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https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis NEWSPAPER SELLERS 1. “ H O L L E R S O ’ S I C O U L D H E A R Y O U A T T H E T O P O F T H E T I M E S B U I L D I N G , ” A D V I S E S ' O N E C I R C U L A T I O N M A N . 2. BO YS F R O M 10 Y E A R S UP S E L L O N T H E D O W N - T O W N C O R N E R S IN O M A H A . 3. T H E 9 - Y E A R - O L D N E W S B O Y ( R I G H T ) S A I D H E H A D N O T BE E N IN T O W N L O N G E N O U G H T O E N T E R S C H O O L . 4. S E L L I N G P A P E R S A L L D A Y O N S A T U R D A Y S A N D V A C A T I O N D AY S IS C O M M O N . 5. W A I T I N G T O S E L L T O T H E T H E A T E R C R O W D https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis U. S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR JAMES J. DAVIS, Secretary CHILDREN’S BUREAU GRACE ABBOTT, Chief CHILD WORKERS ON CITY STREETS By NETTIE P. McGILL Bureau Publication No. 188 » UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE WASHINGTON https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis SINGLE COPIES OF THIS PUBLICATION M AT BE OBTAINED FEEE UPON APPLICATION TO THE CHILDREN’S BUREAU. ADDITIONAL COPIES MAT BE PROCURED FROM THE SUPERINTENDENT OF DOCUMENTS,U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE WASHINGTON, D. C. AT 15 C E N T S P E R C O P Y https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis CONTENTS Page Letter of transm ittal________________________________________ '¿A______________ Surveys of juvenile street workers_________________________________ C _________ Early accounts of newsboys and other street workers_l______________ Special studies of street workers__________ a__________________ __ 3 ________ The Children’s Bureau surveys____________ l_________._________________ _ __________________ ^____ __ _______________________ Newspaper sellers_________ \ Age of newsboys______________________ _________ f___________ ______ ______ Length o f time boys sell papers________________________________________ Hours of work_______ .____ ____________ ________ ______ __ ____________$___ Newspaper selling in relation to health____ _________________ I________: Newspaper selling in relation to education____________________________ The newsboy’s environment_______________ _______________________________ Delinquency among newsboys_____________O _______________ ________ _____ The question of fam ily need___________ ________________,________________ Newsboys’ earnings_________ _______________ I____ ________ £________________ W h y do boys sell papers?________________ ____________________________ ___ Newspaper carriers______________ jjt____________________________________________ v 1 1 1 2 4 4 5 6 13 15 17 21 25 28 31 33 Age of carriers_____________________ _______________ ___________ ,__________ 33 Length of time boys carry papers_____________________ _________________ 34 Hours of work__________________________________ __________________________ 34 The carrier’s environment____________________?________________________ 35 The carrier in school____________ ____________________ __________ _____'____ 36 Vocational aspect of newspaper carrying_______________________________ 36 Delinquency among carriers_______________________ A?____ m”2_______ - __ 38 The carrier’s fam ily_________ 38 Carriers’ earnings___________________ 38 Other street w orkers____________ ._______________________________ ________ ___ 40 40 Peddlers _________ L-___ _________ p ____ £_________ _________________________U, Bootblacks_________________ ___________ _____________________________ 43 Magazine carriers and sellers_____________________ ^ _______Li__________ 44 Miscellaneous street workers____ _____________ ___ j L__ ______________ ____ 45 Girls in street work________________ ___ |__________ ____ jj____ _____________ 46 Should children do street work?___________________________________ ,_________ 47 Newspaper sellers____ ________________ S _____ __________ ____________R , : 47 Newspaper carriers__________ __ ________________________________ ______ __ 51 52 Other street w orkers________________________ ____________________________ Laws and ordinances regulating the work of children in street trades____ 54 List of reports on children in street work________________ ____ _____________ . 65 T a b les___________________________________________ _________________________ _____ 66 f_ _ k. ILLUSTRATIONS Facing page Newspaper sellers-------- ------------------------------------------ ?______________Frontispiece Newspaper sellers and bootblacks__l i t ___________________________ ___ _____ 17 ni https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL U . S. D epartm ent or L abor, C hildren ’ s B ureau , , , Washington July 17 1928. S i r : There is transmitted herewith a bulletin entitled “ Child Workers on City Streets,” by Nettie P. McGill, which, like the bulle tin entitled i Children in Agriculture,” summarizes the principal findings of the published reports o f investigations made in this field by the industrial division o f the Children’s Bureau and by other agencies. It is believed that this and other bulletins which are to follow will meet the demand for a brief analysis o f the available information on the various aspects of child labor. Respectfully submitted. G race A bbott, Chief. H on. J am es J. D avis , Secretary o f Labor. https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis CHILD WORKERS ON CITY STREETS SU RVEYS OF JU VEN ILE STR E E T W O RK ERS EARLY ACCOUNTS OF NEWSBOYS AND OTHER STREET WORKERS F ifty years or more ago newsboys and other street workers were believed to be either waifs and strays or half orphans whose attempts to support themselves and their widowed mothers by such work as selling papers, blacking boots, or playing a violin on street corners made them the object o f pity and the subject o f romance. Who does not remember the little match girl of the fairy tale or the heroes of such books as Alger’s “ Tom the Bootblack” and “ Paul the Ped dler ” ? In 1854 the author o f a book called “ The Newsboy ” thus explained her choice o f subject: “ I saw that the race (o f newsboys) would soon be so modified by the genialities o f some benevolent souls that the newsboy of our time would pass away and be only a tradi tion * * * and soon the newsboy * * * sleeping by the wayside, in areas, under steps, about the parks, in old crates and hogsheads, in the markets, and everywhere that a shelter could be found, would be forgotten.” In 1863 a visitor to the National Capi tal, pitying the wretched appearance o f the boys selling papers on the streets, brought about the establishment of a newsboys’ home, “ such as exist in some of the principal cities o f the North.” A report o f this home for 1863 says that it was practically deserted by the older boys, who had left Washington to follow the Army with the sutlers. In the seventies the “ child toilers o f Boston streets” were the subject o f a series of articles in a children’s periodical; the author described the hardships o f their lot and praised their efforts to earn their daily bread. SPECIAL STUDIES OF STREET WORKERS Now that society has learned to care more adequately for the dependent child the street worker has shed his rags, washed his face, and gone to school. He is still an object o f interest and study, but the early picturesque accounts have given way to sociological and statistical studies. The larger number o f these have dealt only with the newspaper seller; only a few have included newspaper carriers on routes, and fewer still have included peddlers, bootblacks, or https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis 2 CHILD WORKERS OK CITY STREETS miscellaneous street workers. A list o f the more important o f these studies from 1910 to the present time is given on page 65. However, many erroneous ideas, particularly about newsboys, still enjoy a wide popularity. Especially is there a tendency to idealize street work as an important road to success and to regard the street worker as the only support o f a widowed mother. This is easily understood in view of the earlier type of street worker and the picturesque portrayal o f him that was common 50 years ago, but it has been a serious obstacle in the way o f those who believe that juvenile street work, like other forms of child labor, should be regulated by law. No complete and accurate count of children working on the streets of American cities exists. Even the number in any one city can hardly be estimated unless a special study is made. The United States Census reports the number o f newsboys and bootblacks (but not the numbers of other kinds of street workers) between 10 and 16 years of age, both for the_United States and for States and cities;, but juvenile street workers are generally school children and hence are reported in the census as attending school and having no occupa tion. The surveys made in many cities indicate that the 20,513 news boys between 10 and 16 years of age, the figure given in the census o f 1920 for the United States, would more nearly reflect actual conditions if multiplied by at least .two. Children under 10, who, again judging by such surveys, constitute one-tenth to one-fifth, according to the city, of all the newsboys at work (see Table 2, p. 66) are not included in the census enumeration. THE CHILDREN’S BUREAU SURVEYS In the winter and spring o f 1922-23 the Children’s Bureau made a study o f street workers in four cities—Atlanta, Ga., Columbus, Ohio, Omaha, Nebr., and Wilkes-Barre, Pa.— and in 1925 in Newark and Paterson, N. J. A survey o f street workers in Troy, N. Y ., identi cal in scope and method with the Children’s Bureau surveys, except for some omissions, was made by the New York Child Labor Com mittee in 1923, and in 1925 the Children’s Bureau cooperated with the department of attendance o f the Washington public schools in making a survey o f newspaper sellers in Washington, D. C. These eight cities provided the information on which the following dis cussion of juvenile street work is based, though comparisons are made with the findings in other surveys o f street workers. A t the back o f this pamphlet is a set of tables in which detailed figures are given for the eight cities included in the Children’s Bureau surveys. The figures in these tables and those cited in the discussion represent conditions when the surveys were made, but https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis SURVEYS OF JUVENILE STREET WORKERS 3 revisits in 1926 or 1927 to each city (except Troy, where very few street workers except newspaper carriers were found) showed that no important changes had taken place since the original surveys. Most street workers are connected with the sale and distribution of newspapers. By far the larger number o f the boys in the Children’s Bureau surveys were newspaper sellers or carriers; but peddlers, magazine sellers and carriers, and bootblacks were fairly numerous in some o f the cities, and in each place a few children were found in various other kinds o f street work. https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis NEW SPAPER S E L LE R S1 AGE OF NEWSBOYS The average age o f the newsboy is about 12 years, but many news boys are much younger. In each of the cities in the Children’s Bureau surveys a few children o f 6 or 7 sold papers; in one city there were two newsboys o f 5. One-fifth or more o f the boys selling papers were under 10 years in three o f the seven cities in which the survey included newspaper sellers. From 14 to 27 per cent o f the newsboys were 14 or 15 years old. For the most part newsboys come from families which expect them to leave school for work as soon as they can fulfill the requirements for a work permit, and in industrial cities like Wilkes-Barre and Newark, with a large foreign population, are found the smallest proportions of 14 or 15 year old newsboys. Other surveys have found newsboys o f about the same ages. Many boys begin selling papers at very early ages. A 15-year-old boy in one o f the cities surveyed had sold papers ever since he was 6. Another boy had begun when he was only 5 and had been selling papers steadily for eight years. A 15-year-old newsboy had first sold at the age of 10 because “ some guy told my father to make us sell papers.” Another boy had begun at the age o f 5 and had been sell ing seven years; he said that when he first began a probation officer had told him he must quit because he was too young, but he had.con tinued to sell papers and had not been disturbed again. It is generally believed that small boys are the most successful newspaper sellers. “ My little brother sells more,” said an 11-yearold newsboy, “ because people think he is cute,” and a 9-year-old new comer in the field declared that he had first gone with an older brother “ for fun ” but that when he came home “ My brother says to my mother, c He’s sellin’ ahead o f me,’ and I went back.” Nevertheless, in every city included in the Children’s Bureau survey the newsboys’ earnings were found to increase with the age o f the seller; the average weekly earnings were everywhere larger for newsboys o f 12 or over than for those under 12, and in most places earnings were larger for boys o f 14 or 15 than for those o f 12 or 13. In most places 14 or 15 year old newsboys made two or three times as much as newsboys of 10 or 11. Generally speaking, the f * »Statistics for newspaper sellers in the different cities may be found in Tables 1-11, pp. 66—73. 4 https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis NEWSPAPER SELLERS 5 younger boys do not work as long hours as- the older ones. Possibly the younger newsboy with his greater appeal to the sympathies of the public could earn more money than an older one if he worked as long, but he seldom spends as much time on the street and so does not make as much money for himself and the paper that he sells. However, though circulation managers sometimes complain o f the unreliability of the boy under 12, and in cities where the newspapers assign the boys to certain places on the streets they give the older ones the best stands, they have no objection to using little boys to “ fill in.” Men in the distribution rooms will give papers to children so small that they have to stand on tiptoe to reach the counter. Ordinances and laws regulating the age at which boys may sell papers are very generally disregarded. It is illuminating to compare the minimum age at which newspaper selling is permitted in the cities included in ,the Children’s Bureau survey, given in the section on laws regulating street work (p. 54), with the proportion o f newspaper sellers in these cities who were below the minimum age, as shown in Table 2 (p. 66). In none o f these cities did the agency responsible for enforcement have a sufficiently large staff to do the work, and in most o f them the law or ordinance itself was weak in one or more important provisions. LENGTH OF TIME BOYS SELL PAPERS Many boys try selling papers, and if they are unsuccessful or if the work is distasteful they give it up in a few days or a few weeks. Other boys sell now and then in a spirit o f adventure or when some special event— election day or the baseball season—tempts them to join the crowds on the streets and “ make big money.” The Children’s Bureau surveys included only boys who had worked at least one month. Professional newsboys, such as most o f these boys are, sell for months, and many sell for years. Information in regard to the length of time that the boys had held the newspaper-selling jobs at which they worked at the time of the interview was obtained in five cities. In each city a large proportion had sold papers without interruption for at least one year. Many in each city had had their jobs at least three years, some five or six years or even longer. An Italian boy who had been selling morning papers five years, a friend having taken him down to the newspaper office to get papers when he was only 6, said he had been selling so long that he no longer got sleepy in school as he had at first. One newsboy had such a passion for selling that at the age o f 8, when he was refused money to buy a stock o f papers, he had run away from home and stayed away all night, returning in the morning with money that he had https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis 6 CHILD WORKERS OH CITY STREETS earned selling newspapers. He had continued to sell papers during the four years since. Another newsboy, aged 12, had begun to sell when he was only 7 because “ some boy took me up.” A large number had sold papers at other times, so that altogether their street-work experience had extended over a large part o f their lives. Thus, a 15-year-old high-school boy when interviewed had been selling papers steadily for about 20 months; he had begun to sell papers, however, at the age o f 9 and had sold regularly for four years, when he had stopped for about a year. A Kussian Jew had sold his first papers when he was 10 years old; for three years he had sold papers during eight or nine months o f the year, stopping in the summer months because o f the heat. Another boy o f 15 had sold evening papers steadily for five years, though he had first begun to sell at the age o f 8 because he “ liked excitement and wanted spend ing money.” A boy o f 14 had begun at the age o f 7 in order to help his family financially; after selling for two years he stopped, but he began again a year later and at the time of the interview had been selling without interruption since he was 10 years old. The few other surveys o f newsboys, such as those in Birmingham and in Tulsa, in which information was obtained on how long boys engage in selling papers, show that these facts are representative o f other places as well as o f those studied by the Children’s Bureau. HOURS OF WORK The hours o f work for newspaper sellers were regulated in all except two o f the cities included in the Children’s Bureau surveys, but very little attention was paid to most o f these regulations. In Atlanta, for example, 65 of the 109 newsboys under 14, to whom the hour regulations applied, were regularly violating the provision as to evening hours o f selling. Selling late at night. School boys usually sell evening papers, which come from the press about the time school is dismissed. As a rule they continue to sell until about 6.80 or 7, when the demand drops off. In the smaller cities on nights other than Saturday the demand for newpapers is slight after 8 p. m., though a few boys stay out until after 8 or even after 10 p. m. Whether or not they sell at night in the larger cities depends on local conditions. In Newark it was said that news stands took care o f the night trade and boys were needed only for the peak o f the demand. In Columbus and Omaha, where the news boy was really an employee o f the paper, as he was given the day’s [ supply o f papers on credit and his place o f work, the number o f papers he must sell, and the hour of stopping were dictated by the circulation manager, he was obliged to return to the office for settle https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis NEWSPAPER SELLERS 7 ment around 7 or 7.30. In those cities very few boys sold as late as 8 p. m., though some if “ stuck with papers ” went back to the streets after the evening settlement and tried to dispose o f them. In Atlanta, though the newsboys worked under a similar arrange ment, settlement was allowed as late as 8 p. m. There a large pro portion o f boys sold papers until at least 8 o’clock. In Atlanta also, as in Washington, the only other place included in the survey in which many boys sold on school nights after 8 o’clock, newsboys sold the so-called “ bulldog ” edition of the morning papers, which came out about 9 p. m. Some boys are out far into the night selling papers. In Wash ington four white and five negro children sold daily papers until midnight or later.* Three of the boys, 11, 12, and 13 years old, respectively, sold until 1 a. m .; one until 2; and a fifth until 2.30. The last-mentioned, a 13-year-old negro boy, sold morning editions o f one o f the papers until 2.30 three nights a week, stopping work on the remaining three nights at 8.30 p. m. Two little negro boys, brothers, aged 11 and 12 years, respectively, worked from 9 p. m. until 1 a. m. seven nights a week at one o f the busiest down-town corners in Washington. Both boys did not sell continuously during these hours but took turns riding around with a newspaper truck driver to “ jump ” papers for him ; that is, to hop off the truck with bundles o f papers for the newspaper sellers on the sidewalk. In each o f the cities surveyed, except Columbus, at least a few newsboys were on the streets on school nights until 10 or later. Saturday work. It is chiefly on Saturday nights, however, that late selling is com mon. That is the “ big night ” for newsboys because they can sell the Sunday papers, which are issued Saturday evening in time to reach the Saturday-night theater and restaurant crowds. Tips are more likely to be given late at night, especially on Saturday night, than at other times, thus proving a temptation to the boys to sell papers or shine shoes at late hours. A 15-year-old newsboy said that he made more money on Saturday because o f tips and that few tips were given during the week. Another newsboy, aged 10,. doubled his earnings on Saturday because o f tips. A 12-year-old newsboy, who reported staying out until 3 a. m., said that he generally got tips Saturday night and early Sunday morning. Many newsboys work on Saturday nights until at least 10 p. m. and in some places until midnight or later. A 12-year-old boy in Wilkes-Barre said that he stayed out until 3 Sunday morning sell ing Sunday papers, though his mother said that he was “ seldom out until 3 a. m.” . Just before 11 o’clock one Saturday night in November, 31 newsboys were in the public square in Wilkes-Barre https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis 8 CHILD WORKERS OK CITY STREETS and the adjacent streets, most of them selling New York Sunday papers to the Saturday-night crowds. Typical o f this group o f newsboys, who kept late hours, were two 12-year-old boys, each o f whom had sold papers from the age o f 7. One o f them sold from 4 or 5 in the afternoon until 8, 9, 10, or 11 on school nights, until midnight on Saturday, and almost all day on Sunday. The other boy stayed out selling papers on Saturday until 11. His mother said that he was a good boy, but that she was afraid o f the influence o f the streets, as the year before the boy’s brother had been sent to the reform school for staying out all night. The family was fairly prosperous, and the boy, who earned $8 a week selling papers, had $300 in the savings bank. Among the younger Wilkes-Barre news boys who stayed out late was an 8-year-old child who said that his older brother, a bootblack, stayed out with him until 12 o’clock on Saturday and that the police did not bother them. A 13-year-old boy in Columbus began selling papers at 4 o’clock on Saturday after noon, remaining on his corner down town until half past 12; then he went to the agent’s where he ate the lunch that he had brought with him from home and went to sleep “ on a bag under a bench ” until the agent made up his accounts and took him home about 3.30 or 4 a. m. Sunday. Generally speaking, the newsboys who keep late hours are as young as those who sell papers only a short time on Saturday after noons. An Atlanta boy o f 10 who sold papers up to 11 o’clock said that an older brother took his place after that hour because he was too small to stay down town so late. “ I ’m afraid some o f them boys will hit me in the head and take my papers,” he said. The mother of a 10-year-old boy, who sold until 11.30 Saturday nights but stopped at 7 on the evenings o f school days, said that he often did not come home until midnight. A native white child o f 6, clad in garments so ragged that his skin showed, sold papers on a down-town corner until 11 on the evenings o f school days as well as on Saturday. He had been selling papers for seven months with a permit which he said had been given to him at the newspaper office. His school principal told o f seeing him down town at all hours, using news papers as a pretext for begging. The boy himself said that he “ just couldn’t help ” asking for money. The 10-year-old son o f a Ukrainian tailor’s presser in Newark sold papers from 11 a. m. to 8.30 p. m. on Saturday, reporting that he “ ate on the job ” at noon and on his return home at night. A 9-year-old boy o f Italian parentage began at 10 on Saturday morning and was out until 7 p. iu., taking half an hour at noon for lunch. Another boy, only 11 years o f age, began at 6 on Saturday morning and sold until noon, beginning again at 12.30 and selling until 7. Another 11-year-old boy https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis NEWSPAPER SELLERS 9 had a working day o f 11 hours on Saturday during the school year; from 8 a. m. he sold until 9 p. m. with an hour off at noon and another at 5. Often the Saturday-night work follows many hours o f selling papers on the down-town streets. W ith papers appearing almost every hour many boys make an all-day job o f selling papers on Sat urday. They leave home before noon and sometimes do not return until 2 or 8 o’clock in the morning or until the next day, spending the night in newspaper-distribution rooms either because it is too late to go home or because they wish to be out on the streets with papers early Sunday morning. The following accounts are representative o f the hours o f some o f these boys in Omaha: A 12-year-old newsboy, who had been selling papers from the age o f 7, ate lunch before 11 o’clock Saturday morn ing, and went down town to sell papers until 7 p. m., when he stopped to eat a 25-cent supper at a restaurant; he began to sell again at 8 and continued selling until midnight. An Italian boy, 15 years old, sold papers from 5 to 10.30 Saturday morning, in the afternoon from 1.30 to 7, and again from 8 to midnight— a 15-hour day. A 12-year-old boy began selling at 2 Saturday afternoon and worked until 1 o’clock Sunday morning. A boy o f 11 sold continuously from 11 o’clock Saturday morning until 12.30 at night, except for an hour1between 7 and 8 when he stopped to get “ hot dogs” and pie at a restaurant. Another little boy, only 10, went down town at 10 Saturday morning with two brothers and sold papers until 1 o’clock; between 1 and 3, he said, he “ monkeyed around the office or went to a show,” but be ginning at 3 he sold again until about 1 o’clock Sunday morning, and then slept at the newspaper office on bags (“ i f some o f the big kids don’t come in and jerk them from under me ” ) until 5 o’clock Sunday morning, when he again went out on the streets to sell for two hours; He and his brother ate three successive meals at a down-town restau rant frequented by a rough type o f men. An 11-year-old boy, the child of Italian immigrants, worked on Saturdays for 1 4^ hours; he sold morning papers from 5.30 to 10, and after lunch sold from 1.30 to 7 and from 8.30 to 1, going to the distribution room, where he slept on benches or played around until 4.30 Sunday morning, the hour at which he began to sell again. Many laws and ordinances relating to street work forbid boys to sell papers late at night, but these regulations are no more strictly enforced than those pertaining to the age at which boys may begin to sell. The enforcement is commonly left to the police; and even where some children’s agency makes special efforts to get the help o f police, it is often found that the latter will not interfere with a child’s selling papers because they feel that it is doing the child an injustice to keep him from “ earning a few pennies.” https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis 10 CHILD WORKERS OET CITY STREETS Selling morning papers. Comparatively few boys sell morning papers except on Sundays (the largest number o f daily morning sellers found by the Children’s Bureau was 54, in Omaha), but of those who do so many sell papers for two hours or more before beginning the day’s work at school. In some places, as in Atlanta, Ga., and Washington, D. C., selling daily morning papers late at night is customary, and in most cities the Sunday-morning paper is sold on the streets Saturday night. In Omaha, although only 24 of the 98 boys selling on Sunday morning were out on the streets before 6, some o f them, especially those who sold on down-town corners, spent Saturday night in the distributing rooms; they said it was not worth while to go home for the few hours between the time they stopped Saturday night and the time they began Sunday morning. Typical o f these was a 10-year-old boy who with his two brothers sold papers until mid night on Saturday, bought a breakfast o f Hamburg sandwiches and coffee, then retired to one o f the newspaper offices, where he slept from 1.30 to 5, the hour for beginning his Sunday morning’s work. Another boy, 14 years o f age, who turned in at the newspaper office around 12.30 Saturday nights, was out selling again on Sunday mornings at 4. Morning selling often makes the boys too sleepy to do good work in school. Now and then a boy would say that he could not keep awake in school. A 15-year-old boy in one city who had sold morn ing papers for two weeks had been obliged to stop because he used to go to sleep at his desk and on his way home was so sleepy that he would call out, “ Papers, mister?” though he had no papers to sell. Teachers also complained that newsboys went to sleep in school. A number o f morning sellers also work under the double strain of selling papers in the afternoon as well as in the morning, many of them every school day. Daily hours. Newsboys work long hours as well as at undesirable times. Onehalf to three-fourths o f the newsboys in the cities in the Children’s Bureau surveys worked six or seven days a week. The selling on school days lasted between three and five hours, on an average, in four cities and between two and three hours in three cities. In some o f the cities many boys sold at least five hours a day. Among those selling at least five hours on school days in Atlanta were two 15-year-old boys, attending night school, who sold papers all day, eight or nine hours or longer, and a 15-year-old high-school pupil who sold from 2.30 to 10.30 every school day and even longer ’ hours on both Saturday and Sunday in order to add to a fund for his college expenses. Some o f the younger children also worked ex- https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis NEWSPAPER SELLERS 11 cessively long hours. A 13-year-old newsboy sold papers from 3 to 9 every school day, another from 3.30 to 11.30; a boy o f 12 sold from 3 to 9.30 every school day, and a 13-year-old negro boy found on the streets and not enrolled in school was selling papers five days a week from 11 to 12 and again from 3 to 7, besides long hours on Saturday and Sunday. An 11-year-old child sold from 11 to 1 and from 5 to 9 p. m. every school day. His school life in the early hours o f the afternoon between the two periods o f selling papers must have seemed to him merely an interruption o f his real activities; he was retarded four years, having reached only the second grade. Another newsboy who sold papers five hours on school days was in only the third grade although he was 13 years o f age. According to' his own statement and the record o f the Associated Charities he had worked when he was about 10 as a telegraph messenger, going to school in the afternoon; at the age o f 11 he began to sell papers, and his work ing hours were so late that he could not go to the office of the asso ciation to get some shirt material they had for him. He was de scribed at school as “ a serious child—never smiles” but was said to learn quickly. The school principal thought he had injured his voice selling papers; but when the Associated Charities offered to give the family the amount he earned if he stopped selling papers his mother refused, saying that it was better for him to work and that it required no more strength to work than to play. In Newark a little group o f boys, chiefly from Italian and Polish homes, sold from five to six and one-half hours on school days, beginning immediately after school and continuing until 8.30 or 9 or later, some of them with no supper until after their return home. Two brothers, one 11, the other 15 years of age, owed their long hours to the fact that they sold both before and after school, from 6 to 8.30 in the morning and from 4 to 7 in the evening. This they had done throughout vacation and the school year up to May, the time o f the interview. Weekly hours. Newspaper selling in the cities studied averaged 16 hours a week for each boy. Slightly more than half the boys worked 41 hours a week or more, including their 25 hours of school work. The 13-year-old son o f an Italian fruit peddler in Washington had been selling papers for five years. He sold from 5.30 to 8.15 a. m. and from 3.30 to 8.30 p. m., a total of 46y2 hours a week. According to his mother’s statement he and his two brothers had to sell papers because they needed the money. The father and the two oldest boys worked irregularly, so that the only assured earnings in the family were the profits from the 112076°—28---- -2 https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis 12 CHILD WORKERS OK CITY STREETS boy’s papers and a 17-year-old daughter’s wages of $10 a week in a “ pants factory.” The mother insisted in broken English that the work was good for Umberto and that it kept him from getting lazy. A ll the children had to work, she declared, in order to help pay for the home that the family had been buying for two years. Another 14-year-old Washington newsboy had a 47%-hour week. Selling papers every week day from 3.30 until 11 at night and on Sunday nights between 8 and 11 left Aaron no time for recreation. He could not go to bed before midnight, and he did not get more than seven and one-half hours o f sleep, although his mother reported, “ He sleeps all Saturday and Sunday morning.” His school record showed the result o f his long working hours. Besides being retarded two years, he had a record of poor deportment and only fair scholar ship. His teacher wrote: “Aaron is very erratic and undependable. He has a frightful temper and no ability to control it. He is always sleepy in school. The fact that he stays out so late selling papers and does not have sufficient rest may account for his instability.” A ll this lad’s earnings ($8 a week) were spent on clothes, expenses in connection with his selling, and luxuries for himself. He was buying a bicycle on the installment plan. His mother seemed unaware of the strain that his 47^2-hour week entailed and seemed to think that his work kept him out of mischief, even though he had been in the juvenile court twice on charges o f incorrigibility and stealing. In Omaha an Italian boy, only 11 years o f age, worked 53^4 hours a week. He sold papers each day about four hours before going to school and in the afternoons for three hours, all day Saturday until 7 in the evening, and early Sunday morning. The Children’s Bureau survey in Newark included boys who sold papers during school vacations.- Among these boys a working week o f 54 hours was not uncommon. The longest hours (77 a week) were reported by the 12-year-old son o f an Italian proprietor o f a shoeshining parlor. The boy sold papers every week day from 8 to 12 and from 12.30 to 8.30 and on Sundays from 8 to 1 at a news stand. In addition he worked more than six hours on Sunday afternoons shining shoes at his father’s establishment. He said that his father let him keep his tips from both jobs but made him hand over the rest o f his earnings. Several other boys reported 71 or 72 hours o f work a week. A boy o f 9 and one o f 13 sold papers for their brothers, who kept a news stand near a railroad terminal; both said that they worked from 6 in the morning to 6 at night every week day in vacation, with 10 min utes off for lunch. The younger boy said that his brother gave him 25 cents a week for his work. Another newsboy, a child o f 11, sold papers from 8 a. m. to 8 p. m. every vacation day except Sunday, https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis NEWSPAPER SELLERS 13 taking no regular periods for meals. He said he had to sell papers because there were 11 in the family; his father, a janitor, made but little money, a brother, the only one o f working age, never had steady work, and a sister who had gone to work had become ill and had had to stop. This boy had been for three semesters in the last half of the fourth grade, only slightly below the normal grade for his age; he thought that he could do better in school i f he had more time to study. Even during the school year he worked 28 hours a week selling papers. Many other boys worked almost as long hours as these. In other surveys newsboys have been found to work somewhat fewer hours than newsboys in the Children’s Bureau study. In Springfield newsboys’ working hours averaged between 2 and 3 hours a day and in Buffalo, 13 hours a week; in Tulsa the average hours a day were 3, and 20 per cent o f the boys worked 21 hours or more a week; in Toledo 13 per cent o f the newsboys worked more than 24 hours a week. NEWSPAPER SELLING IN RELATION TO HEALTH The Children’s Bureau obtained no information on the health or the physical condition o f the children included in its surveys, but a few o f the other studies o f juvenile street work have included physical examinations. In connection with the study of newsboys in Cincinnati a physician examined 306 boys from homes o f about the same income level, including newsboys and boys who did not sell papers. Fourteen per cent o f the newsboys had heart disease, almost three times the proportion among the other boys; the news boys had more orthopedic defects (11 per cent compared with 5 per cent) and more throat trouble (38 per cent compared with 17 per cent). In Buffalo 228 street workers, including newspaper sellers and bootblacks, were compared with more than 12,000 school boys examined in the same year; the greatest difference found to the disadvantage o f the street workers was the proportion with cardiac disease, which was 6 per cent compared with 4 per cent in the other group. Probably the most thorough study from the medical side is that o f the New York Tuberculosis and Health Association (The Health o f a Thousand Newsboys in New York City; a study made in cooperation with the board of education by the heart com mittee o f the New York Tuberculosis and Health Association.) But in* the presentation of the results of this study newspaper sellers and carriers are combined, so that it is impossible to draw definite conclusions in regard to the physical effects o f newspaper selling upon newsboys. Among other things these physical examinations showed that 17 per cent o f the boys examined (including carriers) had flat foot, compared with 6 per cent o f a group o f New York https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis 14 CHILD WORKERS OK CITY STREETS City public-school children in 1920. The study recommended fre quent periodic examinations of newsboys after they have worked for some time. A British report is sometimes quoted to prove that street work is physically harmful. In this report, presented before the Depart mental Committee on the Employment o f Children Act o f 1903 and published in 1910, a medical inspector gives the results o f a study of newsboys who worked outside school hours. Fatigue was shown by 60 per cent o f those who worked 20 hours or less, by 70 per cent of those who worked 20 to 30 hours, and by 91 per cent o f those who worked more than 30 hours. Nerve strain or nervous complaints affected 16 per cent in the 20-hour group, against 35 and 37 per cent respectively in the groups working longer hours. The evidence o f flat foot and o f heart strain also increased with the number o f hours o f work. Unfortunately the study included only 87 newsboys. The findings resulting from these studies are interesting, but until they are corroborated by other and more extensive data they can not be regarded as offering conclusive evidence that newspaper selling does or does not affect health unfavorably. Although it has not been proved that long hours o f standing on hard city pavements cause orthopedic defects, such as flat foot, among newspaper sellers, or that the overstimulating environment or the intense competition predispose them to nervous affections, common observation confirmed by expert opinion leads to the con clusion that under certain conditions newspaper selling has serious physical disadvantages. Too early working hours in the morning or too late hours at night deprive the newsboy of sleep. Teachers sometimes complain that the newsboys go to sleep in school or are too sleepy to pay attention to what goes on in the classroom. Too long hours, even if not at undesirable times, tax the boy’s energies. Twenty-five years ago the British Interdepartmental Committee on the Employment o f School Children, after exhaustive inquiries into the subject, agreed that probably 20 hours o f work a week is the maximum that can be expected o f school children in most employments without injurious results. The Children’s Bureau surveys showed that many news boys work more than 20 hours a week. In this connection it is im portant to remember the close relation between fatigue and mal nutrition. . The Children’s Bureau survey showed, as have others, that many newsboys have meals at irregular times and even more have meals at unsuitable hours. The peak of newspaper sales comes at. the hours most newsboys’ families are having their suppers. A hot evening meal, the principal one o f the day for most families, is https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis NEWSPAPER SELLERS 15 therefore out o f the question for large numbers of the boys. Even those who sell papers only until 6.30 or 7 usually go home to left overs from the family supper, not always “ kept hot.” Many have no supper until 8 p. m. or later or get a “ hot dog ” sandwich, a cup o f coffee, or some stale cakes at intervals in their work. Some boys eat a cheap meal at down-town restaurants. On Saturdays, when many boys sell papers all day, they often have nothing to eat but an unsubstantial bite snatched here or there until they reach home late at night. Boys selling morning papers sometimes breakfast at 5 or earlier, sell papers until 8 or 8.30, and then rush to school; others, obliged to be out too early for the family meal, eat no break fast or sell for two or three hours before they have anything to eat. It may be that for healthy, well-clad boys the dangers of exposure to cold or inclement weather are not great, though waiting even 15 minutes for a street car in a soaking rain or a cold wind makes one understand that several hours of standing on a corner under such conditions must be at least very uncomfortable. Danger from traffic, also, may be no greater than for boys who do not sell papers, though many newsboys’ parents feared it. In Columbus it was customary for boys to “ hop cars ” in order to sell their papers, but this practice was not permitted in any o f the other cities surveyed, and it seems probable that it is largely a thing o f the past. Unlike newspaper carriers, newsboys seldom carry very heavy bundles o f papers; ordi narily they take only a few papers under their arms at a time, leaving the rest o f the stock spread out in a pile or piles on the sidewalk or in a doorway or some other convenient nook. NEWSPAPER SELLING IN RELATION TO EDUCATION Are newspaper sellers less regular than other boys in school attend ance, a fundamental requirement for success in school ? In the cities in the Children’s Bureau survey in which comparable figures could be obtained for the whole school population or for the male enroll ment, newsboys were found to have about as good attendance records as others. In the cities for which these comparative figures could not be obtained the newsboys had about as good attendance records as in the other cities, the average percentage o f attendance for news boys being over 90 for each city. This is what might be expected and what is shown by other studies. Most newsboys are subject to compulsory school attendance laws, like other school boys, and if the school-attendance department is efficient they are kept in school. In Seattle they had as high a percentage of attendance as other boys, if not higher, and in Tulsa, the only other survey giving information on this point, their average percentage o f attendance was over 90, https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis 16 CHILD WORKERS OK CITY STREETS According to truancy records obtained by the Children’s Bureau, the percentage of newspaper sellers who had been truant in Omahawas 7, in Wilkes-Barre 7, and in Washington 20 for white and 23 for negro children. No figures for other boys of the same ages are available for these or other cities. Truancy rates in the cities for which they are compiled are not comparable because they usually include girls, whose truancy is much less than that of boys, and because they include boys o f all ages, whereas the proportion o f older boys, the ones most frequently truant, is larger among the newsboys than it is in the whole school enrollment. In the Chil dren’s Bureau surveys the truancy rate for newspaper sellers was several times as high as that for carriers in the same city, a fact that is brought out also in surveys of Toledo and Cleveland. How ever, this greater amount o f truancy among newspaper sellers may not be due to their occupation or conditions connected with the occupation. The newspaper sellers, more often than the carriers, and more often than the average school child in their cities, came from immigrant homes, many from the homes o f fairly recent im migrants, and their truancy may be considered to some extent at least as one o f the problems involved in adjustment to American conditions. (Statistics o f truancy in Philadelphia, a city for which an unusually detailed analysis o f truancy rates is published, showed, according to the report o f the bureau o f compulsory education, that in 1924, 45 per cent of the school children but 54 per cent of the truants were o f foreign parentage.) However, many of the condi tions surrounding newsboys in their work, as well as those in some homes, tend to cause discontent with the routine o f school. A rough measure of success in school is furnished by retardation figures, which show to what extent children are above or below normal grades for their ages. Other studies o f newspaper sellers than those made by the Children’s Bureau have shown that they are very much overage for their grades, suggesting that their progress in school is slower than that o f the average boy. In Atlanta and Omaha, two o f the four cities in the Children’s Bureau survey in which comparable figures could be obtained for the total school enrollment, the newspaper sellers had made much slower progress in school than all school boys of the same ages. In Paterson and Wilkes-Barre the percentage o f newspaper sellers who were retarded in school was about the same as that of all school boys o f their ages. In Columbus and Newark the retardation rate for newspaper sellers was very little higher than that for the whole school enrollment,, including girls, whose rate o f retardation is usually lower than that o f boys. ^ https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis NEWSPAPER SELLERS AND BOOTBLACKS 1. S IS T E R M I N D S H I S P I L E O F P A P E R S W H I L E H E S E L L S O N A BUS Y C O R N E R 2. O N E O F M A N Y L I T T L E BO YS S E L L I N G P A P E R S IN T H E P U B L I C S Q U A R E W I L K E S - B A R R E . 3. “ N O M O N E Y IN IT, T H E R E ’ S T O O M A N Y O F US,” S A I D T H E B O O T B L A C K S O F W I L K E S - B A R R E . 4. AN 8 - Y E A R - O L D “ ' S T R E E T M E R C H A N T ” IN C O L U M B U S . 5. C O U N T I N G P A P E R S G I V E N O U T T O S M A L L B O Y H E L P E R 17 https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis 17 NEWSPAPER SELLERS THE NEWSBOY’S ENVIRONMENT A serious charge brought against newspaper selling is that it may introduce the newsboy to an unsuitable environment and to dangerous associations. Few writers o il the subject o f street work have failed to emphasize this aspect, and several studies o f street workers have presented concrete evidence in support o f the charge. Among the studies made in the last 10 or 12 years, 4 give special consideration to this phase of the problem o f newspaper selling—the studies made in Seattle, Cincinnati, Chicago, and Buffalo. As an indication of the nature o f the evils that were found actually to exist in these cities, the following paragraphs are quoted: The great majority of the supply men employed to wholesale the papers to the newsboys have criminal records of considerable length, while the character of their crimes makes them unfit for contact with young children. Evidence has been presented that thugs employed by papers have attacked newsboys employed on other papers. Gambling is very common among boys waiting for their papers. Petty graft is exacted from little newsboys employed by older men owning corner stands. W orst of all, aflidavits have been made proving that negro and other supply men have practiced on newsboys vile and perverted sex offenses. (The Newsboys of Cincinnati.) Into each of the two distributing rooms came nightly, during the time o f the inquiry, from 40 to 80 men and boys. Among these alley lodgers and fre quenters our investigator found runaways from all parts of the country. In both the alleys indecent stories prevailed, especially in relation to sex perver sions. * * * In the fourth month of the inquiry evidence was secured in two instances against men accused of an attack upon one o f the newsboys, and these men were convicted in the criminal court and sentenced to 10 years’ imprisonment in the penitentiary. A doctor at the Emergency Hospital stated that within a few weeks nine boys had come to him to be treated for venereal disease contracted from one pervert among the alley employees. * * * Two of the frequenters o f the alleys, men in charge of news stands, openly boasted of their success in acting as panderers for streetwalkers, in connection with their sale of newspapers. * * * There was much thieving among the men and boys both inside and outside the alleys. W hile they were sleeping the boys were robbed of their money and clothes by other newsboys. * * * Young boys offered bargains in articles stolen inside the department stores. They would go into the stores in groups, and while one of their number made a trifling purchase, the rest would elbow goods off the counter to the floor and get away with it to the alley. Gambling was a regular practice in the alleys, shooting craps the stakes were small sums o f money, generally, and on one occasion, age and school certificates— and playing seven-up. (Chicago Children in the Street Trades.) W hile the investigators themselves saw no definite violations of this nature [that is, the use o f newsboys by adult sex perverts for immoral purposes] inTstanees have been specifically reported of lads being outraged in the delivery rooms, and from the actions and language of the boys who were found around the newspaper offices when the investigators called, it is apparent that this danger'still exists. (The Street Traders of Buffalo, N. https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis Y.) 18 CHILD WORKERS OH CITY STREETS In the report of a survey o f newsboys in Seattle is a description of conditions connected with newspaper selling given the investigators by a 14-year-old newsboy : H is methods of securing money or meals from drunks, the various forms o f vice learned from the older “ bums ” around newspaper offices, their levying of tribute on the little foreign boys, their theft from the pockets o f the younger boys, who often slept on the tables or on the newspapers while waiting for the morning editions, instruction in the art of stealing and the sale o f stolen goods, were all made very*realistic. (Newsboy Service.) While the newsboy is working on the street his surroundings ap pear to present no special hazards; most newsboys sell on the main business streets o f their cities, and only occasionally one stands with his papers in the doorway o f a disreputable hotel, or enters a saloon (or its latter-day substitute) in search of customers. As the quota tions suggest, the type o f man with whom the newsboy comes in contact in the newspaper-distribution rooms is the greatest potential danger in the newsboy’s environment. The Children’s Bureau survey included an investigation into con ditions in and around distribution rooms in four cities: Atlanta, Columbus, Omaha, and Wilkes-Barre. The investigation was made by a representative o f the bureau whose purpose in the distribution rooms was known to most of the men and boys there. Although sudf^T a method has some limitations the investigation revealed conditions of extreme unwholesomeness and potential danger to the boys. In some o f the distribution rooms in Atlanta and in Omaha it was cus tomary for boys to spend the night, usually Saturday night, either sleeping on the counters, on boxes, or on the floors, sometimes with a few papers under them, and in cold weather covered with burlap bags or newspapers, or, more often, indulging in practical jokes, fighting, gambling, and stealing from each other. In both these cities com petition between newspapers had resulted in an increase in the number o f “ tramp newsies,” older boys and men who did not work and who sold papers only long enough to earn a few dollars for food, sleeping in the distribution rooms or in lodging houses provided by the news paper companies. The newsboys and their parents said that these men kept the younger boys awake all night when they stayed in the distribution rooms, gambling and playing cards, cheating them and taking away their money, and that they urged the newsboys to steal and bought the stolen goods from them. They hung about the dis tribution rooms, day and night, with the younger newsboys, boasting o f the tricks they had used in selling their papers, telling adventurer of a questionable nature, and indulging in indecent conversation. r . > one city one o f the older local newsboys said that “ tramp newsies ” used the younger newsboys for immoral purposes, and the director o f a boys’ club in the other said that cases o f that kind, in which news https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis NEWSPAPER SELLERS 19 paper truck drivers and newsboys were involved, had come to his attention. One newsboy accused a circulation assistant with whom he dealt o f being “ almost always drunk.” Other boys said that the “ tramp newsies ” or the newspaper truck drivers abused and illtreated them, slapping and cursing them, twisting their arms, and taking their money. One truck driver in Omaha had been arrested for ill-treating a newsboy. In Wilkes-Barre and Columbus conditions were better. In Colum bus newsboys did not sleep in the distribution rooms nor loaf about them. The employees seemed to be respectable men, in some cases university students working part time. Nevertheless, an occasional boy would tell o f having been beaten by a circulation assistant in fights over newspapers, and a number o f boys reported that the adult negroes selling papers on the streets quarreled with them over “ comer rights ” and “ beat them up.” In Wilkes-Barre a few boys spent Saturday night at a newsdealer’s, but a night spent there by a representative o f the Children’s Bureau failed to disclose anything worse than profanity and boyish “ rough-house.” In and around the distribution rooms o f both Columbus and Wilkes-Barre “ craps ” and “ pitching pennies ” were common forms of diversion. These , probably could not be attributed to the newsboys’ working environ^Tment except that the opportunity was provided by the combination o f loose change in their pockets, time on their hands while they waited for their papers, and the company of others o f like tastes and habits. Although ,the management of many of the newspapers tried to keep their newsboys satisfied by giving them passes to motion-pic ture theaters, treats o f various kinds, such as picnics, and in one or two instances even “ meal tickets,” none provided recreational facili ties in the waiting room and alleys. In each o f the cities in the Children’s Bureau survey a so-called newsboys’ club was maintained by religious organizations. These were the usual clubs for the “ underprivileged ” b oy ; the membership was not limited to newsboys, nor did it include all the newsboys in any city. The program was chiefly athletic. In none o f these cities was there a newsboys’ club like those in Milwaukee, Boston, Toledo, and a few other cities, operated on the self-government prin ciple, which are reported to be effective aids in enforcing streettrade regulations. The conditions that exist in and around the distributing rooms of ^gome newspapers and the type of man and older boy with whom the >^%nung newsboy’s work often throws him suggest some o f the dangers that^laewspaper selling has for the immature and impressionable. E ven fp a rt from the possibility that he may learn antisocial and / often eVil practices from adults, the newsboy’s work, bringing to https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis 20 CHILD WORKERS ON" CITY STREETS gether all kinds o f boys in the down-town sections o f a city, offers more opportunities for him than for the nonworking boy to p ic k j^ up unsuitable companions and to engage in unwholesome activities. With money in his pocket and time at his disposal (for his work gives him an excuse to be away from home long hours at a time, even after dark and often at mealtime) he can make the most of such con tacts as he has. Stimulated by participation in the kaleidoscopic activities o f the streets and pleasantly conscious o f being “ on his own ” it would seem that there is great chance o f his getting into mischief with the “ gang ” or even into serious trouble. Not the least among the ill effects that may be attributed to news paper selling is the virtual separation o f the boy from his family. Newsboys who go down town to get their papers immediately after school and remain until after the evening meal is over and who sell papers practically all day Saturday— conditions under which large numbers o f newsboys work—spend almost none o f their waking hours at home. In such circumstances it is inevitable that family ties should be weakened, especially when the boy begins newspaper sell ing at an early age. Family influence grows less and less, and it is likely to be only a question of time before he is beyond parental control. When the parents are o f foreign birth, as many are, this danger is increased. ""m It is true that some newsboys would “ live on the streets ” even if they did not sell papers, finding in the streets, as some one has aptly said, their home, their school, and their playground. But the fact that they are earning money allows newsboys to feel an independence o f parental control that otherwise they would not feel. Although in many o f the newsboys’ homes visited in the course o f the survey there was little to interest or satisfy a young boy, only in a few was over crowding a serious problem. Even if the home is inadequate, how ever, the community can not accept undesirable activities on the street as its substitute. The dangers in street work are recognized by many parents. Many parents expressed disapproval even among those who through pov erty, ignorance of conditions, indifference, or lack o f control o f their children permitted their boys to sell papers. Although the majority were on the whole in favor of the work, almost invariably the only reason for favoring it was that it enabled the boy to earn money. In Atlanta 24 per cent o f the newsboys’ parents interviewed objected to newspaper selling; in Wilkes-Barre, 21 per cent; in Columbus, 18 per cent; in Omaha, IT per cent; and in Washington, 13 per cent. These proportions are many times greater than the proportions of. newspaper carriers’ parents who said they did not like to have /¿heir boys carry papers. Typical remarks o f parents who objected /w ere: https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis Ai NEWSPAPER SELLERS 21 “ I ’m afraid he’ll be a tramp,” “ It makes them little bummies,” “ He learns bad habits,” “ He hears bad language,” “ He gets so I can’t manage him,” “ He gets in with tough boys,” “ He gets in with boys that steal,” “ He gets in trouble,” “ He learns to shoot dice and smoke,” and “ He gets spoiled and spends his money shooting craps and playing cards.” The newsboys’ own opinion o f the moral influence o f their work was not inquired into in the Children’s Bureau study. In the report o f the survey o f newsboys in Seattle (Newsboy Service), in which the advantages o f newspaper selling are done full justice, it is said that “ most o f the older boys, and the ex-newsboys, thought that the sum total o f the influence was harmful and mentioned, in so stating, the concrete elements o f vulgar and obscene language, smoking, gambling, and the temptations to participate in various forms o f immorality. The majority, had they any choice in the matter, would not allow younger brothers to sell.” These statements describe briefly the possible ill effects of news paper selling upon the behavior and conduct of the newsboys. Many o f the worst influences, however, might not make themselves felt for many years, and impossible as it often is to trace the causes even o f single acts o f wrong-doing, it is much more difficult to determine the reason for general deterioration. In many of the boy’s activities, undesirable though they may be, he does not actually break the law, and the results, at least while he is still a boy, are not known beyond the family circle or the neighborhood. Moreover, how a child will be affected by exposure to dangerous influences can not be foretold any more than it can be known without test whether or not he will succumb on exposure to smallpox. Some children come out appar ently unharmed by all sorts o f experiences that are usually regarded as demoralizing. The community is committed to vaccination against the hazard o f smallpox. Should it not provide protection from social ills? DELINQUENCY AMONG NEWSBOYS One o f the few measures, though a very rough and inadequate one, o f the extent to which boys fail to adjust themselves socially is found in juvenile-court records. In each o f the five cities in the Children’s Bureau surveys in which the records of the juvenile court were examined, from 6 to 13 per cent of the newsboys had been in court, the great majority having appeared in court for the first time »after they had begun to work on the streets. ^ It goes without saying that i f the proportion o f delinquent news boys in each city could be compared with the proportion o f delin quent nonworking boys or boys in other occupations who have simi- https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis 22 CHILD WORKERS OK CITY STREETS lar economic and social background, its value as an indication o f a relation between newspaper selling and delinquency would be greatly ^ -, increased. But information o f this kind is not available. Nor can comparisons profitably be made with such delinquency rates as are available for the general child population o f the individual cities, for these include girls and cover all economic and social classes, usually are not computed for the different age groups, and cover a single year. In a number o f studies of newspaper sellers the delinquency rate for newsboys has been compared with that o f other boys of the same ages in the city and even with that o f the total schoolboy population, without taking into account the fact that boys from more prosperous families do not get into the juvenile court, even for similar offenses, to the same extent as boys from the type o f family which furnishes most o f the newsboys, or the fact that boys from prosperous families do hot have the same temptation to wrong doing of a serious order as boys from an inferior environment, apart from any influences in their work. Other investigators have seen a direct connection between street work and delinquency in the fact that large proportions o f boys committed to industrial schools and reformatories had sold papers. But large proportions o f the boys . in the economic and social class from which the inmates o f such ^ institutions generally come do at some time in their lives sell papers, so that the relative numbei* o f newsboys in the institutions may have ho significance. As Fleisher points out in “ The Newsboys o f M il waukee,” the term newsboy is not usually defined in such statistics <f| and may include boys who sold papers for such short periods or under such circumstances that the occupation could not have been a contributing cause o f their delinquency. Fleisher himself, after a careful consideration o f every factor, concluded as a result o f his investigation in the Wisconsin Industrial School that “ newspaper selling played a decidedly minor part in the boys’ delinquency.” After a similar study in the Seattle Parental School the survey o f newsboys in Seattle presents the same conclusion. Several times as much delinquency was found among newspaper sellers as among carriers, magazine sellers or carriers, or even, as a rule, among peddlers in the same city. Whether this was due even in part to their occupation it is impossible to say. Court records were usually too brief to indicate whether or not the specific offenses had anything to do with the boy’s employment, though very often boys with court records had been working under bad conditions, such as long hours or late hours at night. In Wilkes-Barre, ther only one o f the cities for which figures on both these groups were obtained, relatively fewer newsboys than bootblacks had court rec- https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis Ne w s p a p e r seller s 23 ords, a fact which indicates the importance of the home environment in the boys’ delinquency, for bootblacks in Wilkes-Barre worked un der much the same conditions as newsboys, but they came from poorer and less Americanized homes. A relation between the boy’s delinquency and his work or the conditions o f his work could be seen in such cases as the following: When Tony was 9 he stole a $40 watch and sold it for 10 cents and a bag o f peanuts. Later that year he was arrested for begging and for stealing papers, and the next year he was arrested for begging at theater entrances, pretending he was crippled. This time he was sent to the reform school for a term, but after he was released he was arrested again for stealing papers. Tony was 12 when the interviewer saw him. H e had been selling papers since he was 8, working three and one-half hours a day before and after school, sometimes playing truant. Tony’s father had steady work, and the fam ily seemed fairly prosperous. , MT Luigi, an Italian newsboy o f 13, often “ played hookey” for a week at a time. Twice he had been brought before the juvenile court for truancy, the second time for staying away from school to sell papers. H e told the court that his mother had ordered him to go out and earn money and not bother about school. No action was taken, and a month later he was truant for a week. Luigi was in the fifth grade, where he had a fair scholarship record. H e had sold papers for four years, and before that he had been a bootblack. A t the time the study was made he earned $3.25 a week. Luigi was proud of earning enough money to buy his own clothing. H e was a neat, well-mannered boy, the oldest of seven children in a clean, well-kept home. His mother said that she wanted him to earn money but did not mean for him to stay out o f school. Although she said that he w as “ fresh ” and that she could not keep track of what he did, she admitted that he bought his own clothing and gave his money to her during the strike. When 10-year-old Bartolomeo came before the juvenile court for truancy, the judge said he thought it was due partly to parental neglect and partly to the fact that Bartolomeo was allowed to sell papers at 5 o’clock in the morning. Bartolomeo had begun to sell papers both morning and afternoon, when he was 8, and he had juvenile-court experience each of the next three years. H is par ents’ only comment on his work w a s : “ He goes with his own will.” Bartolomeo said he had begun to sell papers because o f fam ily need, but at the time of the study he was giving no money to his family. H e saved some of his earnings and spent the rest for his clothing and luxuries. Bartolomeo’s father had regular work and an income higher than the average for chief breadwinners in the study. The family of seven lived in a rented house of five rooms. * Stanislaw, the 13-year-old son of a Lithuanian miner, reached the news paper office at 3.30 in the morning so that he could get his papers first. H is working day was about six and one-half hours, before and after school. On several occasions he was absent from school for days at a time and was re ported by other boys to be shining shoes or selling papers, but he was reported “ very bright,” had good deportment and standing, and was in the eighth grade. Stanislaw worked with his two brothers, one 10 and the other 12, and he thought their total earnings averaged about $11.50 a week. The mother said that the boys had to work to help support the family, which included seven children, only one o f them over 14. Because of the strike the father had https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis 24 CHILD WORKERS OK CITY STREETS been unemployed during the year, and the family had been helped by the United Charities and the poor board. Dan, a 13-year-old boy o f native white parentage, had sold papers from the age of 9. A t the time o f the study he sold only on Sunday, his hours being from 4.30 a. m. to 1.30 p. m. H e had had four charges against him. W hen he was only 8 he was charged with breaking into a business establishment with intent to steal and had been put on probation. Two years later he stole $10 worth of cigarettes from a confectionery company. Three years later he was charged first with littering the public streets with bottles and next with steal ing newspapers. A t that time the court forbade his selling newspapers for six months. Two colored boys, brothers, one 12 and the other 11 at the time of the study, had been arrested in 1921, 1922, and in February, 1923, for stealing. The third charge was for stealing money from milk bottles on the steps of the houses where they delivered papers. As a result they had been forbidden to sell papers for a year. . Frank, 14 years old, had sold papers for two months when he was 9 years o f age and had been selling again for six months when he was interviewed. He sold papers more than three hours a day on school days, stopping at 7 p. m., and 11 hours on Saturday, staying out until 1 o’clock Sunday morn ing. On Saturday he ate two meals at a down-town restaurant. H e said that he kept $1.50 o f his weekly earnings for spending money. After beginning his second period o f newspaper selling he had been implicated with another boy in the theft of $46 and had been committed to a detention home. The father and mother of this boy were living together, and the father supported the family. Both father and mother were illiterate. Shortly after they began to sell papers a boy of 12 of Syrian parentage and his brother who was a year younger were arrested for breaking into a freight car and stealing watermelons. About a year later he was again in court charged with stealing bottles from a bottling company and selling them, and was sent to a detention home for a week. Just before the Children’s Bureau study the parents had been charged in juvenile court with neglecting their five children, who ran wild and played truant from school. A t the time o f the study, two years after he began to sell papers, he was working from 5 until 7 p. m. every school day, and on Saturday until 2 o’clock in the morning. Ten-year-old David said he had been selling papers since he was 5. When he was 7 he was arrested for begging on the streets and within a year was arrested three more times, twice for stealing and once for begging. A t the time of the study he was out selling papers around down-town office buildings three hours every afternoon and until midnight on Saturday. H e boasted of the large tips he got. Two other boys in the family (one 14 and the other 12) also sold papers every day and until late Saturday night. Both these boys had juvenile-court records, including charges of stealing and begging. The father was a dealer in old clothes and a taxi driver, making an income insuffi cient to support the family, which was aided by the Hebrew Charities. The mother complained that the boys did not bring home the money they made on papers but spent it down town. Billy was a very small boy who gave his age as 7 ; his mother said he was 8, and the school-attendance officer said that he had given his age as 7 for two years. He had sold papers for six months, staying out until 8.30 every school day evening and selling, according to his mother, all day Saturday and Sunday. https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis tm f¿frap p T rp x r i ,v ~e* «Mm / iifo ft S; He said he hardly ever gave any of his money to his mother but spent it "for his own food. H e bought his evening meal down town every night. Billy’s parents were divorced, and his mother supported herself and five children by dressmaking, a 17-year-old boy giving some assistance. The fam ily lived in three scantily furnished rooms of a dilapidated house. H is mother said that she used to worry about B illy’s playing truant, staying on the streets, and using his money as he did, but that she no longer cared. She had not asked him to work. The school principal reported that Billy was irregular in attendance, unreliable, “ incorrigible,” and a “ little thief.” He was said also to have been found begging. A few months before the study he had been before the juvenile court for truancy and for selling papers until 11 at night. The court left the boy in the custody of his mother after she had promised to keep him off the streets. THE QUESTION OF FAMILY NEED Like other studies o f newsboys, the Children’s Bureau survey found that the great majority o f the newsboys come from normal homes ; that is, homes in which both parents are present and the father is the chief breadwinner. In the cities studied by the Children’s Bureau the proportion o f newspaper sellers who had nor mal homes was highest in Wilkes-Barre, where it was 83 per cent, and lowest in Atlanta, where it was 63 per cent. Except in WilkesBarre the proportion from normal homes was somewhat smaller than 4 T ^&t o f carriers and apparently than that o f other children. The only known unselected group with which comparison may be made is a group o f children from three New York City public schools representing various social levels. O f these children 81 per cent P had homes in which both parents were living. This proportion would no doubt be a little smaller i f homes in which the father was not the main support o f the family were excluded. The proportion in fatherless homes (homes in which there was no father, stepfather, nor foster father) ranged from 9 to 24 per cent, according to the city. Evidently most newsboys do not sell papers because their mothers are widows. However, even when the father lives in the home and is working it can not be taken for granted that his wage is sufficient to provide * for tlle family. One investigation after another has shown that many workingmen do not earn enough to maintain their families at the level o f bare subsistence unless their wives and children also work. earned annual income o f the father or other chief breadwinner in newsboys families was lower in three of the cities studied (Atlanta, Omaha, and Columbus) than the average income of wageearmng and small-salaried men found in those cities by the United States Bureau o f Labor Statistics. O f all the cities surveyed by the Children’s Bureau, Wilkes-Barre had the lowest annual income for https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis *U41* 26 CHILD WORKERS OH CITY STREETS the chief breadwinner in newsboys’ families, probably because o f the abnormal situation caused by the anthracite strike o f 1922. In Washington the average income was higher for white fathers than in any other city, ranging between $1,450 and $1,850. It was con siderably lower, however, for negro fathers than for white—between $850 and $1,050. In each city in the survey the* chief breadwinner’s earned income was at least $200 or $300 less in newspaper sellers’ families than in carriers’ families. These averages do not indicate that newsboys’ families as a whole are on a much lower plane economically than the families o f other workingmen, though not only were the annual earnings o f the heads o f the households in newsboys’ families in the Children’s Bureau surveys somewhat smaller but the families also were a little larger, averaging six or seven persons instead o f five. Compared with budgetary standards, either those formulated by economists on a basis o f minimum “ comfort and decency ” or those adopted by city charity organizations for the dispensing o f adequate relief, news boys’ fathers have very small incomes. There can be no doubt that many o f the newsboys included in the surveys were from very poor families, like the families of child laborers in other occupations, although few o f them were actually destitute. Only a very small number o f the newsboys’ families had been helped by relief organiza tions; the proportion receiving aid during the year before the inquiry ranged from 4 to 11 per cent. In studies o f newsboys made by other agencies, such as those in Buffalo, Milwaukee, and Cincinnati, similar proportions were found. One o f the most recent studies of street workers, that made in Buffalo in 1925, parallels closely the Children’s Bureau findings in regard to the economic status o f the newsboys’ families. The average annual income o f the head o f the families included in this investiga tion was $1,302, the families averaging six persons, whereas the local charity organization calculated $2,009 as the minimum necessary for a family o f five. The report concludes that “ with a larger family to care for and a smaller wage to supply these necessities * * * it is apparent that there is an economic urge for boys to become street traders.” A fairly large proportion o f newsboys in the Children’s Bureau survey said that they sold papers because of need in the fam ily; the largest proportion was 28 per cent, in Atlanta, and the smallest 9 per cent, in Washington. In Buffalo‘ and Tulsa, for which other recent surveys give similar information, the percentages o f boys engaged in various street trades claiming economic need were 34 and 13, respectively. The report o f the Juvenile Protective Association of Chicago, “ Chicago Children in the Street Trades,” contains the state- https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis NEWSPAPER SELLERS 27 ment that “ in only 19 per cent o f these cases (300 cases chosen at random) did the child’s earnings represent a needed item in his family’s maintenance.” Although a large proportion o f newsboys work because they want money or because their families find the money helpful, a much smaller proportion, decidedly the minority, work because their families can not get along without their earnings. Among newsboys’ families studied were some families so poor as to require help from charitable organizations, others in which the news boys’ earnings appeared to be badly needed, and others in which the earnings from newspaper selling were a help, though not actually needed to support the family. The following accounts are typical both of the families who received aid and o f the amount o f aid given: A Hungarian family with 10 children under 16 years of age had been reported to the fam ily service society early in 1921 because the father was ill. H e was not well, but did all he could to support the family. During the year preceding the study, the society gave the family $180. W hen the family was interviewed by the Children’s Bureau agent in February, 1923, the mother reported that the father had worked in the car shops until the strike in July and since that time had had only odd jobs. They were buying the four-room house in which the fam ily of 12 lived. The father had repaired and painted it and had grown a garden. The fam ily income during the year consisted of the father’s earnings o f $817, except $40 in union benefits, and the earnings o f two boys who sold and carried papers. The one who sold papers was 11 years old and had been a newsboy for two months. H e sold a morning paper every week day from 5.30 to 7.30 and a little longer on Sundays, and carried a few papers also, earning $3.10 a week. The mother felt that they needed the money, all of which was used for family expenses. A negro family, which the father had deserted, had come to the attention o f the family service society in 1915. During the year preceding the study the society had given the family $7 a week and paid occasionally for rent and fuel. The family had no other income. The oldest of the five children was a 9-year-old boy who said he stayed out selling papers around the statehouse sometimes until 10 or 11 o’clock at night, spending all that he earned (the amount of which he did not know) on his own pleasures. He was reported as a habitual truant and runaway, though normal mentally. Just prior to the study he had been put in the opportunity school, which he seemed to enjoy and which he attended regularly. No visit was paid to this family. In addition to the families that needed relief some o f the families were partly dependent on the newsboys’ earnings. In an Italian fam ily with seven children under 16 the father, a laborer in a railroad car shop, had been unemployed about six months and had earned only $482 during the y e a r ; the family income had been brought to a total of $748 by the earnings of an older son who also worked in the car shops. In addition five o f the boys together earned about $30 a week selling and carrying papers. One of them, a 13-year-old boy, worked about four and one-half hours 112076°—28------§ https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis 28 CHILD WORKERS OK CITY STREETS every week day and two hours on Sunday, and earned $5.70 a week, which he used for family expenses and his own clothes. A widow who received $36 a month under the mothers’ aid law had five children under 15 and no income except this pension and some help from a married daughter whose husband earned $30 a week as a salesman. In regard to the work of her 13-year-old boy who earned $6.50 a week selling papers, this mother said, “ Unless he sells papers he won’t have any clothes,” adding that his earnings clothed all five o f the children. Typical o f families in which the boys’ earnings from selling papers were useful but not absolutely necessary were the following: A family of four adults and four children had an income of $2,762, the father, a polisher in a shoe factory, having earned $1,274 during the year of the study, and two sisters, 19 and 21 years of age, having together earned $1,488. The nine-room house in which they lived was paid for, and the family was buying another house. The 9-year-old newsboy earned $2 a week with which he bought clothing for himself and his 6-year-old brother. In an Italian family were six children under 16, supported mainly by an older son who as a boiler maker had earned $784 during the year. The mother took in washing, and an older daughter earned $5 a week, bringing the family annual earnings up to $1,109. In addition, the mother owned property from which she received $8 a month rent, and the house in which the family lived was partly paid for. The 13-year-old newsboy in this fam ily earned $6.90 a week selling papers, and besides helping the family and buying his own clothing he spent some of his money on movies and saved 25 cents a week, with which he hoped to buy “ a house lot.” A Polish laborer with six children under 14 had earned $1,040 during the year. The mother and two older girls worked, so that the family earnings were between $1,850 and $2,250. A 13-year-old boy earned about $4 a week selling and carrying papers, contributed some of his earnings to the family, used some for his clothes and other necessities, and had 25 cents a week for spending money. The mother said that she wanted the boy to work because they needed the money to support their large fam ily and to help pay taxes and other expenses on their house. NEWSBOYS’ EARNINGS Newsboys' earnings differ according to the city where the boy sells his papers. In four of the seven cities in the Children’s Bureau survey the median amount was between $3 and $5 a week; in two it was between $2 and $3, and in others between $1 and $2 . Some o f the boys may have been inclined to overstate the amount o f their earnings, but the figures they reported are very much like those re ported in recent years for other cities. The proportion who earned at least $5 a week was considerable. More than half the newsboys in Atlanta, Wilkes-Barre, and Omaha, but only a little more than one-third o f those in Washington and Columbus, contributed part or all o f their money toward the sup port of their families. What proportion of their earnings they contributed was not learned, and the report that they did contribute https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis NEWSPAPER SELLERS 29 is based on the boy’s own statements. However, in the families visited, representing a fairly large percentage o f the total number of boys, only rarely did a parent deny the boy’s report. Other studies in which comparable facts were obtained tend to confirm the figures. For example, 66 per cent o f the Springfield newsboys gave the larger part of their earnings to their families, and 57 per cent of those included in the Birmingham study, 38 per cent o f those in Dallas, and 73 per cent of those in Buffalo helped their families to some extent. The proportion of newsboys turning over part of their earnings to their parents does not necessarily represent those whose families needed the money, for most o f the boys were from foreign-born fam ilies, who are more likely than native American parents to expect help from their children, even though the family may be fairly pros perous. It suggests, however, the extent o f the financial pressure behind the newsboys’ work. More than half the boys in the cities studied (except Wilkes-Barre) helped their families indirectly by buying at least part o f their own clothing or paying for other necessities for themselves. In WilkesBarre this proportion was only 20 per cent, probably because more of the boys there turned all their earnings over to their families. About three-fourths o f the boys in each city kept at least part o f what they earned for spending money, and a few (2 per cent in Wilkes-Barre, 3 per cent in Atlanta and Omaha, and 7 per cent in Columbus) used all they earned for that purpose. Other surveys show the same gen eral proportions— 8 per cent o f the newsboys in Springfield and 7 per cent o f those in Tulsa used their earnings principally for spending money, and 7 per cent in Birmingham used all they earned for per sonal luxuries—perhaps an indication not only that the boys in the Children’s Bureau survey were accurate in their replies but also that less o f the money earned selling papers goes for candy, motion pic tures, etc., than is sometimes believed. The proportion who had bank accounts or other savings as a result o f their work was a little more than half in each city, except Wilkes-Barre, where it was a little less than half. It may be assumed that at least in these families need was not acute. The following cases are examples of the way in which newspaper sellers used their money: The son of an Italian street-car motorman, a boy of 13 who earned $3 a week selling and carrying papers, gave his money to his mother for groceries, keeping 25 cents for spending money. He had also saved $10 with which he had bought a suit of clothes. Another 13-year-old boy, who earned $8.25 a week, helped his family (the father was a window washer), bought his clothes, and put $1 a week in the school bank. He had saved $42 toward a car that he wished to buy. https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis 30 CHILD WORKERS OK CITY STREETS A boy of 10 earning1 $2.40 a week bought his clothes, put 10 cents a week in the school bank, spent 10 cents “ for a show,” and gave the rest to his family. The 12-year-old son of a plumber earned $2.55 selling papers and magazines. He gave some of his money to his mother “ to use for dresses,” saved 10 cents a week, spent 20 cents a week on his own pleasures, and bought milk and dough nuts once a week down town while he w as selling papers. A 10-year-old Syrian boy, whose father was an automobile mechanic, earned $3.60 a week. He had been selling papers for a month, and had $1.35 in the school bank. H e bought some of his clothes, contributed some money to the family, and had 10 cents a week “ for shows.” A 13-year-old boy and his two brothers earned $10.50 a week selling papers. They bought dinner and supper on Saturday and breakfast on Sunday at restaurants and paid their carfare to the down-town district where they sold papers. The rest of their money was used for fam ily expenses. “ W e ’re poor, and mother can’t give us any to spend,” the boys said. The father, a laborer, was frequently out of work, and th e fam ily had received aid during the year from the Associated Charities. A 15-year-old Italian boy whose father was a laborer and whose family had been assisted by charity said that he contributed all his earnings ($3 a week) toward fam ily expenses, because, as he said, “ I don’t want any spending money.” A 13-year-old boy, son o f a Russian-Jewish manufacturer, earned about $7 a week selling and carrying papers. H e contributed none of his earnings toward the support of the fam ily but helped to buy his own clothes, put $5 a week in the bank, and had 75 cents for spending money. The 14-year-old son o f a Russian-Jewish hotel keeper earned $13.75 a week. H e spent all his money for himself— clothes, shows, and meals down town when he sold late. A 12-year-old boy whose sister, a stenographer, was the chief support of the family, earned $10.45 a week selling and carrying papers. H e spent 50 cents a week on movies and candy and sometimes bought doughnuts and fruit when selling down town, but gave the rest of his money to the family. H e had had $15 in the bank but had drawn it out to help pay rent. A Russian-Jewish boy earning $4.65 a week said that he sometimes gave a small sum to his mother but spent most of it. The father was a traveling salesman, and the fam ily lived in a good neighborhood in a comfortable frame house with such comforts and luxuries as French doors, a sun parlor, and electric lights. The boy, though only 12 years o f age, had a juvenile-court record and was reported as unmanageable. H e sold papers-until 10.30 Saturday night, in spite of his mother’s objections. A boy of 14 whose mother was a widow earned $4.10 a week. H e said that he gave his money to his mother for his clothes, except what he spent on motion pictures. H is mother said that he used his money for his clothes, school lunches, amusements, and savings. “ I hardly get $1 a week from him,” she said. “ But I am going to pin him down soon and see if I can get more help from him, because I need it.” The 10-year-old son of a Polish Jew who kept a grocery store, earned $6.75 a week. After six months of selling he had $11 in one bank and $3 in the school bank, and he bought all his clothes. His parents corroborated his statement https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis new spaper seller s 31 that he sold until midnight Saturday night. The father said that his business had been bad during the year, and the children must help to buy their clothes. A boy of 11, who said he earned $4.50 a week selling papers, said that he turned over all his money to his mother, who gave him 15 cents to spend and something for the school bank. The mother, a widow, said that she could not get along without the money her three boys earned selling papers. She was not sure that they brought it all home, but all that they gave her she used for the family support. This boy stayed out selling papers until 2 o’clock Sunday morning. WHY DO BOYS SELL PAPERS? Actual want or economic necessity is not often given as the chief reason for selling papers. In the Children’s Bureau surveys the pro portion o f newsboys who said that they sold papers because their families needed their earnings ranged from 9 per cent in Washington to 28 per cent in Atlanta. In all the places surveyed, except Atlanta, less than half the boys had been moved chiefly by the need or the desire to earn money, including spending money. The majority o f them took up newspaper selling because “ all the boys do it,” or because “ there’s nothing else to do,” or because “ selling newspapers is fun,” or for some similar reason. Such remarks as : “ It’s good a-go in’ sellin’, they s a y ;” “ It’s no fun playing around,” “ It’s fun to hustle, and there’s nothing to do at home,” “ I saw other kids mak ing money, and I wanted to have a pretty good time,” “ Had nothing to do,” “ Got tired o’ stayin’ home,” “ Just thought it would be fun,” “ I saw other boys doing it and said to myself, ‘ I believe I ’ll sell papers,’ ” given again and again in dozens o f variations as the chief reason for selling papers indicate how strong is the lure o f the streets and how important a factor is imitation. In vain some parents objected to the work, reporting that the boy “ slipped ou t” or that he “ just w ill work because other boys do.” The father o f a 13-year-old boy did not' like to have him sell morn ing papers because of the early hours and the danger o f street acci dents ; he tried to get the boy to stop by promising to give him $1.50 a week if he would do so, but the boy insisted on getting up at 3 o’clock every morning to help a friend. The mother o f an 8-year-old newsboy, who confessed that he did not hand in “ much o f his 40 cents a week at home,” said that she could not prevent his going down town except by calling for him when school was out. In a report on Baltimore newsboys,"made more than 10 years ago by the Maryland State Bureau o f Labor Statistics, the statement is made that almost a third of the boys selling papers were doing so to satisfy a desire for play. This seems to be true to-day. The Chil dren’s Bureau surveys show that a large proportion—probably larger even than a third—o f the newsboys would not have been on the streets if they and their parents had known o f more desirable activi- https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis 32 CHILD WORKERS ON CITY STREETS ties. Although no special survey of recreational facilities was made in connection with the study it was generally reported by local social workers, school authorities, and others that in all these cities, as in most American communities, playground and other recreational pro visions were inadequate. It is frequently said that newspaper selling gives the hoy business training, keeps him from idling on the streets, and teaches him responsibility. This remark indicates a problem which most parents have in common and which can be met adequately only by extending the school program to include supervised recreation and work o f the sort that not only will protect children against destructive influ ences but will have great value as training. Better use o f le isu re real pleasure in sports, in reading, in music and art, in mechanical and manual work— can not be learned in the exciting street life o f the newsboy. In many o f the best public and private schools, oppor tunity to learn the wise use o f leisure is afforded by extension o f what was formerly regarded as the school day. In many cities the shorten ing o f the school day by two or three hours to take care o f the increasing number o f school children has created problems which parents— especially those living in apartments and tenement houses— are not equipped to solve, however resourceful and alert they may be to their children’s needs. https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis NEW SPAPER C A R R IE R S1 A G E O F C A R R IE R S Boys who deliver papers on routes are a little older than newspaper sellers. Although the carrier’s work may require less initiative than that o f the seller the boy with a route often has responsibilities that demand a certain degree o f maturity. From one-fourth to one-third of the carriers included in the Children’s Bureau surveys were boys under 12 , and a few in each city were under 10 , proportions similar to those found in other street-work surveys that have included carriers, such as those in Toledo, Cleveland, Seattle, and Tulsa. Very often, though by no means always, the carrier under 12 is only a helper to an older boy. Many carriers are high-school boys. The proportion in the Chil dren’s Bureau study who were in high school was much greater than the proportion o f newspaper sellers— from 14 to 22 per cent in the various cities, except Newark, where it was only 5 per cent. In Newark the earnings o f carriers were unusually small, and the city was large enough to afford boys of high-school age other opportunities for work. The carrier in some places is paid a salary or wage; in other's he works on a commission basis but is supervised and obviously is an employee. In fact, the work o f the carrier is usually so clearly work for an employer that it would appear to be subject to regula tion under general child-labor' laws that cover “ all gainful employ ment.” But it is not usually so regulated, probably because it is popularly associated with the work o f the newspaper seller, who as an independent “ merchant ” is very generally held to be excluded from the benefits o f these laws. Very few regulations applying specifically to street work include newspaper carriers. Carriers were not covered in any of the ordi nances applicable to newspaper selling or peddling in the cities studied. They were covered, however, by specific State laws in both New York and Pennsylvania, in which the minimum age for carriers, as for sellers, was set at 12. But so little attempt was made in Troy and Wilkes-Barre to enforce these iegulations that the persons most concerned seemed unaware o f their existence; in 1 Statistics for newspaper carriers in the different cities may be found in Tables 1-11, https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis 34 CHILD WORKERS OK CITY STREETS Troy only 29 per cent o f the carriers had badges, as the law required, and in Wilkes-Barre 33 per cent o f the carriers were under the minimum age. LENGTH OF TIME BOYS CARRY PAPERS Route boys continue their work about as long as newspaper sellers, judging from the length o f time carriers in the Children’s Bureau surveys had had the routes they were working on at the time o f the interview. The pToportion who worked only a few months varied considerably, according to the place. In Omaha, where the condi tions o f work were described as unsatisfactory, one-fourth o f the carriers had had their routes less than two months. Although many a carrier kept his route for year's and then handed it down to his younger brother, about one-half to more than two-thirds of the carriers in the different cities had worked less than a year. The only other study including information on the length o f time car riers held their jobs is the one made in Tulsa, where it was found that the average was about seven months. HOURS OF WORK The carrier’s hours o f work, except for some carriers o f morning papers, are unobjectionable. Boys with evening-paper routes usually ü finish before 6 o’clock, and few work later than 6.30, so that their work does not keep them on the streets after dark nor interfere with their family life. Those with morning-paper routes are not so fortunate. The papers must all be delivered before the last sub scriber on the route leaves home in the morning, and this often ne cessitates the carrier’s rising at an unreasonably early hour. Some boys start on their routes as early as 3.30 or 4 a. m. The number o f carriers in the Children’s Bureau surveys who worked very early in the morning was not large. In Atlanta 36 carriers o f daily morning papers included in the study began their work before 6, in Columbus 41, in Newark 4, in Omaha 29, in Paterson 25, in Troy 4, and in Wilkes-Barre 46. The number depended to some extent on whether or not the local morning paper was a “ home ” paper and also on whether the pay, generally larger than for afternoon routes, was sufficiently high to attract older high-school boys and young men. Although the number who went to work very early included a somewhat larger proportion of the older boys than the total number of carriers did, some boys under 12 and even a few under 10 had morning routes, and some growing boys were undoubtedly getting too little sleep. https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis NEWSPAPER CARRIERS 35 On Sundays almost all carriers work in the morning, for many o f the evening papers have Sunday-morning editions. Sunday hours are usually very early. A route usually takes about an hour to serve, so that the majority o f carriers in the Children’s Bureau worked less than two hours a day on school days, many less than one hour. The hours o f work on Saturday were found to be longer, chiefly because the carrier makes collections on that day or has to report at the central oflice; some boys reported that they worked almost all day Saturday on business connected with their routes. Sunday hours were the longest for many, because Sunday papers are heavier and take longer to de liver. However, the great majority o f the carriers in each city in the surveys worked less than 12 hours a week, though in some places the proportion who worked 12 hours or longer was large, notably so in Omaha where boys made their own collections, fre quently had to serve “ extras ” (that is, others than those on their list o f subscribers), and were expected to put in a good deal o f time soliciting new customers. THE CARRIER’S ENVIRONMENT The carrier who distributes papers in his own neighborhood or a neighborhood like his own, as most carriers do, is generally free from injurious contacts and associates. In Wilkes-Barre some o f the carriers had to go to the down-town offices for their papers, as the newspaper sellers did. But in the larger cities branch offices were operated, as in Columbus and Omaha, or carriers got their papers from dealers, as in Paterson or Newark, or from street cor ners where they were delivered by street cars or trucks, as they were in some cases in all the cities and generally in Atlanta. Thus the danger o f bringing together boys with different kinds o f trainbackground, and habits who otherwise would not be likely to meet is often avoided in the work o f carriers. In one o f the cities the substations had been established especially for the benefit o f carriers, whose parents objected to their coming in contact with boys selling papers in the down-town streets. Boys meeting at substa tions, as a rule, are those who would be likely to know one another through school or neighborhood contacts. The substations are not all above reproach. One substation mana ger, for example, was accused o f drinking and ill-treating the boys in his charge. Ini Omaha, where there was intense rivalry between Jwo o f the papers and the carriers were being strongly urged by both papers to enlarge their routes, the boys complained o f ipjustices, such as having to pay for more papers than they had cus tomers and being required to spend several nights a week soliciting https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis 36 CHILD WORKERS OK CITY STREETS subscribers. But on the whole the carrier’s working environment lacks the unwholesome features o f newspaper selling. THE CARRIER IN SCHOOL Carrying newspapers appears to be neither too fatiguing nor too stimulating. Performed each day at a regular time, paid for by a fixed sum, making no appeal to the spirit o f adventure, the work puts no temptations in the boy’s way to stay out o f school, nor does it bring him in contact with such influences as many o f the street sellers meet which might make him impatient of schoolroom disci pline. Hence the carrier’s record in school should be at least as good as the average. The school attendance o f carriers was slightly better than that of newspaper sellers or even that o f the schoolboy population as a whole in cities for which comparative figures could be furnished. The amount o f truancy was markedly slight. Only 2 per cent o f the car riers in Wilkes-Barre and 3 per cent o f the carriers in Omaha (the two cities in which truancy records were available) had been truant during the year preceding the study, compared with 7 per cent o f the newspaper sellers in each place. In Toledo and Cleveland also the amount o f truancy among the carriers was much less than among the sellers. These are the only cities besides those studied by the Children’s Bureau that give information on truancy for both carriers and sellers. Carriers also made better progress in school than newspaper sellers, as most other studies of street trades including carriers have shown also. Moreover, the proportion of carriers who were overage for their grades was smaller than the proportion o f all public-school boys o f the same ages in each city for which the comparative figures could be obtained. VOCATIONAL ASPECT OF NEWSPAPER CARRYING Newspaper carrying is useful for character training in the same way that any regular duty is. The street newsboy may sell his papers or not, as he chooses or as his parents command, though in cities where his work is supervised he will lose his corner i f he does not sell regularly. The carrier, however, must serve his route, with out regard to the weather or his own wishes; he must notify the news paper office in advance or provide a substitute if he can not work, keep his list o f customers up to date, report regularly, give notice*; when customers discontinue the paper, build up his route, and keepi simple accounts. In some cities he must do his own collecting, and if he is unsuccessful in collecting lose the money. He is usually given credit by the week and is often under bond. Even if he merely deliv https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis n e w s p a p e r carriers 37 ers papers for a wage he must be dependable, prompt, and courteous, and i f he makes collections he must also be accurate and honest. The business arrangements between the newspapers or the dealers and the carriers were reported for six cities. In three the majority o f the carriers made their own collections; in the other three they were usually hired on a wage. Usually there was no expectation on the part o f either boys or their parents that the newspaper carrying would lead definitely to other and better work. It was regarded as a schoolboy’s job. In Columbus the newspaper managers said that there was a definite line o f promotion for their route boys; some o f the best boys were put in charge o f substations, a part-time job from which they might be promoted to the position of district manager or circulation manager. Most o f the parents were emphatic in their approval o f the work, rather because they believed that it provides training in the formation o f good habits than because they expected the work to lead to any thing else. It was not the financial reason that stood out in their expressions o f approval, as it did among the parents of the newsboys. Only 5 to 17 per cent o f the carriers’ parents interviewed in the different cities in the Children’s Bureau surveys objected to the work, the principal reasons given being that the boys lost money because the customers did not pay, the boys had to get up too early in the morning, the papers weighed too much, and the work took all the boys’ playtime. Parents not only approved o f the work but they often gave active cooperation. Many mothers and fathers helped the boys to keep books and make up their accounts, and some helped on the route when the weather was bad or the papers were especially heavy. One o f the best examples o f such cooperation was found in a family in which three boys, 10 , 13, and 14 years o f age, had routes. The mother had advanced money for the routes which they had bought at various times and had helped to divide the routes among them. She computed their earnings twice a week, checked up their accounts, and took charge o f their earnings. She approved o f the work because it “ kept them off the streets” and because she wanted them to learn to take care o f themselves. The money helped to clothe the boys and repair their shoes. Many parents emphasized the fact that by earning his own money the boy learns thrift. They said: “ It gives him ambition to get -somewhere,” “ It is good for 1 a boy to be responsible for some real »work,” “ Boys who do no work get lazy,” “ It is nice for a boy to have a job o f his own, though his money is barely worth considering,” “ It gives him something to do and keeps him out of mischief,” “ It makes the boy thrifty.” https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis 38 CHILD WORKERS OK CITY STREETS The proportion of carriers in the Children’s Bureau survey who saved at least part o f their earnings ranged from 52 per icent in Wilkes-Barre to 75 per cent in Atlanta. In Wilkes-Barre “ hard times ” resulting from the coal strike o f 1922 had made it especially necessary at the time o f the study for the boys to help their families; the proportion o f widowed mothers was rather high also. DELINQUENCY AMONG CARRIERS The conditions o f the carrier’s work are not such as to put tempta tions in his way. They do not even give him an excuse to be away from home for long hours at a stretch and thus an opportunity to come into conflict with the law. The proportion of carriers in the different cities who had juvenile-court records was very small. THE CARRIER’S FAMILY Newspaper carriers come from families on a higher social and economic level than newspaper sellers. Carriers much more generally than sellers are from native white families; those with foreign-born fathers are usually o f immigrant stocks that have been thoroughly Americanized. ^ The proportion o f carriers in the Children’s Bureau survey who ' had normal homes was a little larger than that of sellers. The proportion in “ widowed” families (that is, homes in which the father had died or deserted and had not been replaced as a bread winner by a stepfather or a foster father) was usually smaller. In carriers’ families the father’s or other chief breadwinner’s earnings for the year were higher than the United States Bureau o f Labor Statistics found to be the average for wage earners and small-salaried men in the same cities. In no place, however, were they very high, $1,450 to $1,850 being the median in the cities where it was highest, Atlanta and Omaha. Fewer newspaper carriers than sellers said that they worked be cause o f need in their families, the proportions in the different cities ranging from 4 to 12 per cent. CARRIERS’ EARNINGS Carriers who were paid a regular wage usually received only a small amount; between $1 and $2 a week was common. Where the boys made their own collections they earned more, even though some customers failed to pay. In three cities in the Children’s Burealp surveys the median amount earned by carriers was between $1 and $2 a week, in two cities it was between $2 and $3, in one city between $3 and $4, and in one between $4 and $5. Other studies o f carriers have shown that carriers’ earnings average around $2 or $3 a week. https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis NEWSPAPER CARRIERS 39 The proportion o f carriers who gave at least part of their earn ings to help support the family ranged from 25 per cent in Columbus to 55 per cent in Wilkes-Barre. In these two cities about these same percentages o f newspapers sellers helped toward the family support, but in Atlanta and Omaha the percentage o f carriers helping their families was only about half the percentage of sellers helping. The majority, ranging from 59 to 78 per cent in the different cities, kept some o f their earnings for spending money. In most o f the cities about three-fifths o f the boys reported buying some o f their clothes with the money they earned. In Wilkes-Barre, however, this propor tion was only 30 per cent, possibly because the money was given to the parents, who bought the boys’ clothing, but was reported by the boys as being contributed to the support o f the family. The following accounts are typical o f the way in which carriers spent their earnings: A 14-year-old carrier, earning $5 a week, put $1 in the bank, had 20 cents for candy and motion pictures, and gave the rest to his mother for taxes and repairs on their house. A publisher’s 11-year-old son earned $2.15 a week on his route, out of which he paid $1 a week for violin lessons, paid his car fare to work, kept 10 cents a week for spending money, and in four years had saved $95. A 15-year-old carrier of Russian-Jewish parentage earned $8.07 a week. He spent $1 to $1.50 a week on his own pleasures, helped to buy necessities of his own, and saved the rest. H e had $300 in the bank toward his college expenses. A boy of 12 whose earnings averaged $4.56 a week paid for his clothes and his music lessons, had 50 cents for spending money, and paid car fare to go after his papers. A boy who earned $4.62 a week carrying and selling papers paid all his per sonal expenses and had 25 to 50 cents a week for spending money. A 15-year-old boy whose mother, a teacher, supported the family earned $6.83 a week. He put half his money in the bank toward his college expenses and used a fourth for clothing and a fourth for spending money. A 13-year-old carrier, the son of a truck driver, earned $2 a week. He saved some of his money, had paid a dentist’s bill of $36.50, and helped to buy his clothes. He said he got very little spending money. A 15-year-old high-school boy living with*an uncle and aunt had had his route for six years and earned $2.92 a week. He bought all his own clothes, had $5 in the bank, and used some of his earnings for spending money. A high-school boy, making $1.03 a week on an afternoon route which he had had several months and which took about four hours a week of his time, bought his clothes, spent about $1 a month “ for fun,” had $2.37 in the school bank, and contributed some to the family. https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis OTHER STREET W O R K E R S 1 PEDDLERS Almost every community appears to have at least a few children who make a practice of going about the streets with something to sell. They accompany push carts and hucksters’ wagons, go from door to door with post cards or dress snaps or cosmetics, tour office build ings with sandwiches, hang about the lobbies o f hotels and public buildings with peanuts or candy, or stand on busy comers with a handful o f flowers or a basket o f apples. In some places so many children sell one commodity that they are conspicuous on the streets, like the apple sellers in Atlanta, but in general the articles offered for sale are almost as numerous as the children selling them. Parents make bread, doughnuts, paper flowers, baby dresses, and horse radish, and send their children out to peddle them; a street vendor enlists all the boys in his neighborhood to sell his potato chips or sandwiches ; a baker hires children to peddle pretzels ; or “ the Greek ” gets a boy to help on his produce wagon, holding the horse or carrying fruit and vegetables to customers’ doors. A man in one o f the cities surveyed by the Children’s Bureau hired a number o f small boys to sell merchandise for him in a park, the man furnishing articles worth about $1 or $1.50 for a basket which the boy bought and carried about among the crowds. A school principal said that this man was reported as attempting to evade the law against selling cigarettes to minors by getting small boys to sell the cigarettes for him and then pleading that the boys were unaware o f the law. In one neighborhood in the same city a boy peddler’s father had as his only occupation the making o f potato chips and sandwiches which he sold through schoolboy peddlers. Sometimes as many as 12 boys were on the streets with his goods. In one family a woman lodger who made paper flowers asked the boys to go out and sell them whenever she “ got out of money.” Children respond to persuasive advertisements to sell seeds or salve or shaving soap procured through the mail. Parents who are them selves hucksters or peddlers make their children help them, and occasionally parents exploit their children. Probably the most ex treme case of this kind encountered by the Children’s Bureau was 1 Statistics for street workers other than newspaper sellers and carriers in the different citiesi may be found in Tables 12-14, p. 74, 40 https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis OTHER STREET WORKERS 41 that o f two white boys, one 13 and the other 10 years of age, who supported their father and a recently acquired stepmother by ped dling fruit. The father said that rheumatism had kept him from working for more than a year and that he was unable to go out with the boys because he did not feel like walking so far. “ Besides, they sell better than I can,” he added. He bought apples and bananas each morning, and the boys sold them, walking around down town in the neighborhood o f the courthouse and the stores from 1.30 to 7 on school days and from 9 a. m. to 9 p. m. on Saturdays. When the interviewer visited the family it was during school hours, but the 10 -year-old child was at home and his father was getting bananas ready for him to take out to sell. According to the records o f the Associated Charities the father would not permit the boys to go to live with more prosperous relatives who were willing to take them. Thus the peddler’s work varies greatly. Sometimes it amounts to very little. A boy from a comfortable home, for example, will spend several hours a week selling flowers to neighbors while his garden is in bloom. In other cases it involves greater hardships than some types of work that are regulated by the child-labor laws or prohibited as unsuitable for children. The peddlers in the Children’s Bureau surveys fell into three groups: Those who sold miscellaneous articles from door to door, those who sold on the streets o f the down-town section, and those who worked for hucksters. The miscellaneous peddlers were by far the most numerous everywhere, except in Paterson, where almost all the child peddlers were hucksters’ helpers. In only four cities (Atlanta, Omaha, Newark, and Paterson) did the Children’s Bureau find enough peddlers to justify analysis. In these cities from one-third to two-fifths o f the peddlers worked every day, or every day except Sunday. About one-third had peddled for at least one year. From 61 to 87 per cent worked at least two hours on school days, and many worked three hours or longer. From 50 to 93 per cent worked at least five hours on Saturday, and 10 or 12 hours or longer was a not uncommon working-day on Saturday and in vacations, especially for hucksters. But such a summary can give no idea o f the undesirable and in some cases demoralizing conditions under which much o f the ped dling was done. In Atlanta some of the “ basket ” peddlers, white boys selling apples and other fruit, peanuts, and flowers on the down-town streets, a number o f helpers on coal, ice, and wood wagons, and several hucksters’ boys worked 5 hours or longer on school days; 57 worked at least 10 hours on Saturday, some of them from 13 to 16 hours. In Newark and Paterson Saturday peddlers reported similarly long hours, and daily hours during vacation https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis 42 CHILD WORKERS OK CITY STREETS were like those on Saturday during the school term. Almost all hucksters and many of the other peddlers worked excessively long hours on Saturday. Although some boys worked for their parents many were hired helpers, including many boys under 12 and some under 10 years of age. An 11-yeaT-old boy worked for a fruit peddler from 4 to 9 p. m. every school day and all day Saturday. A 10 -year-old boy em ployed by a huckster worked from 7 a. m. to 8 p. m. on Saturday and several hours on school days. A 9 -year-old boy in Atlanta who worked for a huckster on Saturday from 8 a. m. to 6 p. m. was so tired after his day’s work, his mother1 said, that he could not sleep. A 13-year-old hired huckster’s assistant in Paterson worked l7y 2 hours on Saturday, stopping at midnight. Young children worked too early in the morning and too late at night as well as too long hours. For example, a boy o f 11 helped his father peddle ice, beginning at 4 a. m. and working also in the afternoon after school. Another, a boy o f 13, went to market at 4 with his father to get a supply o f produce for the day, and worked again 4 hours after school. Two little huckster’s helpers in Newark began their work with a trip to market at 2 or 3 a. m. More, how ever, worked late than early in the day. A number o f peddlers were out on the streets until 8 or 10 or even later in the evenings. A *P| little boy o f 10 helped his father, an ice-cream peddler, until mid night every night; another was out with his father’s pushcart every evening until 10; a peanut seller o f 11 in Atlanta worked until 9.30 every school day and had been kept out o f school half a year ^ to sell peanuts; a 13-year-old candy seller in Omaha worked as much as five and one-half hours on week days, staying out until 10 one night a week; a popcorn seller worked from 7 to 9 every night except Sunday, when he stopped at 8.30; in Columbus, three brothers, the oldest o f whom was 13, sold candy and popcorn on the street every week day and in a theater three evenings a week. The long hours, especially long on Saturday and especially harm ful when the boy was required to carry heavy containers o f fruit and vegetables from wagon to door all day, are probably the greatest physical hardship for hucksters’ helpers. For miscellaneous peddlers there is danger that the boy will use peddling as a cloak for begging. Whether he goes from house to house or stands on a busy street corner, the child peddler may be making use o f the appeal o f child hood, somewhat as the one-armed man who sells the housewife a package o f needles or the blind man who sells the passer-by a p e n c i l ^ is turning his misfortune to advantage, The manner in which the ^ little peddlers offer their wares often can not be told from begging, and parents sometimes encourage the attitude. A mother boasted https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis OTHER STREET WORKERS 43 that her two children o f 7 and 8 had once taken in $27 in two days selling candy. Probably the most extreme case o f this kind was that o f a 10 -year-old boy going with his father, a blind peddler, who had been arrested several times for begging. More o f the peddlers than o f the newspaper sellers in each city were the children of immigrants, and in Atlanta many more were negroes. Some o f these children were from homes of great poverty; but about the same proportions as among newspaper sellers in the various cities were from normal homes, and the percentage who claimed economic need as the reason for their street work was even smaller than the percentage in broken homes. The Columbus ordinance and the State laws in Nebraska and in Pennsylvania which applied to newspaper sellers applied also to peddlers, but the street-trades ordinances in Atlanta and in Newark and Paterson did not touch them. BOOTBLACKS The itinerant bootblack with homemade blacking box slung over his shoulder was said years ago to be disappearing from city streets because o f the increase in the number o f shoe-shining parlors and indoor stands. However, in all except one o f the seven cities for which information on all kinds o f street workers was obtained by the Children’s Bureau some boys reported that they were boot blacks. The only cities, however, in which a considerable number were found were Wilkes-Barre and Newark. The average age o f the bootblack in each o f these cities was 1 2 ; the proportion under 12 was 48 per cent in Newark and 47 per cent in Wilkes-Barre. Almost all were o f foreign parentage, generally Italian, though in Newark many negro boys blacked boots. They came from some what poorer homes than newspaper sellers, though, like other street workers, the great majority were from families in which the father was the chief bread-winner. Bootblacks work under much the same conditions and in much the same surroundings as newspaper sellers, especially newspapers sellers who are not supervised by the circulation managers o f the newspapers. The bootblack is more his own master than newsboys are in cities where newsboys are supervised; he works more irregularly, and so receives less o f the discipline that work may give, and he gets no training. In Wilkes-Barre bootblacks had shorter working hours than newsboys had, though they were generally out all day, and in many cases far into the night on Saturday. The bootblack often found his best patrons among the “ Saturday-night drunks.” In Newark 40 per cent worked 6 or 7 days a week, and 22 per cent 112076°— 28-------4 https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis 44 CHILD WORKERS OK CITY STREETS worked at least 24 hours a week, which, added to the hours spent in school, made a working week o f more than 48 hours. Thirty-seven per cent Worked three hours or more on school days, and 19 per cent were out until 8 and 10 p. m. on school-day evenings. Forty-three per cent worked at least eight hours on Saturday. During the sum mer vacation the boys worked as long on week days as they did on Saturday during the school term; 26 per cent o f the vacation boot blacks worked at least 48 hours a week. Each o f the groups report ing these undesirable conditions o f work included children under 12 and even under 10 years o f age. The bootblacks in each city were more retarded in school than any other group of street workers of foreign or o f negro parentage in the same city. In Wilkes-Barre, the only city for which the in formation was obtained, the proportion o f bootblacks with juvenilecourt records was about twice as large as that for newspaper sellers. In Child Labor and Juvenile Delinquency in Manhattan, a National Child Labor Committee pamphlet published in 1918, it is shown that bootblacking ranked fourth among 12 groups o f occupations for which direct connection was traced between the boy’s occupation and his delinquency. In Pennsylvania the State street-trades law covered bootblacks, but the street-work ordinance in Newark did not do so. MAGAZINE CARRIERS AND SELLERS Magazine carriers and sellers are the aristocrats among street workers. They generally come from homes in which the parents are native whites and above the average in prosperity. The proportion o f magazine sellers and carriers included in the Children’s Bureau surveys who came from normal families was higher than among any other group o f street workers and even higher than among un selected groups o f children. They are somewhat younger than other street workers and work only a few months. The work is unexacting in every way. Although an occasional child sells or carries magazines a short time before going to school or after dinner in the evening, almost all do their work immediately after school and then only for an hour or so. Very few o f those in the Children’s Bureau surveys worked as much as 12 hours in their busiest weeks, and some worked only 1 or 2 weeks in the month. The returns are very small, the great majority of magazine sellers or carriers earning less than 50 cents a week. Very few help their families or even help to buy their own clothes; they usually savq a" little and use the rest o f their earnings for spending money. It is not to be expected that such work would have an unfavor able effect upon a child’s school standing or his school progress. The https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis OTHER STREET WORKERS 45 proportion o f magazine carriers or sellers in the surveys who were retarded in school was considerably smaller than the average for all schoolboys in their cities. The proportion with juvenile-court records was about the same as among newspaper carriers and much smaller than among newspaper sellers. Omaha and Atlanta are the only cities in the Children’s Bureau surveys in which the number o f magazine carriers and sellers was sufficiently large for analysis. In each of the other cities a few were reported* including several girls. The Atlanta street-trades ordinance and the Pennsylvania street trades law specified the selling o f periodicals among the street occu pations prohibited for children under 12 . MISCELLANEOUS STREET WORKERS Besides newspaper and magazine carriers and sellers, peddlers, and bootblacks, a few children in each city in the Children’s Bureau survey were engaged in other kinds of street work. The largest number among miscellaneous street workers were stand tenders, prin cipally because o f the many market-stand boys in Columbus. Many o f them worked for their parents, but others were hired, and, like hucksters’ helpers, worked almost incredibly long hours on Satur days. A market day o f 13 to 15 hours or more was not uncommon, beginning at 5 or 6 in the morning and ending at 9 or 9.30 at night, with a short period for lunch. The work of distributing handbills is like carrying newspapers, except that boys who distribute handbills usually work only once or twice a week, a few hours in all, and have no supervision; they are hired workers. Boys with newspaper jobs other than selling or carrying news papers, supervised carriers, helped to carry bundles o f newspapers to street cars, collected money, delivered papers to customers that regular carriers had neglected to serve, or took out papers to carriers reporting their bundles “ short.” The only other group in which there were more than a few boys was the group of junk collectors. Too few reported this work in each city to justify a special investigation, but it is well known that junk collecting offers unusual temptations and opportunities to steal. Some State laws, in recognition o f this fact, forbid the purchase o f junk from minors, and many juvenile courts have de clared junk collecting to be one o f the most prolific sources o f juvenile delinquency, Other miscellaneous street workers include boys who took care o f parked automobiles at night, often up to a late hour, usually around theaters and restaurants; boys who carried baggage at raih https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis 46 CHILD WORKERS OH CITY STREETS road stations; boys who carried advertising signs through the streets; boys who worked on merry-go-rounds at amusement parks; children who led blind peddlers and beggars; lamplighters (in N ew ark); and many others. Many o f these occupations are ob viously unsuited to children or have been shown to be so. G IRLS IN S T R E E T W O R K That street work is believed to be especially undesirable for girls is indicated in most street-trades regulations by the fact that a much higher minimum age is fixed for girls in street work than for boys—usually 16 or 18 years. Peddling and newspaper carrying were the only street occupations in which as many as six girls worked in any city. Some o f the girl peddlers went from door to door with articles for sale, others stood on the streets with their wares or sought patrons in office buildings, hotel lobbies, and other public places. One of these girl peddlers was described by local social workers as “ a very good little beggar.” Few girls sold news papers. The only other survey o f street workers in which girls are included or in which the facts about girls are presented separately, that in Toledo, showed a somewhat similar situation; o f the 38 girl street workers in Toledo all carried newspapers, except 4 who sold 1 papers on the streets and 1 who both sold and carried papers. https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis SHOULD CHILDREN DO STREET W ORK? NEWSPAPER SELLERS A boy does not have to leave school in order to sell newspapers, and as a result many children sell papers who are too young to work except at tasks that are a valuable part o f their training. Where the compulsory school attendance department is efficient, newspaper selling does not appear to interfere with school attendance. In some places newsboys are no more retarded in school than other boys, and, where they are retarded, so many other factors in the home and school environment are involved that it is not possible to prove a direct connection between newspaper selling and a boy’s failure to make normal progress in school. The physical effects o f the work must be investigated more thoroughly and more extensively before definite conclusions can be drawn as to whether the newsboy’s health suffers because o f his work. But whether or not the work has direct educational or physical effects, boys who sell papers during all the daylight hours before and after school have neither opportunity for wholesome recreation nor time for the preparation o f school work at home, except at the end o f a long working-day ; they work at least as many hours a day as are regarded suitable for adults, though almost half the boys are under 12- years o f age 5 and those who sell early in the morning or late in the evening or at such times as make it impossible for them to have meals at proper intervals, as many do, are following a program very unfavorable to normal development. The moral influences surrounding newspaper sellers in their work make it a dangerous occupation, also, for the immature. Conditions in and around newspaper distributing rooms differ. Boys in small towns and cities escape certain o f the evils that flourish in the notori ous “ news alleys” o f some o f the larger cities. But distributing rooms too often attract the type o f man from whom the newsboy may learn at first hand the language, philosophy, and technique, so to speak, o f the loafer and the tramp, or even o f the thief, the gambler, and the moral pervert. The fact that in two o f the four cities in which the Children’s Bureau investigated this aspect o f newspaper selling the boys were exposed in their work to seriously unwholesome asso ciations and influences indicates that such associations and influences are not uncommon in newspaper selling. 47 https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis 48 CHILD WOERERg OH CITY STREETS Kewsboys have a delinquency rate several times as high as the rate o f delinquency among other groups of boys. Much o f this is accounted for, to be sure, by poor home and neighborhood environ ment ; but if boys so handicapped are to develop into law-abiding members of the community they are plainly in greater need o f pro tection than more fortunate children are. Because o f the turnover, many more boys may be unfavorably influenced by newspaper selling than those represented by the total number selling papers at any one time. •Many boys sell papers only a few weeks or months, but at impressionable ages a few weeks may undo the educational work of years in training for citizenship. The similarity between the findings in the Children’s Bureau sur veys and those in surveys made 10 or 15 years ago offers little founda tion for the hope that conditions will improve o f themselves. On the contrary, they seem likely to grow worse in some respects instead o f better. Competition between newspapers, which appears to grow more rather than less keen, not only increases the number o f news boys but also, as the Children’s Bureau surveys show, creates es pecially unfavorable conditions for boys who sell. The increase in midday editions is likely to increase the temptation to stay out of school to sell, and no doubt children will do so unless the schoolattendance department keeps a close watch. The growing popularity o f late evening editions o f morning papers provides additional temp tation for selling late in the evening. These considerations seem to justify the conclusion that newspaper selling by children, like other forms o f child labor, should be regu lated by law. In all the cities in which the Children’s Bureau survey was made, a State law or local ordinance was in force. But the failure o f these regulations to control the street-trades problem shows that both the provisions o f the laws and the details of adminis tration must be given most careful consideration. The street worker is in actual fact in many cases as much an employee as any other class of worker, but experience has shown that he must be made the subject o f special legislation before he can be given the same protection. General child-labor laws are usually so worded that they are construed to apply only to children whose labor is hired by others, and not to the little merchant ” selling his wares. The legal regulation of street work presents difficult problems pecu-. liar to itself, and except in a few places it appears that little has been done to work out adequate methods o f enforcement even where the street-trades laws are satisfactory, and often the laws are them selves inadequate. Satisfactory regulations, whether State or local, include a mini mum age 5 a prohibition o f work both at night and during school https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis SHOULD CHILDREN DO STREET WORK? 49 hours; a badge system requiring proof o f the child’s age and physical fitness before permission to work is given $ the placing of responsibil ity for enforcement definitely upon a single official 5 and the control o f the issuance of badges and the street inspections by the same agency. Success in administering even adequate laws can be ob tained only when the enforcing officials are qualified by training and personal characteristics for the work and sympathize with the pur poses of the law, and when they have a sufficient staff to issue badges with care and to do the necessary street patrolling and other enforce ment work. In small communities the administration o f such a regu lation may be combined with other duties, but complete responsibility should rest upon one agency, for division o f responsibility for enforcement between any two or more agencies is always unsatis factory in regulating street work. Although satisfactory results may be obtained by an efficient offi cial in any department, enforcement by a well-administered schoolattendance department, especially where it has charge of the issuance o f employment certificates to children entering other occupations, appears to give promise o f best results, as most newsboys are school boys. Where some other department (as a branch o f the State labor office) issues employment certificates, the enforcement o f streettrades regulations also might well be entrusted to it, since its aims and methods would naturally be adapted to this similar work. Dele gation o f the enforcement to the police has not been found to be desirable, because as a rule they are reluctant to disturb boys selling papers in violation o f the regulations and lack the social perspective to realize that theirs may be a mistaken kindness. Moreover, the public arrest o f youthful offenders should be avoided at almost any cost. As policemen are on the streets at all hours and in sufficient numbers, they can, however, if their interest is enlisted, be of much help to the enforcing agency. As an aid to enforcement a few cities have found effective news boys’ republics” based on the principles o f self-government and working in cooperation with the officials enforcing the regulations. Probably the best known o f these are the ones in Boston and Mil waukee with their newsboys’ courts granted powers by the legal en forcing agency in each place. Unfortunately their effectiveness de pends so largely on the personality o f the leaders that it does not always survive a change o f enforcing officers. It is important that enforcing officials should seek the cooperation not only o f the boys but o f their parents, of the newspaper publishers and circulation departments, and o f the schools. Visits to the homes of newsboys and informal conferences with parents would be effective in many cases in promoting good school work as well as in prevent- https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis 50 CHILD WORKERS ON CITY STREETS ing violations o f the law and disposing o f first offenses. The right approach is sometimes all that is needed to obtain the cooperation o f the newspaper companies in clearing their premises o f loafers, forbidding sleeping on the premises, and otherwise taking care o f unwholesome conditions, though constant vigilance on the part of some responsible authority is necessary i f satisfactory conditions are to be maintained. Successful cooperation with newspaper managers might well result in the provision by the newspapers o f at least a clean, welllighted, and supervised waiting room for newsboys or, better still,, in the institution of the system o f corner delivery to newspaper sellers or o f substations or some other substitute for the congregation o f large numbers of boys in a down-town office. The relations between the enforcing authorities and school principals and teachers are o f special importance. Thorough instruction by the school principal o f the would-be newsboy in the regulations would lessen the burden o f enforcement. Much remains to be done in many places in edu cating both principals and teachers as to the requirements o f the street work law. Regular visits to the schools to inspect badges, to instruct boys in the regulations, and to obtain reports from teachers should prove helpful in enforcement. The regulation o f newspaper selling by children has other aspects than the legal. As in other forms o f child labor, the economic factor is present. Newsboys, speaking generally, come from poor families. They are not destitute, except in rare instances, nor even so poor that they will acknowledge that they could not live without the earnings o f their children o f school age; but they are in circumstances often so far below any reasonable standard o f comfort that the temptation for the boys to earn whatever they can is strong. It is not a question o f widowhood, or o f desertion or incapacity o f fathers, for almost as many newsboys as other children have fathers who support their families; but so many fathers earn so little that without the help o f mothers or o f children, or of both, the family is always hard pressed. As in other fields o f child welfare this problem can be solved only when the wages o f the father are sufficient to support the family in health and reasonable comfort without the assistance o f the mother, at least while the children are young, or the labor o f the children o f school age themselves. The maintenance o f fami lies through the gainful employment o f children has been demon strated to be economically unsound. Permitting young children to ease the pressure does not contribute to a solution o f the problem; on the contrary, it probably delays it. Even if through expediency the law permitted boys to sell news papers because o f economic need or even economic urgency, at least https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis SHOULD CHILDREN DO STREET WORK? 51 half the newsboys would not be affected. Many children sell papers because they know o f nothing more interesting to do. An adequate recreational program would remove them from the streets, and such a program the schools must supply. Even if local conditions are such that newspaper selling is relatively harmless, few communities would admit that it is the best and most constructive activity that could be offered to young boys. The regulation o f street work might be expected to hasten the development of recreational facilities and of all-day schools and vacation schools with a program of athletics, dramatics, and music, and with opportunity to try out vocational interests in the extra hours, just as the legal raising o f the age of leaving school has resulted in an enrichment and greater flexibility o f the regular school curriculum which has benefited all school chil dren. Certainly the development o f such activities would diminish the need for legal regulation. It is necessary to educate the general public in the legal restric tions governing newspaper selling or other street work, especially in the reasons for such restrictions. The public should be made aware that the regulations are in the best interests o f the children working on the streets, and that purchasing from underage boys or boys working at undesirable hours is misplaced kindness. Interested social "agencies as well as the enforcing authorities might undertake to give publicity to these simple but essentially important facts through their contacts with local organizations, such as women’s clubs and parentteacher associations. Such organizations can do valuable and con structive work individually by urging their members to purchase only from boys wearing badges and to report cases o f violations to the proper authorities, and collectively by investigating local street working conditions, endeavoring to procure the cooperation of news paper managers in improving conditions in their distributing rooms, and working for better laws and better enforcement o f existing laws. NEWSPAPER CARRIERS The work o f the newspaper carrier seems to be relatively unob jectionable, except where carriers sacrifice necessary sleep to morn ing routes. Moreover, carriers as a class come from better homes than newspaper sellers and from families that are better able, finan cially and in knowledge o f American life, to protect their children from exploitation. Under present conditions, at any rate, the pos sibility o f danger to the child in engaging in this work does not ¿geem sufficiently great to justify as stringent regulations as other kinds o f street work. https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis 52 CHILD WORKERS OH CITY STREETS OTHER STREET WORKERS Peddlers. No excuse exists for the child peddler on the streets. The public is conveniently and abundantly supplied in other ways with all the peddler’s commodities, and the work is demoralizing to the child. So clearly has the connection between peddling and begging and vagrancy been perceived that some State laws prohibit peddling by minors under 16 or 18, along with any il begging and other mendicant business.” However, such regulations are likely to be ineffective, depending for enforcement, as they do, upon police action. Streettrades laws and ordinances should specifically prohibit peddling by children, including children who accompany adult peddlers. No valid reason appears why boys hired by hucksters or by marketstand keepers should not be required to get employment certificates as boys are required to do for other types o f “ gainful employment, nor why the minimum age should be lower than that for boys working in grocery stores or on delivery wagons, for example. These occupa tions are now prohibited to children under 14 in most States, and children between 14 and 16 in most o f these States must get employ ment certificates even for after-school and vacation employment in them. The conditions of work for hucksters’ assistants and stand tenders are more nearly like those o f workers for mercantile estab-,^lishments than they are like those o f street workers. The enforce^ ment o f either a child labor law or a street-trades regulation for the benefit o f hucksters’ assistants has special problems because, the em ployer having no fixed place of business, inspection is necessarily difficult. However, the enforcement of provisions relating to the licensing o f hucksters has apparently proved practicable ; and if the huckster can be required to get a license the huckster’s assistant can be required to get a certificate. Some special supplementary measure might be found necessary, such, for example, as a provision making it possible to revoke or suspend the licenses of peddlers hiring boys who do not have employment certificates in accordance with the child labor law. Bootblacks. Bootblacking by children, like peddling, should be prohibited by street-trades regulations. The work has many of the disadvantages o f newspaper selling, without such advantages in the way of training as selling papers may have. As in peddling, such a step is imme diately practicable, as neither the public nor any class o f employers has any interest in keeping the bootblack on the streets. Miscellaneous street workers. Careful consideration should be given to the question o f the inclu sion in street-trades regulations o f the numerous miscellaneous kinds https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis SHOULD CHILDREN" DO STREET WORK? 53 o f street work in which children engage. Although only a few chil dren in any one place appear to be affected and some o f the work, such as carrying magazines or distributing handbills, seems harmless, some o f these kinds o f work—as, for example, junk collecting with its temptation to steal saleable articles—are quite as unsuitable as other types o f street work that are given more attention because they involve larger numbers. https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis LAW S AND O RDIN AN CES 1 REGULATING THE WORK OF CHILDREN IN STREET TRADES 2 [Details of the laws and ordinances summarized below are given in Children’s Bureau Chart No. 15, Laws and Ordinances Regulating Street Work.] In the following summary the age first given is the minimum age fixed by the law or ordinance for engaging in the specified occupations. The occupations listed in the paragraph relating to minimum age, limited by the exemptions there listed, are unless otherwise specified those to which all the provisions of the law or ordinance apply. The word “ parent” is used to cover parent, guardian, or custodian. Only the person specifically authorized to issue the permit or badge is given in the Summary, but the regulation usually permits him to designate some other person to act as his deputy. This summary includes only specific street-trades regulations, i. e., those governing primarily children engaging on their own account in street work. Laws relating to the employment o f children by other persons in occupations which, though they may be carried on chiefly in the streets, are not such as a child would engage in on his own account, are not included. Thus laws relating to children working as messengers and to children delivering goods for mer cantile establishments are not here given. The following types of regulations are also omitted: (1) Laws regulating general industrial employment, which are usually interpreted to apply only to the child who receives wages from an employer; (2) laws prohibiting the use of children in certain “ wandering” occupations, including peddling; (3) laws restricting the sale of newspapers devoted to criminal or obscene subjects; (4) juvenile-court laws classing as dependents or delinquents, children under certain ages found selling articles on the streets; (5) municipal curfew ordinances. ALABAMA Boy 12, girl 18, distributing or selling newspapers or periodicals or engaging in any other street trade, except boys 10 or over on newspaper routes in residential districts. (Law applies to entire State.) Badge required for child under 16, issued by school superintendent, conditioned o n : (1) Evidence of a ge; (2 ) regular school attendance, unless child is legally qualified for an employment certificate. Night work prohibited for child under 16 between 8 p. m. and 5 a. m. ARIZONA Boy 10, girl 16, selling newspapers, p e r i o d i c a l s , or other merchandise on streets *, child 10, bootblacking. (Law applies to any city.) Another law provides for license, issued by board of trustees of school district, to boy between 10 and 14 to sell papers or engage in other work (not harm ful physically or morally) outside school hours. (L aw applies to entire State.) ARKANSAS No specific street trades law. Little Rock: Boy 8, selling newspapers or periodicals.3 License and badge required of all “ newsboys” or vendors of news papers or periodicals, issued by city collector. Night work prohibited for “ newsboys ” after 7 p. m. (8 p. m., June 1 to September 1 5 ).3 1 State laws as of May 1, 1928, so far as available on that date; municipal ordinances ° f ^ M ^ section ^ w a’s prepared by Ella Arvilla Merritt, specialist in legal research, indus trial division, Children’s Bureau, U. S. Department of Labor. 3 By regulation in pursuance of ordinance. 54 https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis LAW S AND ORDINANCES REGULATING STREET WORK 55 C A L IF O R N IA Boy 10, girl 18, selling or distributing newspapers or periodicals or engaging in trade of bootblack or any other street trade. (Law applies to cities of 23,000 or over.) Another law makes it unlawful for any minor under 18 to sell goods or engage in or conduct any business between 10 p. m. and 5 a. m. (Law applies to entire State.) Pasadena: Written permit required for any person selling newspapers or periodi cals on streets, issued by chief of police department. Sacramento: Child under 16 prohibited from engaging in any street trade between 9 p. m. and 4 a. m. San Jose: License and badge required for any person selling newspapers or periodicals or carrying on trade of bootblack or any other trade or business, issued by deputy treasurer and license collector. Any child under 14 and any minor over 14 attending school must present certificate from principal of school attended stating that his record for attendance and scholarship is satisfactory. Every person must present certificate from chief of police that he is suitable person to receive license. C O LO R AD O Girl 10, selling or distributing newspaper» or periodicals or other merchandise or engaging in any other street trade. (L aw applies to any town or city.) Denver: 57 Boy 12, girl 21, selling newspapers or periodicals on streets. License and badge required for male over 12, female over 21, issued by manager of safety and excise. C O N N EC TICU T No specific street trades law. Hartford: Boy 10, selling newspapers on streets ; no girl permitted to sell on streets.4 Badge required for boy under 14, issued by superintendent of schools under such restrictions as he deems expedient. (School record required.4) Boy under 14 not to sell after 8 p. m. Meriden: License required for boy under 16 selling newspapers, p e r i o d i c a l s , or other merchandise on streets, issued by chief of police. (B y requir ing license for all minors under 16, and providing that none shall be issued to girls, the ordinance fixes a minimum age of 16 for girls.) New Haven: Child 10, selling newspapers or periodicals, or peddling on streets. License required for any person, except newsboys, selling articles on streets, and for bootblacks, issued by chief of police. Night work prohibited between 8 p. m. and 3 a. m. for child under 14 selling newspapers, periodicals, or other merchandise on streets. DELAW ARE Boy 12, girl 14, delivering or selling newspapers, periodicals, or other articles on streets. (Law applies to cities of 20,000 or over, ,i. e., Wilmington only.) ^ It is possible that the “ provisional ” employment certificate, which may be issued by local school authorities to boy between 12 and 16 and to girl be tween 14 and 16 to work at such times as child is not required to> attend school at occupations not dangerous or injurious, might be used for certain street trades in places outside cities o f 20,000 or over. * Inform ation from office o f city board o f education. https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis 56 C H IL D W ORKERS OK C IT Y STRE E TS Badge required for child under 16, issued by State labor commission, condi tioned o n : (1) Evidence of age and (2 ) compliance with school attendance^ law. Badge may be refused if child is physically or mentally incompetent or unable to do work in addition to school attendance. Night work prohibited for child under 16 between 7 p. m. and 6 a. m. D IS T R IC T O F C O LU M B IA Boy 12, girl 18, selling newspapers, periodicals, or other articles or merchandise, or distributing handbills, or exercising trade o f bootblack or any other trade on streets, except boys 10' or over distributing newspapers or periodicals on fixed routes.6 Badge required for boy under 16, issued by director of department o f school attendance and work permits, conditioned o n : (1) Evidence o f a ge; (2) statement from principal of school and teacher of class attended showing grade, and certifying that in their opinion child is physically and mentally qualified to undertake intended work without retarding progress in school (completion of eighth grade required for work during school hours) ; (3) certificate from physician stating that child is of normal development, in sound health, and physically qualified for intended work. Night work prohibited for child under 16 between 7 p. m. and 6 a. m. F L O R ID A Boy 10, girl 16, distributing or selling papers or periodicals on streets, boys delivering newspapers to regular subscribers outside school hours. applies to cities of 6,000 or over.) except (Law G E O R G IA No specific street trades law. Atlanta: An ordinance formerly in effect in Atlanta was repealed in August, 1927. This ordinance fixed a minium age o f 12 for boys and 16 for girls engaging in the sale of newspapers or periodicals on streets. Any person engaging in this occupation was required to obtain a per mit and badge issued by the mayor, and in case of boys between 12 and 14 the issuing officer had tof be satisfied that child was 12 or over and was of normal development and physically able to undertake intended work. Night work was prohibited under 14 between 8.30 p. m. and 5 a. m. ID A H O No specific street trades law. IL L IN O IS No specific street trades law. Chicaffa: Girl 18, distributing or selling newspapers, periodicals, or other articles or engaging in trade of bootblack or any other trade on streets ; no minimum age for boys, but under State law any child under 10 selling articles on street may be declared dependent and subject to jurisdic tion of court. Night work prohibited for boy under 1 4 6 distributing or selling news papers, periodicals, or other articles or engaging in trade of bootblack or any other street occupation between 8 p. m. and 5 a. m. 5 Special provisions fo r boys “ stuffing ” newspapers are as follow s : No boy under 1° shall be so employed ; boys between 16 and 18 shall n ot be so employed more than 40 houi m any 1 week or m ore than 1 night in, any 1 week. ®P rovision o f ordinance that boy between 14 and 16 shall n ot engage in these occupations between 8 p. m. and 5 a. m. unless he has on his person an employment certificate is out o f date, as under the present law the em ployment certificate is issued to em ployer and n ot given to child. https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis LAW S AND O R D IN A N C E S R E G U L A T IN G S T R E E T W O R K 57 Springfield: Boy 11, trade of “ newsboy ” on streets. License required for all “ newsboys,” issued by mayor upon assurance ■ of good character; badge supplied by city clerk. Night work prohibited for “ newsboys ” after 9 p. m., except in sale of extra editions. IN D IA N A No specific street trades law. IO W A Boy 11, girl 18, distributing or selling newspapers, periodicals, or circulars on streets, or engaging in bootblacking, peddling, or any other street trade. (L aw applies to cities of 10,000 or over.) Boys under 11 having permit is sued in exceptional cases by superintendent of schools on showing made by municipal or superior or juvenile court judge are exempted. Badge required for boy under 16, issued by school superintendent, conditioned o n : (1) Evidence of a ge; (2) certificate from physician stating that child is of normal development, in sufficiently sound health, and physically able to do intended w ork; (3) school record showing regular school attendance and ability to perform work without interfering with school progress. Night work prohibited for child under 16 between 7.30 p. m. and 4 a. m., during school term and between 8.30 p. m. and 4 a. m. in summer school vacation. KANSAS No specific street trades law. KENTUCKY Boy 14, girl 18, peddling, bootblacking, selling or distributing newspapers, periodicals, or circulars on streets or engaging in any other street trade. (L aw applies to cities of first, second, and third class.) Badge required under 16 in the above occupations except newspaper selling or distributing7 issued by city or county school superintendent, conditioned o n : (1) Evidence of age; (2 ) certificate from physician stating that child is of normal development, in good health, and physically fit for intended w o rk ; and (3) for work during school hours, school record showing completion of fifth grade and 100 days of school attendance during year previous to appli cation for school record or to becoming 14. Night work prohibited for child under 16 in the above occupations except newspaper selling or distributing7 between 8 p. m. and 6 a. m. L O U IS IA N A No specific street trades law. M A IN E No specific street trades law. Portland: No minimum age, but the license specified below shall not be issued to child under 10 without permission of parent. License and badge required for any person selling newspapers on streets, issued by chief of police. Licensee must be of good moral character. Night work prohibited for boy under 1 5 8 after 9.15 p. m. M ARYLAND Boy 14, girl 16, working as bootblack or distributing circulars or any other articles or in any street trade, except boys 12 or over selling or distributing newspapers or periodicals on streets and boys between 10 and 12 distribut^ ing newspapers on regular routes between 3.30 p. m. and 5 p. m. (Law ap plies to cities of 20,000 or o ver; i. e., Baltimore, Cumberland, and Hagers town.) 7 In Commonwealth v . Lipginski, 279 S. W. 339, the badge and night-work provisions of the law were interpreted not to apply to newspaper selling or distributing. 8 Regulation by city council in pursuance of ordinance, https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis 58 CHILD WORKERS ON CITY STREETS Permit and badge required for boy under 16, issued in Baltimore by State commissioner of labor and statistics and outside Baltimore by State com missioner or by county school superintendent, conditioned on: (1) Evidence of age; (2) principal’s written statement of school attendance; and (3) compliance with school attendance law.® Night work prohibited for child under 16 between 8 p. m. and 6 a. m. M A SS A C H U S E T T S Boy 12, girl 18 in cities of 50,000 or over and girl 16 elsewhere, selling news papers, periodicals, or other merchandise or engaging in the trade of boot blacking or any other street trade. (Law applies to entire State.) Badge required for boy under 16, issued by superintendent of schools or, where there is no superintendent, by deputy o f school committee, conditioned on: (1 ) Evidence of age and (2 ) compliance with school attendance law. Issu ing officer may refuse badge if in his opinion boy is physically or mentally incompetent or unable to do work in addition to regular school attendance. School committee of any city may make further requirements. Night work prohibited for child under 16 (for boy under 14, between 8 p. m. and 6 a. m., and for boy between 14 and 16 between 9 p. m. and 5 a. m .) . Another law gives aldermen or seleetment power to prohibit or regulate minors engaged in the trade of bootblack or the sale of specified articles, including newspapers and pamphlets; but in any city, school committee has these powers as regards boys under 16 and girls under 18. M IC H IG A N No specific street trades law. Detroit: Permit required for any person engaging in occupation of newsboy or bootblack on streets, issued by mayor (license collector must supply badge), conditioned on satisfactory assurance of good character. Highland Park: Boy 11, girl of any age.10 License and badge required for any person selling newspapers or periodicals pn streets, issued by city clerk. By regulation under ordinance, license to child of school age is issued only on approval of attendance department of the public schools. Curfew ordinance prohibits work on streets after 9 p. m. in summer and after 8 p. m. in winter for child under 16.11 M IN N E SO T A Boy 12, girl 18, distributing or selling newspapers or periodicals, peddling, or bootblacking, on streets, except regularly employed newspaper carriers or persons distributing newspapers or periodicals to regular subscribers at resi dence or place of business. (L aw applies to cities of first, second, or third classes, i. e., cities of 10,000 or over.) Permit and badge required for boy under 16, issued by school superintendent, chairman of school board, or chairman of board of education, conditioned o n : (1 ) Evidence of age and (2) certificate from physician stating that child is of normal development, in sound health, and physically able to do intended work. For work during school hours completion of common-school course is required. Night work prohibited for child under 16 between 8 p. m. and 5 a. m., except in sale of extra editions, this exception not to permit violation of any curfew ordinance. 9 Child who has regular employment certificate may work during school hours. 10 By regulation under ordinance. 11 Inform ation from supervisor o f attendance, https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis L A W S A N D O R D IN A N C E S R E G U L A T IN G S T R E E T W O R K 59 St. Paul: Boy 12, girl 18,“ selling newspapers or periodicals on streets or peddling or bootblacking, except distributing newspapers or periodi cals to regular subscribers at residence or place of business. Badge required for boy under 16, issued by commissioner of public safety; permit required for bootblacking and peddling. Nigbt work prohibited for child under 16 between 8 p. m. and 5 a. m., except in sale of extra editions. M IS S IS SIP P I No specific street trades law. M IS S O U R I No specific street trades law. M ONTANA No specific street trades law. N EBRASK A No specific street trades law. NEVADA No specific street trades law. N E W H A M P SH IR E Boy 10, girl 16, selling newspapers, periodicals, or other merchandise or engag ing in work as bootblack13 on street. (Law applies to entire State.) General prohibition of night work between 7 p. m. and 6.30 a. m. for children A s u n d e r 16 which apparently applies to street trades, permits boy 12 or over 'to; deliver newspapers between 4 p. m. and 8 p. m., and boy 14 or over to deliver newspapers after 5 a. m. Manchester: ^ Badge required for any person engaging in work as bootblack or selling newspapers, pamphlets, or periodicals on streets, issued by superintendent of schools. Night work prohibited for child under 14 engaging in such work after 9 p. m. except on election days. Nashua: Boy 10, selling newspapers or periodicals on streets. Badge required for boy 10 or over, issued by chief of police. N E W JERSEY The New Jersey compulsory school attendance and employment certificate law contains a section providing for the issuance of “ age and working certificates ” to children between 10 and 16 years o f age, which permitted them to engage in certain light employments outside school hours, including running errands, soiling newspapers, and bootblacking. An opinion of the State attorney general dated April 21,1924, held that this section was limited as to character o f employment by a subsequent amendment to the child labor law (the socalled “ mercantile la w ” ) fixing a minimum age o f 14 in or in connection with mercantile establishments and defining “ mercantile establishment ” to “ apply to any employment of labor other than in a factory, workshop, mill, or place where the manufacture of goods of any kind is carried on, mine, quarry, or in agricultural pursuits.” This opinion has been interpreted by the office o f the State commissioner of education as rendering obsolete the provision for age and working certificates. Information from the State ^d ep a rtm en t o f labor is to the effect that the mercantile law does not extend ^ t o street work not connected with mercantile establishments. 12 Ordinance specifies that minimum age shall be the same as that required under State law. 13 The minimum age fo r work as bootblack on streets is 10 fo r any “ child.” 112076°— 28----- 5 https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis 60 CH ILD W O RK ERS OK C IT Y STREETS Atlantic City:1* Child 10,15 selling newspapers and periodicals on streets. Permit and badge required for any person engaged in this occupation, issued by director of public safety. Night work prohibited between 9.30 p. m. and 6 a. m. (prohibition applies to any person). Elizabeth: 16 Boy 10, girl 16, selling newspapers on streets. Permit and badge required for boy under 16, issued by board of educa tion, conditioned on satisfactory evidence o f age. Night work prohibited for child under 16 after 10 p. m. Newark: 16 Boy 10, girl 16, selling newspapers on streets. Permit and badge required for boy under 14 issued by board of educa tion, conditioned on satisfactory evidence of age. Night work prohibited for child under 14 after 10 p. m. Passaic: 16 Child 11, selling newspapers on streets. Permit and badge required under 14, issued by officer designated by board of commissioners (chief attendance officer), conditioned on satisfactory evidence o f age. W ork prohibited for child under 14 after 10 p. m. or at any time on Sunday. Paterson: 18 Child 10, selling newspapers and periodicals on streets. Permit and badge required for child under 16, issued by board o f educa tion, conditioned on satisfactory evidence of age. W ork prohibited for child under 16 between 9 p. m. (10 p. in. on Satur day and 1 p. m. on Sunday) and 4 a. m. N E W M E X IC O No specific street trades law. N E W YORK Boy 12, girl 18, selling or delivering newspapers or periodicals or working as bootblack. (L aw applies to cities o f 20,000 or over.) Badge required for boy under 17, issued by superintendent o f schools in cities and school districts employing a superintendent o f schools, elsewhere by dis^ trict Superindent, conditioned o n : (1 ) Evidence of age; (2 ) school record showing, when practicable, school and grade of class attended; (3 ) certificate from physician showing that child is in sound health, o f normal development, and physically qualified for lawful employment. Night work prohibited for child under 17 between 7 p: m. and 6 a. m. School authorities in any city of 20,000 or over may further regulate the work of boys under 18 in street trades but may not lower the minimum age nor lengthen the hours specified in the act for such work. N O R T H C A R O L IN A 17 Boy 12, girl 16, “ any form o f street trades.” (L aw applies to entire State.)18 Badge required for boy under 16, issued by superintendent of public welfare where authorized and by superintendent of schools elsewhere, conditioned o n : (1) Evidence o f a ge; (2) physician’s certificate o f physical fitness; (3) school record showing grade completed. Employment must not interfere with school work. « A question has been raised as to whether the street-trades ordinances for New Jersey cities are superseded, under an opinion o f the State attorney general dated A pril 21, 1924, by a later State statute fixing a minimum age o f 14 in m ercantile establishments and defining “ mercantile establishment ” to “ apply to any employment o f any person for wages or other compensation other than in a factory, workshop, m ill, or place where the manufacture o f goods o f any kind is carried on, mine, quarry, or in agricultural pursuijaj^, The school authorities o f Elizabeth, Paterson, and Passaic report that they interpret' thPt, ordinances o f their respective cities as thus superseded. 15 By regulation in pursuance o f ordinance. 16 See footnote 14. 17 Ordinance formerly in effect in Wilmington, N. C„ has been superseded by State law. is i n effect in 8 o f the larger cities, according to inform ation received from State childwelfare commission. https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis LA W S A i m ORDINANCES REG U LATIN G STREET W O R K 61 Night w ork prohibited for child under 16 between 7 p. m. and 6 a. m. W ork for more than 8 hours a day, 48 hours a week, and 6 days a week prohibited for all children under 16 except those between 14 and 16 who have completed the fourth grade. NORTH DAKOTA No specific street trades law. OHIO No specific street trades law. Cincinnati: Child 10 (12 within specified district of c ity ), selling, delivering, or offering for sale newspapers, periodicals, or other merchandise, or engaging in trade o f bootblack, on streets. Permit and badge required for child under 18, issued by city manager, conditioned on presentation of documentary evidence of age satis factory to issuing officer. Issuing officer must be satisfied child is of normal development and physically fit for intended work. Night work prohibited for child under 15 between 7 p. m. and 6 a. m., except on election days ahd in sale o f extra editions. Cleveland: Boy 10, girl 18,19 selling newspapers, periodicals, or other merchandise, or engaging in trade of bootblack, on streets. Permit and badge required for any minor, issued by city manager. Permit must state that issuing officer is satisfied that child is of required age and is mentally and physically fit to undertake in tended work. Night work prohibited for child under 14 between 8 p. m. and 5.30 a. m. except on election days and in sale o f extra editions. Columbus: “ Whoever being the parent, guardian or having custody or control o f any child under the age of 8 years, causes, induces, permits, or allows such child to sell, barter, or exchange newspapers, chewing gum, or other wares and merchandise on any o f the streets, avenues, alleys, or in any public place o f the city o f Columbus, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction thereof shall be fined not less than $5 nor more than $25.” Dayton: Boy 11, girl 18, selling newspapers, periodicals, or other merchandise, or engaging in trade o f bootblack or in other work in or about any shoe-shining parlor. Permit and badge required for boy under 18, issued by superintendent o f crime prevention of department o f public safety. Issuing officer must certify that he is satisfied child is of required age and is of normal development and physically fit for intended work. Night work prohibited for child under 15 between 6.30 p. m. (7 p. m. from June 1 to September 30) and 5.30 a. m. except on election days and in sale o f extra editions. East Cleveland: m Boy 10, girl 18, selling newspapers, magazines, periodicals, or other goods or merchandise on streets. Permit required for any minor 10 years of age or over, issued by city manager. Permit must state that issuing officer is satisfied that minor is o f required age and is mentally and physically fit to under take intended work. Night work prohibited for “ any m inor” between 8 p. m. and 5 a. m. except on election days and in sale o f extra editions. Toledo: (Ordinance applies to work in “ down-town district or in or about any railroad station.) Hoy, 12, girl 18, selling newspapers, periodicals, or other articles, or engaging in trade of bootblack or any other street trade. sti'ee^^r™ uWic^place g ' llS also appIies to any other trade or occupation carried on in any https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis 62 C H IL D W OKKERS ON C IT Y STRE E TS Toledo— Continued. , „ '. , , ,. I Permit and badge required for boy under 16, issued by director 01 safety, who must find upon investigation that child is of the pre scribed age and is physically fit for intended work (No permit or badge is required for delivery of newspapers, etc., to regulat customers, but director of public safety may prohibit such work in any individual case where minor is guilty o f unlawful acts t n a t /2 infringe upon the public safety, health, or welfare.) Night work prohibited for child under 16 between 7.30 p. m. (7 p. m. from October 15 to April 15) and 6 a. m. OKLAHOMA 20 Girl 16, selling newspapers, magazines, or periodicals on streets. plies to any city.) (Law ap OREGON No specific street trades law. Portland: . ,. . Bov 10, girl 18, selling newspapers or periodicals. Night work prohibited for child under 16 between 8 p. m. and 6 a. m. PENNSYLVANIA Boy 12, girl 21, distributing or selling newspapers, periodicals, or any other merchandise on streets. . Boy 14, girl 21, in work as bootblack, scavenger, or in any other street trade except those listed in preceding item. (Law aDDlies to entire State.) , , 0 Night work prohibited for child under 16 in any street trade between 8 p . m . and 6 a. m. ‘ RHODE ISLAND Bov 12, girl 16, selling newspapers or periodicals or engaging in trade of bootblack or scavenger. (Law applies to cities o f 40,000 or over, 1. e., Providence, Pawtucket, and Woonsocket.) »• j „ , Permit and badge required for boy under 16, issued by truant officer on state ment of principal teacher of school attended that he approves the issuance of the permit to the child, that the child is attending school, is o f normal development, and is physically fit for intended work. Night work prohibited for child under 16 between 9 p. m. and 5 a. m. License and badge required for any person selling newspapers or peri odicals on streets, issued by chief of police. Evidence of good char acter may be required. SOUTH CAROLINA No specific street trades law. SOUTH DAKOTA No specific street trades law. TENNESSEE No specific street trades law. TEXAS No specific street trades law. 20 tjtt rniino. o f State comm issioner o f labor, applicable under the law only to employment of °e^n^)loyer,0 a1Iminimum age o f 15 has been fixed fo r the sale o f merchandise on the street or in any out-of-door public place. Newspapers are n ot held to be “ merchandise.” https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis L A W S A N D O R D IN A N C E S R E G U L A T IN G S T R E E T W O R K 63 UTAH Boy 12, girl 16, selling newspapers, periodicals, or other merchandise, or working as bootblack21 on streets. (L aw applies to cities of first and second class, i. e., cities of over 5,000 population.) Permit required for boy under 16, issued by school superintendent or by deputy of school board, conditioned o n : (1) Satisfactory proof that child is of required a g e ; (2 ) written statement of school principal approving the issuance of the permit and stating that child is attending school22 and is o f normal develop ment and physically fit for intended work. Night work prohibited for child under 16 after 9 p. m. VERM ONT No specific street trades law. V IR G IN IA Boy 12, girl 18, distributing and selling newspapers, periodicals or circulars, or working at bootblacking, running errands, and delivering parcels. Boy 14, girl 18, peddling or engaging in any gainful occupation in any street or public place except as specified in preceding item. (Law applies to entire State.) In work for which minimum age is 12 for boys, badge is required for boy under 16, issued by chief attendance officer or, if there is no such officer, by the division superintendent o f schools;, conditioned, o n : (1 ) Evidence o f a ge; (2) certificate from physician stating that child is of normal development, in sound health, and physically fit for intended work. Boy 12 or over may distribute newspapers or periodicals to regular subscribers at residences or places of business without obtaining badge, but this work is held to be subject to the general provisions o f the State child labor law, requiring employment certificates for all children under 16 employed, permitted, or suffered to work in any gainful occupation (with certain exemptions not affecting street trades). Requirements for this certificate and person issuing are the same as for street-trades badge. In work for which minimum age is 14 for boys an employment certificate as for other gainful occupations is required. Requirements for this certificate and person issuing are the same as for street-trades badge. . Night work prohibited for child under 16 between 7 p. m. and 6 a. m. W ork for child under 16 limited to 8 hours a day, 44 hours a week, and 6 days a week. > W A S H IN G T O N No specific street trades law. Everett: Child 10, selling newspapers or periodicals on streets. Permit and badge required for child under 16, issued by commissioner o f safety. Seattle: Child under 12 found peddling or selling any article on the street for gain may be declared dependent or neglected and subject to jurisdic tion of court (city ordinance). Permit required for child under 18, issued by juvenile and humane division of police department and approved by judge o f county juve nile court. W E S T V IR G IN IA No specific street trades law. 21 The minimum age for. work as bootblack on streets is 12 fo r any “ child ” : the nermit p r o v is io n applies only to boys. Perm it to work during school hours (com pulsory school attendance requirements extend to 18 years o f age) may be granted child who is 16 or has graduated from eighth grade (exem ption fo r child o f widowed m other o r invalid fa th er). (In form ation from State superintendent o f public instruction, December, 1927.) https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis 64 C H IL D W O R K E R S O K C IT Y STRE E TS W IS C O N S IN Boy 12, girl 18, selling and distributing newspapers and periodicals. Boy 14, girl 18, bootblacking, soliciting, selling, or distributing any merchandise except newspapers or periodicals on streets. Law applies to cities of the first class (i. e. M ilwaukee), and same provisions apply also to all other parts of State until industrial commission makes other regulations. Permit and badge required for boy under 17, issued by board of education where child resides, conditioned o n : (1 ) Evidence of age; (2) written state ment of principal that child is in regular attendance at school; (3) com pliance with school attendance law. Issuing officer must be satisfied that child is mentally and physically able to perform intended work in addition to regular school work. (In places where attendance at school is not required by law past the age of 16, the educational requirements do not apply to children 16 or over.) Night work prohibited for child under 17 between 7.30 p. m. and 5 a. m. (Boy 14 or over may deliver newspapers between 4 a. m. and 6 a. m. if mentally and physically able to do work in addition to school work.) W Y O M IN G No specific street trades law. https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis LIST OF REPORTS ON CHILDREN IN STREET WORK Newsboys of Saint L ou is; a study by the school of social economy of Washington University, St. Louis, Mo., 1910. 15 pp. The Newsboys o f Milwaukee, by Alexander Fleisher, pp. 61-96. Madison Democrat Printing Co., 1911. A survey of working children in Kansas City, with special stress on the street trades and messenger service,” by Eva M. Marquis. Kansas City, Mo., Board of Public W e lfa re: Annual Report, 1914-15, pp. 108-160' “ Newsboys and other street traders,” by Lettie L. Johnston. Maryland State Board of Labor Statistics: Annual Report, 1915, pp. 101-129 Chicago Children in the Street Trades, by Elsa Wertheim. Juvenile Pro tective Association of Chicago, 1917. 11 pp. Newsboy Service; a study in educational and vocational guidance, by Mrs Anna (Yeomans) Reed, with an Introduction by George Elliott Howard. School Efficiency Monographs 28. W orld Book Co., Yonkers-on-Hudson, N Y 1917 175 pp. ’ TT“, ^ h® «ewsboys o f Cincinnati,” by Maurice B. Hexter. Studies from the Helen S. 1 rounstine Foundation [Cincinnati], vol. 1, No. 4 (Jan. 15, 1919), pp. l l o —ITT. iooihe 9o Wsboys o f D allas; a study by the Civic Federation o f Dallas, May, 04 pp. Juvenile street work in Iowa,” by Sara A. Brown. American Child vol 4 (August, 1922), pp. 130-149. “ Connecticut study o f street trades,” by H . M. Diamond. American Child, ol. 4 (August, 1922), pp. 97-103. ^ Toiedo School Children in Street Trades, Toledo Consumers’ League and um o Council on Women and Children in Industry. Toledo, 1922 32 pp Newsboys in Birmingham (A la .),” by Esther Lee Rider. American Child vol. 3 (February, 1922), pp. 315-324. “ Newsboys in Springfield,” prepared by Louise Austin, Dorothy Bateman, trances Hemenway, Avalita Howe, and Laura Sargent . . . under direc tion of Prof. Am y Hewes . . . August, 1923. National Vocational Guid ance Association Bulletin, vol. 2 (November, 1923), pp. 27-36. C ^ a n ^ S c h o o i Children W ho Sell on the Streets; a study made by Marion M. Willoughby of the National Child Labor Committee for the Ohio Con sumers’ League. Cleveland, 1924. 38 pp. Tffie Street Traders of Buffalo, New Y o rk ; a study made by the juvenile protective department, Children’s Aid and Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children of Erie County, New York. 1925. 38 pp. Children in Street W ork in T u lsa; a study by the local American Association of University Women. 1926. Junk Dealing and Juvenile Delinquency; an investigation made for the Juvenile Protective Association of Chicago, by Harry H . Griegg and George E. Haynes. 60 pp. No date. The Health of a Thousand Newsboys in New York C ity ; a study made in cooperation with the board of education by the heart committee of the New York Tuberculosis and Health Association. 41 pp. Mimeographed. No date. A more complete list of reports and articles on children in street work may be found in Children in Street Trades in the United States; a list o f references compiled by Laura A. Thompson, librarian, United States Department of Labor «¿Separate from Monthly Labor Review (December, 1925) o f the Bureau of *Labor Statistics, United States Department o f Labor). This list mav be obtained from the Children’s Bureau. 65 https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis TABLES T able 1.—Occupations of boys engaged in street work during school term in specified cities Boys from 6 to 15 years of age Occupation Newark Omaha Atlanta Colum bus Pater son 1 Newspaper boy, other than seller and 881 1,434 1,882 1,255 413 282 570 356 144 986 273 679 467 740 320 178 108 225 41 315 167 2 222 7 80 20 29 8 13 1 42 3 42 27 3 53 4 14 243 387 34 4 8 17 29 61 5 104 11 11 3 7 60 48 3 3 2 1 3 1 8 3 1 75 7 7 1Boys 7 to 15 years of age. T able 2.—Age WilkesBarre Troy 1 1 * Boys working for premiums are not included. at date of interview; newspaper sellers and carriers working during school term in specified cities Boys from 6 to 15 years of age Atlanta Age at date of interview Colum bus Newark Total........... . . „ y . Under 8 years____ ,« 8 years............. 9 years____________ 10 years.:___ _______ 11 years__________ 12 years..................... 13 years___ ________ 14 years................... 15 years__ . . . . . . . . . . Not reported................. . Troy in ■3odj 144 ■o a 467 273 320 * 143 100.0 272 100.0 467 100.0 320 100.0 2 6 8 20 17 31 25 22 12 1 1.4 4.2 5.6 14.0 11.9 21.7 17.5 15.4 8.4 Wash Wilkes ington 2 Barte m m Total reported................ Pater son 1 in w •3« « d o U t i £'S £ 3 a8.5-g 3 g & 8,5 2 0 a a a a $5« a S a ¡z; P %a Pm fc P £ PM Ùì 'ö a o NEWSPAPER SELLERS Omaha 13 12 28 25 45 43 51 36 19 1 4.8 4.4 10.3 9.2 16.5 15.8 18.8 13.2 7.0 15 24 58 52 88 83 75 44 28 3.2 5.1 12.4 11.1 18.8 17.8 16.1 9.4 6.0 3 7 27 31 50 66 49 49 38 100.0 100.0 100.0 4.2 6.7 10.3 15.8 15.8 17.6 15.8 10.9 3.0 .9 2.2 8.4 9.7 15.6 20.6 15.3 15.3 11.9 NEWSPAPER CARRIERS Total........... ......... Total reported................ 356 679 986 10 2.8 10 Under 8 years______ 12 3.4 26 8 years____________ 6.2 9 years____ ________ 20 5.6 10 years.......... ......... 12.4 142 11 y e a rs...._______ 12 years................... ■ 48 13.5 191 73 20.5 185 13 years.............. ...... 68 19.1 186 14 years.................. . 59 16.6 102 15 years.................... 3 Not reported................... 22 44 1.0 2.6 66 6.-7 75 14.4 7.6 19.4 1§.8 18.9 10.4 » Boys 7 to 15 years of age. 66 https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis 740 24 13 30 67 95 127 151 123 47 2 3.6 1.9 4 .4 9.9 14.0 18.8 22.3 18.2 6.9 7 11 27 54 80 138 121 171 131 315 225 178 356 100.0 983 100.0 677 100.0 740 100.0 100.0 100.0 .9 1.5 3.6 7.3 10.8 18.6 16.4 23.1 17.7 9 Includes 2 boys 5 years of age, 315 100.0 67 TABLES 3—Hour of ending afternoon work on a typical school day; newspaper sellers and carriers holding a single job during school term in specified cities T able Boys from 6 to 15 years of age Colum Newark bus Atlanta Hour of ending afternoon work on a typical school day 1 H P •à ■ö g Ptá « g I©h a S © o íg TI a 0 Pm A a Ph Omaha cb *3 g Ih B a 0 A 0 ©"p g o £2 ©■*"* Ph Pater son 1 à ■OP I h w ñ © © Sö 3 .2 rO §O.Q ©,© s** 0 fe** 0 Ph 'A Ph 'A Ph .á !h M a 0 A Troy 10§ Wash ing ton 2 WilkesBarre G Q ^ a CQ ^ a ■ I© h «•rt S0 •3 p Ih a a I©h 'S-3 a 0 A s £ a 0 A Ph NEWSPAPER SELLERS Afternoon street work on typical school day____ Total reported___— 138 214 467 253 108 202 145 118 163 438 194 100 188 109 117 100.0 162 100.0 435 100.0 193 100.0 100 100.0 Before 6 p m ... i 6 p. m., before 8.. 8 p. m., before 10. 10*p. m. and after. 9 7.7 36 22.2 168 38.6 21 10.9 to: 70.1 108 66. i 2òl 53.1 166 86.0 23 19.7 » 18 11.1 32 7.4 4 2.1 4 0.9 2 1.0 3 2.6 1 1 No afternoon street work on typical school day.— 1 No street work on school day. ........................... 19 188 100.0 109 100.0 31 31.0 54 54.0 12 12.0 3 3.0 3 1 23 3 31 1 28 26 28 7 ........ ........ 342 906 679 703 178 212 Afternoon street work on school days__________ 290 866 650 662 169 186 Not reported______ 27 117 22 22 14.4 20 18.3 62.2 76 69.7 IL 7 12 11.0 11.7 1 0.9 14 36 NEWSPAPER CARRIERS Total 245 147 Total reported.......... 285 100.0 865 100.0 650 100.0 658 100.0 169 100.0 184 100.0 147 100.0 Before 6 p. m___ 257 90.2 833 96.3 514 79.1 605 91.9 150 88.8 139 75.5 6 p. m., before 8.. 28 9.8 31 3.6 131 20.2 52 7.9 19 11.2 45 24.5 8 p. m. and after. 1 0.1 5 0.8 1 0.2 122 83.0 25 17.0 Not reported_______ 5 No afternoon street work on typical school day.. No street work on school day____________ ____ 38 <32 16 37 5 14 8 13 4 4 ! i 2 4 57 26 41 1 Boys 7 to 15 years of age. 2 Includes 2 boys 6 years of age. * Includes 8 p. m. and after. ‘ Includes 3 boys about whom it was not reported whether they worked in the morning or in the afternoon. https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis 68 C H ILD W O RK ERS ON- C IT Y STREETS T able 4.— Hour of ending work on a typical Saturday night; newspaper sellers holding a single job during school term in specified cities Boys from 6 to 15 years of age Atlanta Hour of ending work on a Saturday night Colum Newark bus Omaha cb áa og 'S g t-4 f-4 'O g- U • +9Tí f-t © £ §3 £ 3 ,5 ta'-g JS 5X1 OpÛSÌ 3 feS 3 u <D'C +3 h fc pH fc Pi fc PfeS fc a 0 a a a Total reported........................ . Washing Wilkeston 2 Barre «g jo g $■4 *2.2 'S■§ ,2© "SS £$ ö ©S2 8B 0 8 £ 0 o,o 3 t-HTJ 3 s 5 3 öS S SB Ph *+9TÎ 3g a a 0 S3 ,3Q OrÛ i fc Ph Ph £ fc -Ai 138 214 467 253 108 202 145 123 184 375 221 100 191 126 121 100.0 183 100.0 374 100.0 220 100.0 100 100.0 191 100.0 126 100.0 6 9 7.4 53 29.0 202 54.0 26 21.5 97 53.0 133 35.6 12 9.9 21 11.4 36 9.6 39 32.2 3 12 6.6 3 35 28.9 .8 Before p. m ____________ 6 p. m., before 8__________ 8 p. m., before 10_________ 10 p. m., before 12________ 2 15 i Boys 7 to 15 years of age. Pater son 1 1 1 35 26 11 23 5 35.0 26.0 11.0 23.0 5.0 22 72 17 50 30 11.5 37.7 8.9 26.2 15. 7 21 41 42 14 8 16.7 32.5 33.3 11.1 6.3 1 92 30 51 23.2 94 42.7 6 2.7 15 6.8 54 24.5 32 2Includes 2 boys 5 years of age. 8 11 19 3 Includes 10 p. m. and after. T able 5.—Number of hours of street toork on a typical school day; newspaper sellers and carriers holding a single job during school term in specified cities Boys from 6 to 15 years of age Number Per cent dis tribution Number Wash Wilkesington 3 Barre Per cent dis tribution Per cent dis tribution Troy |Number Per cent dis tribution Pater son 1 |Number Percent dis1 tribution Omaha Number Per cent dis tribution 1 Number Per cent dis tribution Per cent dis1 tribution I Number Colum Newark bus 1 Number Atlanta Number of hours of street work on a ty p ic a l school day NEWSPAPEB SELLERS 138 214 467 253 108 Street work on school days.......................... ..... 119 186 449 225 101 Total reported______ 118 100.0 185 100.0 438 100.0 224 100.0 101 100.0 Less than 1 hour.. 1 hour, less than 2. 2 hours, less than 3........... ......... 3 hours, less than 5.____________ 5 hours and over.. 1.7 5.1 7 3.8 28 6.4 24 13.0 140 32.0 4 19 1.8 8.5 3 3.0 19 18.8 14 11.9 46 24.9 162 37.0 50 22.3 70 59.3 26 22.0 94 50.8 14 7.6 95 21.7 139 62.1 13 3.0 12 5.4 2 6 Not reported______. . 1 1 11 No street work on school days............................... 19 28 18 1 Boys 7 to 15 years of age. https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis 202 145 188 109 188 100.0 108 100.0 2 18 1.1 9.6 4 3.7 35 32.4 51 50.5 57 30.3 33 30.6 27 26.7 1 1.0 91 48.4 20 10.6 27 25.0 9 8.3 1 28 1 7 3Includes 2 boys 5 years of age 14 36 69 TABLES T a b l e 5 .—Number of hours of street work on a typical school day; newspaper sellers and carriers holding a single job during school term in specified cities— Continued. Boys from 6 to 15 years of age Per cent dis tribution WilkesBarre Number Per cent dis tribution Wash ington Number Per cent dis tribution Troy Number Per cent dis tribution Pater son Number Per cent dis tribution Omaha |Number Per cent dis tribution |Number Per cent dis tribution Per cent dis tribution Number Colum Newark bus 1 Number Atlanta Number of hours of street w o r k on a t y p i c a l school day NEWSPAPER CARRIERS Street work on school 342 906 679 703 178 212 245 328 898 668 699 174 186 204 323 100.0 895 100.0 666 100.0 695 100.0 174 100.0 184 100.0 Less than 1 hour.. 51 15.8 280 31.3 202 30.3 187 26.9 1 hour, less than 2. 192 59.4 508 56.8 346 52.0 427 61.4 2 hours'and over.,. 80 24.8 107 12.0 118 17.7 81 11.7 No street work on school 5 3 2 4 14 8 11 4 204 100.0 28 16.1 56 30.4 73 42.0 108 58.7 73 42.0 20 10.9 138 67.6 61 29.9 5 2.5 2 4 41 26 —Number of hours of street work during a typical week; newspaper sellers and carriers holding a single job during school term in specified cities T a b l e 6. Boys from 6 to 15 years of age Atlanta Number of hours of street work during a typical week Colum Newark bus á a5 T3 Omaha !S-2 ’S g 8 ja l i ürO ©*s U 1 1 S-t g rÛ U 1-4 a S © 0'S ,5© i 3 £ Ph. ÎB ë'S ¡z¡ Ph © Sæ öS ©^ £ Ph~ £ Pater son 1 Troy •S n U ||g © $ §0 OrÛ f-H*L* © rO Ph •3 § 'S sê öS © -P Ph g 0'S Wash Wilkesington 3 Barre Ph © rQ ¡z; fcH 2 Ü Ss Z gp Ph a 3 £ Ph ^ Crû t-H’ti ©-P ©-O NEWSPAPER SELLERS 214 138 467 253 108 202 Total reported.................. 135 100.0 211 100.0 437 100.0 250 100.0 104 100.0 16 hours, less than 24. 21 15 37 62 15.6 11.1 27.4 45.9 39 60 42 70 18.5 106 24.3 38 28.4 197 45.1 35 19.9 82 18.8 70 33.2 52 11.9 107 15.2 14.0 28.0 42.8 17 39 37 11 3 3 30 3 4 342 906 679 703 178 145 202 100.0 140 100.0 16.3 37.5 35.6 10.6 25 50 62 65 12.4 24.8 30.7 32.2 41 49 28 22 29. 3 35.0 20.0 15. 7 5 NEWSPAPER CARRIERS Total reported.............. . 205 336 100.0 896 100.0 671 100.0 698 100.0 176 100.0 205 100.0 Less than 8 hours___ 85 25.3 377 42.1 373 55.6 200 28.7 8 hours, less than 16.. 207 61.6 448 50.0 250 37.3 400 57.3 16 hours, less than '24. 39 11.6 65 7.3 41 6.1 96 13.8 24 hours and over___ 6 0.7 5 1.5 2 0.3 7 1.0 Not reported.................... 6 10 i Boys 7 to 15 years of age. https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis 8 5 67 38.1 143 69.8 76 43.2 57 27.8 24 13.6 4 2.0 1 0.5 9 5.1 2 1 Includes 2 boys 5 years of age. 245 244 100.0 212 86.9 31 12.7 1 0.4 1 70 CHILD WORKERS OH CITY STREETS T able 7.—Previous duration of job held at date of interview; newspaper setters and carriers working during1school term in specified cities Boys from 6 to 15 years of age Atlanta Columbus Omaha Previous duration of job held at date of interview U © rQ a 3 'S a o a3 u'S © Ai 'S t-t © ,3 g 3 fc O flg 8S © pH . f-4 © ■Û a £ A S tì o flg 8is ► ©«B Troy Washing ton 1 WilkesBarre A A 'S a o S"S OrQ A 'S a o rS g fc fl gs © o jQ , M fe** Ph © rO i £ © Ph f-t © a uB ë « NEWSPAPER SELLERS Total........... ......................... 144 — Total reported............................... 144 100.0 273 320 202 271 100.0 318 100.0 199 100.0 167 165 100.0 Less than 1 year______ _____ 83 57.6 168 62.0 165 5Ì.9 95 47.7 66 40.0 Less than 6 months_____ 63 43.8 131 48.3 113 35.5 71 35.7 54 32.7 Less than 2 months.. 2 months, less than 4 4 months, less than 6. 31 22 10 21.5 15.3 6.9 53 53 25 19.6 19.6 9.2 55 45 13 17.3 14.2 4.1 22 34 15 11.1 17.1 7. 5 23 25 6 13.9 15. 2 36 6 months, less than 1 year. 20 13.9 37 13.7 52 16.4 24 12.1 12 7.3 1 year, less than 2......... ......... 2 years, less than 3_________ :2 3 years and over____________ 23 14 24 16.0 9.7 16.7 41 17 45 15.1 6.3 16,6 54 39 60 17.0 12.3 18.9 45 23 36 22 6 lì. 6 18. Í 32 32 35 21.2 Not reported................................ . 2 3 2 2 NEWSPAPER CARRIERS Total_______ ______ ______ 356 Total reported...... ..................... . 354 100.0 986 740 212 315 984 100.0 738 100.0 212 100. 0 308 100.0 Less than 1 year................... 250 70.6 605 61.5 518 70.2 101 47.6 154 50.0 Less than 6 months_____ 200 56.5 424 43.1 356 48.2 62 29.2 113 36.7 Less than 2 months.. 2 months, less than 4. 4 months, less than 6. 21.2 23.4 11.9 121 162 141 12.3 16.5 14.3 174 115 67 23.6 15.6 9.1 21 27 14 9.9 12.7 6.6 41 43 29 13.3 14.0 9.4 22.0 39 18.4 41 13.3 11.8 U ll 7.6 10.4 52.4 70 48 36 V> 7 15 6 11.7 75 83 42 6 months, less than 1 year. 50 14.1 181 18.4 162 1 year, less than 2................... 2 years, less than 3.................. 3 years and over..... .............. 42 22 40 11.9 6.2 11.3 155 101 123 15.8 10.3 12.5 87 56 77 Not reported................. ............... 2 1Includes 2 boys 5 years of age. https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis 2 7 2 1 Includes 1 year and more. 71 TABLES T able 8.__ Race and nativity of father; newspaper sellers and carriers working during school term in specified cities Per cent dis tribution j Number • Per cent dis tribution j Number ¡2¡ Per cent dis tribution 1 Wash Wilkesington 8 Barre Troy I Number Pater son 1 Per cent dis tribution Per cent dis tribution Per cent dis tribution Per cent dis tribution Number Race and nativity of father Omaha 1 Number Newark Number Colum bus Number Atlanta Per cent dis tribution Boys from 6 to 15 years of age NEWSPAPER SELLERS T o ta l................... White___________ ______ 144 100.0 273 100.0 467 100.0 320 100.0 108 100.0 202 100.0 167 100.0 136 94.4 ~229 83.9 ”393 84.2 306 95.6 107 99.1 109 540 166 99.4 18 16.7 88 81.5 1 0.9 54 26.7 20 12.0 55 27.2 133 79.6 13 7.8 98 68.1 142 52.0 80 17.1 81 25.3 38 26.4 70 25.6 310 66.4 221 69.1 3 4 1.3 0.6 17 6.2 8 5.6 44 16.1 74 15.8 14 44 1 93 46.0 0.9 i 0.6 NEWSPAPER CARRIERS ......... .......... 356 100.0 986 100.0 679 100.0 740 100.0 178 100.0 225 100.0 White............................... 318 89.3 946 95.9 653 96.2 "Ì31 98.8 177 99.4 224 99.6 315 100.0 296 83.1 812 82.4 259 38.1 412 55.7 48 27.0 157 69.8 21 5.9 113 ' 11. 5 384 56.6 303 40.9 125 72.5 63 28. ( 4 1.8 i 0.3 21 2.1 10 1.5 16 2.2 156 49.5 135 44.1 19 6.0 Total Not reported_______ Negro............................... 38 10.7 40 4.1 20 3.8 i Boys 7 to 15 years of age. T art .si 9.— Juvenile-court 9 0.6 1.2 1 0.4 0.3 8 Includes 2 boys 5 years of age. records; newspaper sellers and carriers working during school term in specified cities1 Boys from 6 to 15 years of age; per cent having juvenile-court records City Boys from 6 to 15 years of age; per cent having juvenile-court records City Newspaper Newspaper carriers sellers Newspaper Newspaper carriers sellers Omaha........ .......... - ........... 314 99.7 8 12 6 2 3 2 Wilkes-Barre............. . Washington----------------- 13 7 3 (2) i No significance is to be attached to the variations according to city, for the rates are influenced by the local policy in regard to the number and types of cases brought before the juvenile court, the policy in regard to recording unofficial cases, and the care with which records are kept. » No carriers were included in the Washington study. https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis 72 CHILD WORKERS OH CITY STREETS T abus 10.—Home conditions of newspaper sellers and carriers in specified cities Boys from 6 to 15 years of age Atlanta Columbus Omaha Wilkes-Barre Washington Home conditions and type of street work Per Per Per Per Per Num cent Num cent Num cent Num cent Num cent ber distri ber distri ber distri ber distri ber distri bution bution bution bution bution 320 273 144 202 167 Total reporting................................ 144 100.0 272 100.0 320 100.0 167 100.0 202 100.0 Own mother and father present in the home and fatner the chief breadwinner............ . Own father dead or absent1___ Other conditions_____ ________ 90 34 20 62.5 23.6 13.9 195 39 38 71.7 14.3 13.9 227 28 65 70.9 8.7 20.3 138 14 15 82.6 8.4 9.0 131 39 32 64.9 19.3 15.8 1 986 356 Total reporting................................. Own mother and father present in the home and father the chief breadwinner__________ Own father dead or absent1___ 100.0 982 100.0 740 100.0 315 100.0 276 48 32 77.5 13.5 9.0 796 90 96 81.1 9.2 9.8 575 88 77 77.7 11.9 10.4 251 38 26 79.7 12.1 8.3 4 i And no stepfather or foster father present. https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis 315 740 356 73 TABLES T ables 11.—Earnings during a typical week; newspaper sellers and carriers holding a single job during school term in specified cities Boys from 6 to 15 years of age Atlanta Colum Newark bus Earnings during a typical week 1* .8 i 'S fl o flg U © $ 3 fc P-4 ¡z¡ 'S O fl 5 "S ÖjO **5 6 Omaha CO I-i 9 2 g «O)S5“ OrÛ Mg Ä I A Pater son 1 Troy ñ 1* ,o9 I 3 A 'S fl O fl OpO S3S £ 1* * J S A •-3 g ■P-H 1* S fl 9 o p pO ig S a 3 £ A Wash Wilkesington a Barre •à 'O fl 'S O 9 O 1* U •WH 9 0 fl "g ©J'S Z >SP B ëjO 8 | pÛ g G a © ■«-» 3 U ©-*■* ©+* £ PM A ÍV 'O fl O fl f* NEWSPAPER SELLERS Total_____________ Total reported................ 138 214 467 253 108 202 132 100.0 196 100.0 446 100.0 244 100.0 107 100.0 — ,1 0.9 ----3 2.8 10 9.3 25 23.4 — — 11 10.3 21 19.6 10 9.3 .6.5 — - ........ 19 17.8 9 17 29 33 24 22 16 11 29 6 4 0.9 4.6 8.7 10 2.2 14.8 50 11.2 16.8 130 29.1 12.2 81 18.2 11.2 70 15.7 8.2 40 9.0 5.6 27 6.1 1*4.8 29 6.5 5 1.1 3.1 4 14 13 31 34 49 32 23 43 1 6 18 21 9 1 342 906 679 703 178 1 0.8 Less than $0.25....... $0.25, less than $0.50— 6 4.5 8 6.1 $0.50, less than $1.00.. $1.00, less than $2.00— 18 13.6 $2.00, less than $3.00— 10 7.6 $3.00, less than $4.00— 15 11.4 $4.00, less than $5.00.. 16 12.1 $5.00, less than $6.00.. 10 7.6 $6.00 and over........... 48 36.4 No cash earnings....... Not reported_____ 1.6 5.7 5.3 12.7 13.9 20.1 13.1 9.4 17.6 0.4 145 152 100.0 124 100.0 4 3 7 29 27 22 15 13 30 2 2.6 5 2.0 13 4.6 21 19.1 35 17.8 25 14.5 11 9.9 3 h 8.6 19.7 1.3 50 21 4.0 10.5 16.9 28.2 20.2 8.9 11.3 NEWSPAPER CARRIERS Total................... . Total reported.............. Less than $0.25____ $0.25, less than $0.50— $0.50, less than $1.00— $1.00, less than $2.00.. $2.00, less than $3.00.. $3.00, less than $4.00— $4.00, less than $5.00— $5.00, less than $6.00— $6.00 and over______ No cash earnings____ 212 245 337 100.0 893 100.0 672 100.0 682 100.0 175 100.0 205 100.0 9 19 27 33 43 59 41 28 69 9 Not reported....... ............. 5 2.7 5.6 8.0 9.8 12.8 17.5 12.2 8.3 20.5 2.7 21 37 63 185 172 140 102 68 89 16 2.4 7 1.0 23 3.4 4.1 23 3.4 24 3.5 7.1 74 11.0 59 8.7 20.7 304 45.2 66 9.7 19.3 151 22.5 64 9.4 15.7 42 6.3 91 13.3 11.4 12 1.8 106 15.5 2 0.3 87 12.8 7.6 5 0.8 151 22.1 10.0 1.8 52 7.7 11 1.6 13 1 Boys 7 to 15 years of age. 2 Includes 2 boys 5 years of age. https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis 7 21 3 4 9 21 54 43 23 5 4 9 3 1.7 2.3 12.0 30.9 24.6 13.1 2.9 2.3 5.1 9 18 51 69 37 5 4 4.4 8.8 24.9 33.7 18.0 2.4 2.0 1 11 0.5 5.4 7 > Includes $4 and over. ‘ Includes $3 and over. 231 100.0 96 8 3. ñ 45 19. 5 75 32. 5 50 21. 6 415 6. 5 12 14 5.2 74 CHILD WORKERS OH CITY STREETS T a b l e 12.—Summary of principal facts regarding peddlers working during school term; Atlanta, Omaha, Paterson, and Newark Items Number of peddlers.......... ................... ...... .......................__ Average age".................................... ................... ......... Per cent employed (by parents or others)______ ______ ___ Per cent working 2 hours or more on typical school day_______ Per cent working 5 hours or more on typical Saturday________ Per cent working 6 or 7 days a week______________________ Per cent working 1 year or more___ ___ ________________ ____ Median earnings during typical week......... ............... .......... Per cent with native white fathers............................................. Per cent in normal homes___________ ____ ____ ____ _______ _ Per cent claiming family need.................. ............................... Per cent contributing all earnings to family........................ ....... Per cent retarded in school_________________________________ Per cent having juvenile-court records.......... .............. ............... Atlanta Omaha 222 12 59.9 86.9 76.3 43. Ó 31.1 $1.77 57.2 63.5 21.7 5.9 50.5 3.0 61 12 22.9 58.5 50.0 42.6 32.8 $1.96 52.5 75.4 16.4 6.8 33.9 3.0 Paterson Newark 60 13 96.2 60.7 93.2 38.3 243 12 63.0 63.0 78.8 33.3 $1.64 30.0 $1.67 23.9 25.9 41.9 T able 13.—Summary of principal facts regarding bootblacks working during school term; Newark and Wilkes-Barre Items Newark Number of bootblacks___________________ ________________ Average age______________________ _____ ______ _____________________ Per cent working 2 hours or more on typical school day....................................... ........ Per cent working 5 hours or more on typical Saturday ....................... ................ ........ Per cent working 6 or 7 days a week__________________________________________ Median earnings during typical week_____ ______ _____ ____________________ Per cent of native white parentage_____________ ___________ ____ ___ Per cent in normal homes_________________________ _____________________ ______ Per cent claiming family need........................... ............................... ............................. Per Cent contributing all earnings to family______________ _______ ____ ______ ____ Per cent retarded in school-..________________ _________________ _____ ______ Per cent having juvenile-court records________________ _____ ____________________ 387 12.1 67.2 79.4 40.3 $2.75 4.9 84.2 50.6 WilkesBarre 75 11.6 92.6 56.7 9.7 $1. 21 5.3 75.0 18.2 10.7 48.6 23.0 T able 14.—Summary of principal facts regarding magazine carriers and sellers working during school term; Atlanta and Omaha Items Atlanta Number of magazine sellers and carriers....................................................................... Average age............................................. . . . Per cent working less than 1 hour on typical school day................... ........................... Per cent working less than 3 days a week..... ............................. .............................. . Per cent working less than 6 months.... ................ ........................................................ Median earnings during typical week_____________ ________ _____________________ Per cent with native white "fathers._______________ _________________ ____________ Per cent in normal hom es...................................................... ..................... .................. Per cent claiming family need....... ................ ................................................................ Per cent contributing all earnings to family________________ _______ _____________ Per cent retarded in school____I ________I____ ____ _______________ _____ ________ Per cent having juvenile-court records............................................................................ o https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis 80 11.1 7.3 68.8 68.8 $0.41 93.8 84.0 0 0 22.0 4.0 Omaha 104 10.9 8.3 41.3 59.6 $0.33 76.2 84.6 48 1.9 11.1 2.0
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