 | 58 | 145 |
| $700 and less than $1,000 | 1 | 89 |
| $1,000 to $5,000 | .. | 108 |
| Total | 694 | 694 |
[163] Of the 894 families investigated, 200 failed to supply information relative to capital available.
It has already been seen that grants ranged in amount from less than $100 to $900. The amount of capital available for starting business varied from less than $300 to as high as $5,000. More than two-thirds of all persons in this group received less than $300 cash from the committee. By virtue of other resources which some of the group had on hand or managed to secure, 463, or almost exactly two-thirds of the entire number, had $300 or more available for starting business.
In general, the rehabilitation committee adhered to its announced policy of helping only those that were accustomed to doing business on a small scale. Even among these, however, there were degrees. For clarity, as the division seems a convenient one, the discussion that follows will recognize two groups: one of 497 persons whose available capital including grants was less than $700, and one of 197 persons who had $700 or more available for the start. These will be spoken of as the low capital and the high capital groups respectively. In a similar way, grants for business rehabilitation consisting of less than $300 will be referred to as small grants, and grants of from $300 to $1,000 as large grants.