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7961

University

Library

WO R K S

-

PROGRESS

ADMI

I S T R .A. T I 0

Harry L. Hopkins, Administrator

Corrington Gill,
Assi stant Admin i str~t or

Howard E. Mye rs, Dir ector,
Social Research Division

RESEARCH

BULLETIN

SURVEY OF CASES CLOSED FROM RELIZF ROLLS
I_ SIOUX FALLS, SOUTH DAKOTA, IN JULY 1935

Se ri es II No . 11

January 11, 1936

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PREFACE
During October and November 1935 a series of spAcial inquiries
was conducted in a group of western and ·southwestern states to
study the condition of cases closed from the relief rolls in antici pa tion of the Works Program and in accordance with the policy
of transferring unemployable cases from Federal to local care.This
group of studies was planned to supplement the information obtained from earlier inquiries into the results of administrative
closings in Georgial/.
This series of studies was carried out in about the same manner
as the Georgia studies.
Background information in each community
was secured from relief agency officials. and from citizens familiar with the problems of relief. Family
interviews
were
conducted in order to secure primary data bearing on the family
c ompos ition, the occupational experience of the workers, and the
economic status of each household for comparable periods before
and after the closings.
Both urban and rural communities were covere d by fi~ld surveys.
The cities chosen were Sioux Falls, South Dakota and Little Rock,
Arkansas;
the rural areas included Custer, Corson, Hand
ar:J.
Hutchinson counties in South Dakota and Kit Carson and
Weld
counties in Colorado.
These communities were selected not for the purpose of g1v1ng a
picture of conditions pr eva iling gene rally in the United States but
because they show clearly certain kinds of problems.Their value in
giving direction to future administrative policy is increased by
the fact that they display diverse conditions. Two of the studies
- those in Colorado and Arkansas - cover only unemployable cases
and hence throw light upon the problems confronting the state and
local agencies that are assuming the ~are of such eases.
The two
South Dakota inquiries, including only employable cases, yield
information upon the significance of hnrv8sting work as a means of
reduci ng the relief rolls and upon the problems involved in
adjusting the Works Program to meet the nee ds of the se peopl e .
Information regarding the care of cases closed from Federal
rolls was secured in several communities where field surveys were
not undertaken.
Data on agency policies and procedures
were
secured for Denver, Colorado, for Albuquerque, New Mexico, and for
Muskogee , Oklahoma.

!/

See Research Bulletins Series II, No . 8 ; Series I, No.11; and
C-19
Prepared by
Edward J. Webster
under the supervision of
A. Ross Eckler
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SUl.1MARY

The surv ey in Sioux Falls, South
Dakot a was unde rt aken with a view to
t r a cing the changes in the economic
sta tus of 147 c a ses c lo sed from the
r el ief roll s in July 1935 when
a
special r elief suspension orde r was
issued in r es ponse to widesp r ead
rumors that r elief clients we r e r efu sing employment in the har vest
fields . Thi s orde r bec ame effective
on July 21 , but i n view of the dates
of t he 147 c lo s i ngs i n and as of
July, it coul d have di r ectl y acc ounted for only a negligible part
of the tot al numbe r. Mo r e than ha lf
of the July cl osings were
ma de
p ossibl e by reported p r iv a te
emp loyment obta i ned p r io r to July 21 st
a f ac t t hat forc eful l y i n dic a tes the
na tural ly sel f -reli ant cha r ac t er of
this sampl e of th e r eli ef
popul a ti on.

The study r evealed th a t the opportun ities for har vest-f iel d
employment i n the vi c i nity of Sioux
Falls wer e neithe r
sufficie~tl y
nume rous or r emun er a tive to ma~e
poss ible any important r educt ion of
the r elie f rol ls .
In less than a
third of al l the f am ili es
int erv i ewed we r e members able t o ge t work
in t he h a r v e st fi el ds .
Th e medi a~
amount earn ed by each wor k 3r duri ng
the e ight-week period fro m July 21 st
to Sep t ember 15th was s l i ghtly l e ss
t han $34 . Ther e is r eas on to believe
that the demai1d for h ar v e st h8.llds a t
fai r wages was gr ea tly overs t a ted.
The fi nancial condition of South
Dakot a f a r 111e rs wa.s too p r ec a r ious
;:ind thei r deb t s too p r ess i ng to
enabl e many of them to hi r e extra
worke rs ev en a t t he summe r peak of
f ar m wor k.

The group cov er ed by t his inqui r y
r eveal ed almost n o spe ci a l char acteristics othe r t han its
r eli ef
st a tus tha t would se t it i n a c l a ss
apa rt from the gene r a l p opul a tion of
Sioux Falls .
These f amili e s wer e
highl y typ ic al i n r aci al co mp os ition,
househol d size , and age of hea d.
Practic ally all t he f amil ies had one
or more employabl e membe rs , a s mi ght
be expected since onl y those ca ses
wer e cl osed which had a membe r engage d a t p r iv a te e~ploymen t or one
elig ible f or har vesting emulo ymen t .
No l es s th2.I1 37 separ at e oc cupat ions
wer e r ep r e sen t ed i n this group .
In
additio n to the wide v ar iety of wor k
oxp c ri onco , the g rour exhibit ed a
hi gh degr ee of wo r k st ability,. Half
of them had worked ten years -or more
a t th ei r usu;:u oc cupation ; about th o
same p rop or tion h a d se r ved a s i ngle
empl oy er a t l east fiv e y oar s.

I)a t a. on
f amily incomes we r e
obta i ned fo r t he last r eli ef month
and fo r t he mor. th fro m Sep t ember 1 5
t o Oc t ob er 15 i n or d5 r to find out
ho~ the c a s es f ar 2d 2ft or r eli ef had
b oon cut off.
These inc ome dat a ,
cons i der ed by thorns el v es , would make
t he out lo ok for t he clo sed c a ses
s eem r el a tively hopeful.
:Bet.ween
July and tne mon th endi ng Oo tober 1 5
there wa3 a moder a te r ise i n
t he
numbe r of worke r s
with
gainful
empLiyment and a sharp incr ease ( 108
per cen t) in their mcdi,m
rr.ontllly
ear nings fro m such e!'1p}.oymen t .
Su.ch
an i rccrea sc i n incom e i s e::pL:i.i n od
by t h e f a.ct t l,a t a maj or ity of the
July clos\ ~gs wer e madG pos sibl o by
p riv :1te em) lO~'me:1 t arid t h e a ttendan t
r osUlilpti on of ea.rnL1g p ower.
This
il!lp rov cment i n ear n i ngs from p riv a te
emplo;y:nent v:as gr ea t enough t o off se t
sha rp dec r eas es i n th e total amount

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-i i of ERA r elief and of oth e r a s s i s t anc e
with the result t ha t th e medi an of
t h e tot al monthly r eceip ts for the
110 c a ses for which current inc ome
da t a c oul d be secured i ncrea sed about
one fi f th between the pe riods under
c onsiderat i on .
The emp loymen t status of th e se 110
c a s e s dur i ng the mon th immedi a t ely
pr ecedi ng the i nt erv iews i ndic a t ed,
h owever , tha t th ei r p ro sp ects ha d not
improv ed so much a s th e
av er ag e
inc r eas e i n incom e woul d sugg est . Onl y
on e- si x th r egar ded t he ir jobs
as
11
pe r man en t 11 • On e- sixth was un empl oy e d;
the jobs of ab out 30 pe r c en t wer e
cl early se a s on al , and of tho other s
unc er t a in.
The ir
c ondition is
furthe r r efl ected by the f ac t t h a t
withi n 10 we eks aft er the c lo s i ngs , 50
of t he 110 h ou sehol ds in te rviewed
h a d found it n ece ss ary to r e-apply for
r elief.
Livi ng c ondi t i ons fo r t h e se f amilie s showed compar a tiv el y
littl e
change b e t ween t h es e t wo p er i ods .
A
third of t hem we r e able to i mp rov e
t he i r die t s , but an equ a l p r op or t ion
was for ced t o g et alo ng wi t h cheape r
f oo ds .
Hous i ng
f acil i ti e s
wer e

dec i dedly i na dequ a te both befo re and
a fte r t h e closi ng s ;
about half the
c a ses we r e l iving i n qua r t er s which
we r e too sma ll to p rovide
p rop er
housing.
The size of their accumul a t ed debt s
the l ack of s aving s , the exi s tence of
genui ne ne eds for medic al t r ea tment ,
cl ot h ing and sh elter a ll show tha t
th es e f am ili e s ma de r ea l s ac rif ic os
b efor e t hey a c cep t ed r el i ef .
Thei r
av er si on to going on r eli ef supports
t he evi denc e tha t al most uni formly
t hey a r e anxiou s to ge t jobs , pay off
t h e ir de bts , and aga in bec ome inde-ponden t .
Thi s study is par ticul a rly signif ican t bec au se it r ev eals the criti c al
situa tion of a normally s t able group
to whom a rel ief s t a tus i s espec i ally
repu gnan t .
They h av e
struggle d
de sp er a tely to r et a i n t h ei r i ndependence;
t hey seize ever y
opport unity to r ega i n it . Obvious l y , seasonal employmen t i s a me r e s top- g ap
for t hem.
Re s to r a tio n t o a s ound
ec onomic st a tu s will r equ i r e p erman en t work a t wage s adequa t e fo r their
suppor t .

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Survey of Cases Closed from Relief Rolls
in Sioux Falls, South Dakota
in July, 1935
The study of relief cases closed
in Sioux Falls, South Dakota in July
1935 covers 147 households in which
not one head, insofar as physical or
mental disabi~ities are concerned,is
unemployablel/.
The problem of
transfer of unemployable _cases from
Federal to state care does not,therefore, exist in this study.

as the
dates of at least
103
closings were such that they could
not have been among those directly
affected by the special relief suspension order which became effective
on July 21, the willingness of these
workers
to
seek and
to accept
private employment is hardly open to
question.

Of the 147 cases, 112 were closed
in July and 35 were closed as of
July bec ause they received neither
relief
service during the month
of Augus¼. In 84 instances, or 60
percent of the total, closings were
r eported to have been ma de p oss ible
by privat e employment.It is p robable
that most of the 16 additional c a ses
which were clos ed becaus e they did
not ren ew work c ards in July also
secured priva te employment.
As
stated above, 35 cas es were clos ed
as of July bec ause they received
neither relief nor service during
August.
Of the remaining 1 2 , six
left the city ,two enjoyed sufficient
increase in privat e income to become
self-supporting,
one received
a
pens ion, one, a ca se of temporary
11 depression 11 separation was reunited
with her husband, one returned to
the Veterans Co_nservB.;tion Corps, and
one -- out of the total of 147 -refused a work relief job, Inasmuch

After the necessary preliminary
information had been obtained from
relief office records a staff
of
interviewers made home visits.
Of
the t otal of 147 cases, interviews
were completed for 110 .
Definite
but limited da ta were secured concerning 37 who were absent from the
city or who could not
be found.
Valuable supple~ entary information
was secured from conferences with
ci tizens in the community,
public
offici als and heads of local welfare
organizations.

nor

1/

Previous adm inistrative closings
by the Minnehaha County ER.A had been
effected for the purpose of removing
from the rolls all persons who could
not be certified for employment on
the Works Pro gram.
2/ The adv isability of treating
these 35 cas es as a distinct unit of
the study was considered.
However,
p reliminary tabulations
rev ealed
that they differed in no significant
respects from the 112 cases.

Composition of Case Households.
With respect to such fundamental
char acteristics
as
racial
and
cultural stock, age, and size of
household, it would be difficult to
select a group more representative
of the i mmediate Sioux Falls region.
All persons in the study are white.
Although native _ .American greatly
predominate, there are some natu~
ralized citi zens, and a considerable
number of
first-generation
descendents of Dutch, German,Irish and
Sc andinav ian stocks.
.Among the 147
c ases , practically all families a re
int act , there being only four female
heads of households--two deserted,
and t wo divorced. The median age of
al l heads of households is 37 years.
One-fourth of th em are less than 30
years of age.
The median size of
households, all cases included, is
2 . 6 p ersons;
if the 17 one-person

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cases are excluded, the median size
becomes 2.9 (Table I).
Education.
Only one illiterate
was found among the 147 cases, and
although the general level of education is not high, i t is probably
at least as high as that found among
relief clients in other cities. Twothirds of the heads of households-and other workers in the households
do not differ r1.~rkedly from the
heads in this respect-~ had completed ei ght
or mo re
grades of
schooling.
Of the 40 who
had
attend.ed high school .a t all, only 13
had completed four years.
Five
persons had
attended college for
from one to two years, and one had
comp leted the four y ears' work for a
B.A . degree.
After meeting many of
the se clients face t o face, however,
one is forced to conclude that a
l arg e proportion of them are illequipped for effic ient participat ion
in modern economic and industrial
li fe .
Occup at ional History. Nea rly on efifth, or 27 , of the 147 hav e been
attached to the l and : f ou r as o,mers
one as manag er, five as r enters, an d
17 as laborers (Table II).
Until
recently four were truck oper a tors,
the individuals own ing from one to
as many as five trucks. df the 31
skilled workers , 15 belong in · the
building construction trades, and 16
in other miscell aneous occupations.
The semi-skilled, of whom there are
13,r epresent seven other occupat ions
while fifty unskilled are
distributed ov er
eight
occup at ions.
I n addition to these, 18 are usually
engaged in non- manual work . Rather,
therefore,
than r epresent ing the
vict i ms of a slump in a few majo r
industries,
it is a strik ing fact
that in this sma.11
group of 147

workers are found represent at ives of
not less tha.~ 37 occupations and one
profession.
It is not surpr1s1ng that, under
the pressure of such conditions as
have preva iled during the past five
years, there should have been numerous cases of enforc ed occupat ional
readj u stmen t.
Of the 110 head s of
hou seholds
interviewed, 42
have
within the pas t four y ea rs accepted
what they r egard as a lower occupati onal status in order to s ecure
work . Only two reported i mp ro vement
in occupat ional st atus ;
a common
store
l abo rer became a grocery
salesman,
and
a skilled wor~ er
became a commission sal esman .
Six
were affected by technological displacement,
four because of
the
passing of the
steam tractor and
steam sta ti onary engine, one because
of the di spl acement of street c a rs ·
by buses , and one because of local
discontinuance of
steam
railway
oper a tion. Ho wever, with r espec t to
th eir usual occupat ions all but
22
re 6 i3-.rd thems elv es as only
tempor arily unempl0yed.
All except 10 ,
who believe they must accept some
permanent occupational r eadjustm ent,
consider themselves employable
at
their usual occupat ions.
The r eco rds show they have been,
on the whole, a stable group
of
workers , one-half of them having
spent from one to nine and one-half
years at their usual occupat ions and
the other half from 10 to more than
25 years. In like manner, on e-half
of them sp ent f rom o~e to four an d
thr ee- quart ers years wi th the same
employer, whil e
tbe others sp ent .
from fiv e to mo r e than 20 years with
one anployer . With the exception of
nine w~o re? orted that they had
exper ie nced irr ee;ul ar a:id insuf-

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fi cient employment over a pe ri o~ of
years, and nine who s t8.te 0 that t hey
had c onst2n tly suffered fr o~n l ow
wages and i nsuf fi cien t
earnings ,
these perso ns cons i de r ed oo th emp l oyment and income adequate p ri or
to 1 931.
Rel ief Hi s tory . Only 59 of the 14 7
households ha d e ver r e ce ived r e li ef
from e ither the l ocal or t he county
we l far e a ~ency , and f or a numbe r of
these , the l oc8 l r Gli a f of
this
characte r occu rred only duri ng their
pe ri od on Fede r al r e li e f, which has
fr om the f irst t aken the form of
wo r k r e li e f in Si 0ux falls , except
f or eme r gency needs occas i one d
by
t he su sp ensi on of Federal Eme r sency
Relief Adm i nis tra tion wor ks p r oject s
p r io r t o t he op eni n,!s of Works Pr ogr ess Admini s trat i on pro j e cts .
The
dur a ti on of Fedgral eme r 6 ency relief
r ece ive d by the se 147 cases vP. ries
fr om l e s s than one month t o 19.
One - hal f of the 1 47 r e ce ived r e li e f
for l e ss than 11 months, an d on0fourt h we r e on the r olls for l ~ss
than six months .

concerning p r ivate earni ng s
and
i ncome was se~1red d i rect l y
f r om
head s of ~ouseholds themse lve s , who
gave willing an <'l , it is believed,
s c rupul ous a s s ist ~nce .
This d i spo siti on t o coope r a te was undoub t edly
due t o the fa c t that t he
l ocal
relief adm inistr <:i. ti on s ome
mon t hs
a go adop t ed a po li cy unde r which
such budge tary a dju s t men t s as we r e
mad.e di d not pena li ze those who se cur e d private
empl oyme nt .
Thi s
p oncy , the Hi nneh;:,,ha County Re li ef
Adm i ni s tra ti on is convi nced , has no t
onl y be en acconwan i ed by ve r y little
abuse bu t has a ls o do ne much
to
sustain morale .

Income of 1 7.0 Hous e ho l <'t s for La st
Month on P.e li E} f Comur;r e c' wi t h Cas h
Inco_me c1.nd o th,.n:_: Ri" c2ipts fr om .s~ .
15 t o Oct . 1 5 , 19353/.
In or ~e r t o
dete r mine th,?. to t al inc ome of tho se
hous e ho l ds for the month of J uly
thr ee s ource s wer e t a~en in t o conside r ation : wo r k r elief ,
non- ERA
r elief , and pri vate ear nings and
othe r r eceip ts .
I t i s worthy· of
special :note t r.a t t he inf or rne.tion

The med i an amount of wo r k r el ief
r ece i vedbr 110 househo l ds in July was
$1 5 . 00 ; of n on- ERA relief ( rn,q,de u p
almo s t e ~t irely of Fe ne r a l Sur p lu s
Reli ef Corr or at i on
distribu ti ons)
r ec8ive d bv 93 househol d s , $2 . 53 ; 2.nd
of
pr ivat e earning s and
othe r
r e ce i pts repo r t od by 33 househo l ds ,
$24 . 46 (Ta bl e I I I ) .
The
me di an
inc ome of the 110 ho1::.seholds fr o.::i.
t hese t hr ee sour ces c omb ined
wa s
$~8 . 99 for t he l ast mont h of relief .
than one- fourth
of
Some~ha t le s
t l em r ecei ved $60 . 0 0 or mo r e , while
more t!l.Eln on~ -f ourt h r ece ive d l ess
tl:1An $25 . 00 f r om all s our ces durin g
the mo:1 t h .
Al t hou 6 h many of these
hous e hol d s ha.d ga r dens which contr i b1-~t ed to the f ood sup) l y duri ng
t t is mont h , t he se items a r e not includ0d sinco dol l a r val ues c ou l d no t
f easibly be p ssigned t o t he gar den
pr oduce .

~ / No in come
d~ta conce r ning 37
cases alre .":.dy acc ou:i.te d fo r 0n page
1 were obtai11able f or the latte r
pe ri od .
Cnns equen t ~y t ho se ca ses
were omitted fr om the calculations .

Med ian incomes of the s:une 110
hous e holds f or the month fr om Sep t .
15 t o Oct . 1 5 wer e ~1ch influenced
by t r e f e et tr.at 35 cases had been
reaurn i tte d to the r oll s and r ece ived

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- 4da t e.
r elief before the latter
Fifteen o the r s had r eau~li (d and had
been forme. lly r e- opu1ed s o rocen tly
tha t the firs t r oli nf checks wer o
n ot yet on reco r d. It is signi f~ can t
to n ote that during t he sea son most
f avorab le to self- suppo r t nearly oneh a lf of the 110 househol ds ha d r eWhe r ea s ,
applied within 10 weeks .
two of the 50 r eop ened cases had
managed to get al ong for 11 weeks or
l onge r withou t r elief , 15 or nea rly
one-third of them had survived l ess
than eight wGeks . Th G median period
a
for tho ent ire group was onl y
little mor e t han eight we ~ks .
Compari s on of the median income
of the 110 h ousehol ds for July with
tha t from September 15 to October 15
i nc rea s e
r eveals the substanti a l
or 22
from $38 . 89 to $47 . 50,
pe rcent~ . Cons i de r ed with r ef er ence

±/

This increa se may well-b~ ompare d with the income figures i n a
study of closed c a ses i n Baltimore
County p r ep ar ed by Miss Mar y L.
Trippe and Mr . W. O. Brown, Re s ea rch
Bulletin Series II , No. 10 . I n the
Bal ti more County study of 1( 22 c a.s e s
the i nc r ea se in median i nc J me fro m
Mar ch 1935 (l as t month on r elief) to
Ap ril was 44 pe rc en t ($9 .10 ) a s com( $8 . 61)
par ed with the 22 pe r cent
increase for the Sioux Falls group
b etween their l a st mo nth on r elief
and the Sep t emb er 15 -- Octob er 15
pe riod. Tho incr ease ove r Ma rch f or
the mon ths of May and June was even
gr ea ter for the ~alt imore County
group , bei ng 78 pe rcent and 96 p er cen t respec tively .
i nc r ea se
The hi gh pe r centage of
livi :1g
not mean adequa te
does
standar ds , howeve r, for in Jun e 70
out of the 1C22 Ba ltimore County
and
c as es h ad no inco me a t a ll,
1
almost 50 pe r~ ent of the h o 1seholds
wer e livi ng on l ess t han $1 ~ a week.

to source , onl y 35 r eceived EP..A work
t ho
r el ief in the l atter n ~riod ,
median amount being $20 . 50 ( which
wa s one- half more than tho av er age
a~oun t r eceived by llOcases i n July)
18 h ouseholds r ece ived n on- EP.A reli ef, the median a mount being $11. 67
and 96 ha d either p riv a te inc o~e or
earnings or b o th , the median amoun t
beine $50 . 83 . Si nce a l a rge nu mber
of, t hese c a s e s wer e closed bec ause
th ey ha d s ecur ed employm en t , it is
to b e expected tha t nri va t o earnings
in the mo:ith Sop t ombo r 15 to. October
15 woul d g r eatly exceed those fo r
A.nd
I nc l uded i n i nc ome
July .
r oceip ts for th e l at ter month were
the borro wing s of fiv e p ersons which
tot alled $43 . 00 ; re cei pts of payment
for ba ck wages by one pe r s on , $5 . 00 ;
and paymen t for bo a rd and r oom r ent
r eceived by 1 2 households, the t otal
of whic:i was $208. 00 , making a gr and
During . the month
tot al of $256 . 00.
a t le ~st 53 h ousehol ds h a d some food
from their own gardens and s ix f r om
t he ir own poultry.
The employmen t s t a tus of these
worke rs fro m September 15 t o October
the
15 is h i ghl y sugges tive of
condition s wh ic h th ey f a ce . In onl y
fiv e c a s e s did i den tic al jobs hold
over from the t i me of July closi ngs.
Fourte en o ther worke r s h a d v aryi ng
amounts of th e same kind of work
t hat ha d ma de ca s e c lo sings pos~ ible.
The a cc ompany i ng t abul a tion summariz es t~ c employmen t s tatus of th cso
worke r s?_/ a.'1d i s the mo re significant when it is r ec ~lled that the
f all s
perio d under consi der at io n
within a s ea3on of peak employment.
s/Err.ployment sta tus of the Bal tirnore
County g r oup of 10 22 c losed c a ses,
c ompar able ,
al though not exacti y
pe r cen t wer e em78
showed tha t
pl oy ed duri ng l\pr il - June pe riod
foll owing c lo sings and 22 per cent
h ad no work a t all.

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Employment St a tus of Haads of 110
Clo sed Ca s e Reli ef HOU$Chol ds
fro m Sep t . 1 5 to Oct . 15,
1 935

19
Unemployed
8
Odd jobs'!}
On call (part ti me) ~/ 8
Tempora rily employed 22
35
Sea s onal wor k
18
Perman ent jobs
Tot al. ..•••. 11 0

A tot al of 3 6 days , or an
aver age of 4½ da;vs e2.ch .
Q/ A tot al of 72 da;y s 1 work , or an
av er ag e of 9 days each .

~/

Har vest Fiel d Labo r . The r eport ed
demand for h a.rv es t field l ab or was
in
much exagger a ted. Jany f a r mers
Sou t h Dakot a a re ope r a tin~ on c r edit
and the cl ~ims 0 :1 thei r c r op dol l a r s
a r e so numerous and i nsist ent-- from
the t hr esher, the el ev a to r, the machinery agen t , and t he Gove r n:nen t -tha t , i n many c a ses , the r e would hav e
been noth i ng left with wh ich to pay
worke r s . 11 liad I h ired even one man 11
11 it wouJ.d have
s a i d such a f a r rr.er,
11
Hence it was
put me in the r ed.
t ha t · wiv es and childr en went i nt o
the fi elds , f a r me rs clubbed to ge th er
to he l p each oth Gr, and soma gr a in
befor e
was not shock ed a t al l
Si oux
the
,
nsequently
Co
thr eshing.
was
Falls supply of l abo r which
i nt o the harv es t
willing to go
fi el ds c onst ant l y oxcoc dod th e a.ehous0hol ds
From tho 110
mand.
eede d i n
succ
s
er
34 work
visit od ,
gotting mor e or l oss of t his work
p rior to Sep t . 15 , th e median amou~t
b eing 17 days , tno medi an daily wago
b eing $2 . 21, and t he median ear nings
pe r pe r s on being $33. 75 (Tabl e IV ) .

Th e wage r ange was fro m a s high a s
$4 . 00 a d_3 y in one i ns t ance to a s
lo w a s $1. CO a day . It wa s r ep orted
by the National Reemploym ent Service
tha t the p r ev a ili ng wag e tended to
drop fro m abou t $2 . 50 a day to $2 . 00
a day when the susp en sion of rel ief
Ho~eve r, bec ause of
wa s announced .
all
sp otty c rop c ondition s , not
work ers who l ef t Sioux Falls in
sear ch of harv es t fi eld wo r k f a r ed
a s well as t hose menti oned above ,
s i nce jobs we r e n ot al ways forthc o~i ng , and s ome of them h ad to t humb
t hei r way back home with no ear nings
Th e publi she d rumors of
wha t ev e r.
unwillingness on the par t of r eli ef
cl ients to acce~ t harv est fi eld jobs
ri s e
appear to hav e had t he i r
l a r g el y from th e typ e of f a r mer who,
aft er he had s cour ed th e count r y
lo oking for men t o wor k for a dol l a r
a dAy and supp or t th ems elv e s and h a d
f c.iled to fi n d. them , ann ounced tha t
11 the
peO:)le on r elief a r e a ll bums
and lo a fers . 11
In
Curr ent St A.n dci.r ds of Liv ing.
th ese house~ol ds the foo d pr obl em
w2s not acute during the pe rio d
Compar i ng di e t from Sep t .
s tuii ei.
1 5 t o Oc t . 1 5 wi t h t hat of July , 36
irrgen er al
eith er a
r eu o~ted
p r ov cme nt or imp rov omen t in specific
1 9 r ep ort ed unchanged diet ;
i te~s ;
adjustment s
35 r ep or t ed s~ eci r 1c
wh i ch so:ne ,hat r educ ed the q_u a li t y
and 1 8 r ep ort e d tha t t hey
of diet ;
w0 r 8 unabl e to suppl y f ru.i t and milk
Downwar d
for youc1g ch iJ dr cn .
i n most
adjustmen ts r ~~r P- scntcd ,
c a s es , r educ ed c onsumpt ion of milk,
oggs , but te r and moat .
;v1c r eas f ood s t an dar ds we r e , in
tho
th e ma ic1, a t l east t ol er able ,
housing of many of tho 93 f &mili es
visited (1 7 bo a r der s an d lo dge r s
wa s cl ea rly i nadequQt o.
8xc ludod)
With r espec t to phys i cal condition ,

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23 dwelling units we r e r epo rt ed in
need of minor repairs, 14 i n n ee d of
maj or r epa\rs , and 1 3 as unfit fo r
occu-pancyf/ .

That

h ous e s wer e repo r t ed as
doe s no t denote any degr ee
of p r osper ity .
Two of them a r e
11
tr aile rs 11 on whe els, and others are
mere shac ks, the makes hift char a ct e r of which i s amply a ttest ed by
the fact tha t seven of
t he~ a re
valued at from $25 . 00 t o
$100 . 00
each . In many units , t he orQinary
c onveni ence s are l acki ng .
Th irteen
do no t b.nve running water , ga s , or
el ec tric i ty;
seven othe rs
have
11
n e ither gas n or el ect ri ci ty ;
oth ers have n o ga s ; and eigh t others
have no running water .
The median
r en t paid by the 93 hou s eh olds is
$1 3 . 49 pe r month. However , s omewha t
more than one- fourth of t hem pay
l e ss than $10 . 00 a month .
25

11 owned 11

The median number of r ooms pe r
fami l y unit is three .
Howeve r , t he
diffe r ences in siz e of fami ly a r e

§_/

Tue
st andar ds
followed
in
a ssi gn i ng t hese r atings we re th os e
u s ed in t he Re:,,l Prope rty I nvento ry ,
19 34 (Civil Wor ks
Admin istration
Pr oj ec t , Si oux Fa lls, South Dakota)
Depa r tmen t of Commer ce , Bur eau
of
Dome s tic · c omm8r ce ,
For e i gn and
Wa sh ington, D. C. , 1 934 p .1 2 .
Jj ... ... . • 11 v e ry snacious r ef ers
to
dwell ing unit s having
one- half
p e rson or l oss pe:c r oom, v.hi ci'1 means
that two or mor e r ooms are avai labl e f or each pers on l iving in the
The t erm spac ious is appli ed
U<l it .
to cas es whe r e there
is
f r om
one- ncl f to three- quart er pe rson pe r
ro om, that is, dwelling units whicn
have the equival ent of l e s s tn~n t wo
rooms pe r pe rson, y e t whe r e one and
one- half r oo ms or mol'.'e a r e avai l able

such t ~at , in terms of the occupancy
r ating sc a l e employed by the Bureau
of Forei gn and Domestic
Com~e rce
when t aking t l}e Real Proue r t7 I nv entory of 1 9342 / , 48 pe r cent of the 93
a re ei ther 11 crowded 11 , 11 ove rcrowded 11 ,
or "gr eatly crowded. 11 , t his frequency
being more tha.'l s even and one- half
ti mes a s hi gh as the 6 . 4 percen t r ec or ded fo1· a ll r ent al uni ts in t l1e
cityf/ (Tabl e V) .
But in order to
t ell the whol e
st ory,
fu r the r
analysis is n e eded ,
In six cas e s
the r ate of occupancy is t wo pers ons
pe r room ; in two cas es it is t hr ee ;
and in five cases it is f our ,
Tha t
such ove r - c r owd~ ng
creates c on diti ons injuri ou s to both h ealth and
mora ls nead not b e a r gued .
The r e
r ep s ons
why
a r e two p r evai ling
·peonl e endur e t he s e bligh ti ng c on11 I em1not
find a d ec ent
d itio ns :
house tha t I can 2fford 11 , sa i d one
11 and I would
r at her stay here 3.nd
~ee p my r en t pai d 11 ; 11 v,.,e ought t o move
out of this olace , 11 s aid anothe r, 11but
t he landl ords knoVl.r we a r e on r eli ef
and won I t trus t us . 11
for each _pe r son .
B.e sidential un its
a r e characterize~ a s having ade~uat e
spacing when th ey a r e l is ted wit h
fr om thr ee- q_11o.,rt er t o one pe rs on -pe r
r oom , or when tL ey c0n tain one ro om
or mo r e for each occupant , though
l es s t han one a~d one- half r ooms . The
term c:rnwded is u s ed f or uni ts whe r e
the r e a r e t wo or l e es pe r sons,
ye t
A
mor e t han one pe r son pe r r oom.
1.1.ni t is designat ed a s overcrowded
wb.e!1 t her e a r e thr ee or l ess p3 rs ons
but mo r e than two pe:rs ons pe r r oom.
The t erm gre a tly ovP r ~r owaed r efe rs
to un i t s ~aving me r e than
thr ee
pe rs ons pe r r oo.r:1 11 • Real _ Prope rty
InventorJ, 1 934 09 . cit ., p , 9 .
§_/ '.!.'he 25 11 o'i'mc3d 11 units a re included in the t otal of 93 .

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Exhausted Resources . It would be
a s erious err or t o think
of this
group a s composed only of
~age
earners TThose means had a lways bee n
li mited to current earnings .Specific
r ever s e s , cris e s, or other c ont ri butory factors s ta..vid out in many c2.s e s .
Dr ought and r e!)eat ed crop fail u r e s
r esul ted in 11 instance s in l oss of
farms , farm equipment or s pec i a liz ed
farm occupation .
A de s tructive
cyclo ne accounted for one more , and
a fire which de str oyed all
f a rm
buildings as wel l a s dwel li ng and
crop s accounted f or another .
One
business man was a victim of a bank
f ai l ure ; the part ne r of
anothe r
absconded ; and fi ve we r e forced out
of busine s s because of frozen
account s . Death in the ir f amilies l ed
to enfo r ced li quidation of busine ss
for thr e€ h eads of hous eho l d s .
Des e rti on forced tw0 hous ewive s
to
b ecome b r eadwi nne rs .
Reve rs 6s in
othe r indivi dual cas e s are att ri butable to l oss of a pol i t ica l job ,
habitual drunkenness
and
mental
defici ency . Five were t he victims
of acc i dent s, al l of which r e sulted
in p r ot r act ed disability and four of
which d is qualifi ed the wo r k e rs fo r
th e ir usual oc cupat i ons .
I n 15
households , illnes s, either of head s
or cf members of the f ~mi l y , fo r
p r olonge d periods ranging f r om one
and one- half to e ight years , no t onl y
nece ssi tated d r a s tic hous ehold r eadjustments but even l ed t o complete
economic exbaustion in some cus es .
Four years ago ,
35 ins~rance
polic i es t otal ling $69 ,000 were h eld
by m8mbers of t hese 110 hous eholds .
By Octob e r 15 , 1925 twenty- thTee of
these r,olic i es totall i ng $5J. , 500
had
been surr ende r ed .

The a s ~umptio~ that these
c itizens turned willingly to
r el ief
l acks foundation .
On the contrary
it is evident that for ITlc.IlY of them
r elief was a l ast r e s 0rt .
Befo r e
the
Acc.;__mulQtcd Debt s .
cl osi.:1.gs RO h ous eho l ds had a lready
acsumulated debt s fo r which
the
median amount was $73 . 33 exc l u si ve
of J.ong-~erm mortgage s amounting t o
$12 , 745}_} .
The natur e of the
deb ts ,
the
number of peopl e r epo rt ing each t ype
and median/ indebtednes s
ar e
as
follows . 10 .
Numb er
Repor t i ng

T;y-~e of Debt

Median
Debt for
each
T• e

All debts

80

$73 . 33

Cha tt el Mortgage
In te r e s t
Taxe s
Rent
Ga s
El e ct ri ci ty
Gr oc eries
Medical
Farm Equ i pment
Dental
Mi s cellaneo11s

4

5
11
26
6
18
30
53
2
9
37

60 . 00
65 . 00
15 . 00
26 . 67
7 . 50
6 . 92
15 . 00
58 . 75
40 . 00
18 . 33
38 . 33

~/ Of the 25 dwe l lings repo rt e d as
11 owned 11 , thP. t ota l value of which is
sai d to be 1~1, 831 ( assess ed values
i n a ll asses sibl e cases) , 13 (t otal
val uat i on $22 , 3SO ) are enclL~be r ed to
the extent of $12 , 745 or 57 pe rc ent
of va h :.ation .
Ta·o l e
VI fo r
compl et e
10/ Se<',
tabul ation .

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Accumulated dental, sur g i cal and
medica l debts t o taled $4,575 . Ei ght
pe r s ons owe dental bills r anging
fr om as lo w as $2 , 00 t o a s high as
$55 . 00 .
Unpaid hospital bi ll s , of
f r om
which there a re ni:ie, r an 6 e
$11 . 00 to $200 . 00 .
Nine
unpaid
sur gical bills r ange from $60 . 00 to
$311.00 , Of all unpa i d medical debts
the smallest is $3 . 00 and
the
l a r ges t $400 . 00
Thirteen bills fo r
obste trical se rv ices, t he r ange of
whi ch is fr om $20 , 00 t o
$75 . 00
r em8.in unpai d .
Spec i a l i nqu iry disclosed that 25
households had appreciab l y increased
t hei r debts, a nd five had incurr ed
t heir first debts since the closing
of their cases in J u l y , the medi an
amount of t hese incr eas es and new
debts being $17 . 00 ,
Indebtedness
in curr ed a ft e r t he cl osi ngs
was
r ep ort ed as f oll ows accordi ng t o t he
natur e of t he de btll/ .
Type of

Number
Reporting

Debt

Median
Amoun t
of Deb t .

All Deot s

30

$17 . 00

Rent
Gas
Electric i t y
Groceri e s
Medical
Dental
Mis cellaneous

7
4
10

18 . 13
3 . 33
3 . 57
8 . 33
4 . 17
1 5 . 00
15 . 83

4

5
6

13

acut e ly
Many of these men are
debt conscious, n ot merely "because
they are fin ding it
i n creasingly
difficult t o obtain credit, bu. t mo r e
especially because going 11 i n deb t" is
i t self r epugnan t t o the~ .
Thei r
ave r sion
to
indebtednes s
was
11 /

F or complete data see Tab l e VII .

fre quently
views .

expressed

in the inter-

Pr esent Needs . Such an inven tory
of needs as is made po ssiole by thi s
study is obvi ous l y neither p r ecise
nor complete . However, intervie we rs
were instructed
to
distinguish
carefully between 1'want s 11 and 11 needs 11
an d t o make no ent ri es which we re
n ot suppo r ted oy evide nce of u r gen t
neea.
Unde r such p r actice , the
f ollowinr, needs were r epo rt ed:
in
f our households, stoves ;
i n t wo
households, be ds ; in 14 households,
"be dd ing . Clothing f or children i s
needed in seven househo l ds ,
and
shoes f or chi l dren in five househo l ds . Seven families need cl othing
·f or adults . The need for such spec ifi c arti c l es of foo d as fruit , meat
and milk was r epo rt ed fo r 17 households .
An attemp t was made t o disco ver
u r gent denta l , medical a nd surgical
needs .
From fift y- two households
i nfo r mati on was given on the f oll owin g fift y- f our case s of need:
Dental wo r k
24
Gla.sses
5
Medical treat men t
9
Oostetrical treatment 1
Surgical treat men t
14
Orthopedic treatmen t
1
Ti:1e Des ire t o be II I ndep8nd.en t 11 •
The dat a in this r e1;ort a r e not
offered in suppo rt of any gene r al izati on
whatever concerni ng
the
en tir e r e lief popul Rti on of Sioux
Falls, much l ess t ha t of the United
States as a who le.
Howeve r , fr om
fir s t t o l~ s t , contac ts with t his
part icul ar group of ca ses p r oduced
cumul at ive evide nce t hat they desi re
ab ove a ll el se t o be 11 i ndependen t 11 ,
self- suppor ti ng memoe r s of societ y .
11 I am not aiming
t o make a lot of
money" , said a f or me r farm owne r

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but I woul d li ke
a ct'.lnce to earn
own li ving . 11
Simil a r s t ;.tl:m0nt s
heard egain Rnd agPin i n t h e cours e
of ne rs onal int er views ind i cate a
strong ie s ire f or self- m~int enance .
Thes e
citiz ens l ook
upon the r
my

pre s en t st~te
e s accid ontal and
t P.m:90 rary r athe r than a s pe rmanent .
I f , A. S has be1m cha r gei , the way has
baen opened to 11 a life of i ndo l ence
a:1.d supinene ss 11 ,
they r efus e
to
acce-o t it .

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Table I.

Size of Household and Age of Head in 147 Cases
-

Age of Head
Total

l'

Total
147

20-24
25- 29
30- 34
35-39
40-44
45- 49
50- 54
55-59
60- 64
65 and over

Si2e of Hou=i ehold.
2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

40

33

21

10

4

3

3

2

1

12
5

3

3

2,.
1
3
3

1

4

7
4
10

1
1
1

1
1
1

1

30

23

I

2

I

15
27
18
18
12
15
12
5
2

I

I

8 i
3
6
2 I
1 I
1 I

2
3
4
4
2'

5
2

3
2
3
7
3
1

2
2

1

3
1
1
1

2

i

I

1

1

1
1

1

I

I

I

I

Median age
37 . 4
Median size of hou s ehold
2 .6
No t e : If 17 one- pe r son cases r ep r ese nti ng boar de rs and l odge rs a r e
omitt ed , the me dian size of households is 2 .9

Tab l e II.

Usual Occupation

Heads of Households Cl ass ifi ed by Usual Occupat ion
and Educat i on
Tot al

Tot al

147

Agri culture
Propri eto rs
Skille d wo rkers
Bldg . & Con st.
I
Misc e l laneous
Semi-Sk ill ed
Wo r kers
Unskill ed Workers
Non- Manual
Sal esmen
Clerical
Professional
Wor ke r s
Not Ascert ai nable
No Usual Oc cu p ati on

I

II

27
4
31
15
16

13
50
15
9
6

i

I
I

0

1

314

Grade s Com:21_t;~g.
8 9 10
I

2

I

I
I
I

i

14

I iI
I

7

I 3

12
1
1

I

12

8

6

13

1

1

1

3

1

1
2

1

2
1
1

College

I

613
61
. I

1

11

516 7

I

1

3
1

3

2

1

2
2

2
1
1

I~ I2

II I.

13 63 13
2 12

4

4
10
4
6

4
2

5
29
2
1
1

2
1
2
1
1

5

3
2
1
5

2

3
1
1

3

1
1

1
1

5
3
2

4
3
1

1

2

2

1

6

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Table III.

So
·. urce

.Amount

z

Incomes of 110 Hous eho ld s for Last Month of Relief a nd fo r
Period September 15 - October 15 , 1935, Classified by
Amount and Source

of.l_~1c ome-La s t Moi::ith of Reliel
' Sour ce ,of Income - Septe_plb_er 15-0ctobe_L__lf?.J. 19 35
Non-E.R.A. Private
Tota1~/1 E.R.A. , Non-E . R. A . T Private
A3s is tance Earni_ngs
___ 1
Earnin.e:s
1 Ass i s tance

Tot u ll.3. E . R. A.

0

1L____ _

~

I

~

m

l/lo
--j <.O.

Total

110

110

I

93

I

83

iI

7
8

I

m rt

;:o ;:::;·
Z ro
0..
C o-

z

'<

<
m
;:o

l/l

~

$

. 01-$ 4 , 99
5 . 00- 9 . 99
4
l U. OO - lLL
10
15 . 00- 19.99
7
9
20 . 00- 24 . 99
25 . 00- 29 . ~9
10
30 . 00 - 34 . 99
8
39
,
9
9
35 . 009
40 . 00- 44 , 99
10
45. 00- 49 , 99
7
50 . 00- 54 . 99 - I 3
55 . 0J- 59 . 99 1
8
60 . 00 - 6·1.
6
65 , 00 - G9 . 9J ji
4
70 . 00- 7 :i: • L)Q,
1
.. ., I
75 . 0G- 79 . 99 !
3
BCJ . OU- 84 . 99'
5
85 , 00 - 89 . 9'3
1
90 . 00 - 94 . 99
1
99
.
99
95 . 001
100 . 00 a nd over 3
Not a sce rta ina.ble
Median
$38. 89

991

92

8

28
19
13
17
12

3
11

1

14
3

7
3
2

5
3
8
2
6
1

1

391I

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0

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1

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15. 00

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2,53

2

, 24 .46

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5
5
9
8
6
8
3
8
6

-II
II

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!
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35

18

96

3
5
4
5
5
6
3

5
3
3
2
2
3

5
5
6
7

5
4
G
2
6
3

1
2
1

5
4
5
9
2
1
8
3
2
1
11

1
47 . 50 :20 .50

6

2
9
6
3
3
5
3
1

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9

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11. 67

!

50 . 83

~ The total nCTnber of case~-i;lling i;- a g i ven class i nt~r~al in t h i s collUilil ·d.~es not eq~al the sum
of t he correspond.i ng f requen ci es in the next three columns because a case re ceiving a specif ied total
in come , e . g ., $27 .50 , may receive $10 .50 from E.R.A., $12 . 00 from non-E.R.A ., a nd $5. 00 f r~m p rivat e
earni ngs , and hence will not be cl assif ied in the $25 . 00 - $29. 99 class interval in a ny of the next
t h ree columns .

---."1
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Ear nings ru1d Number of Days Worked by 34 Persons in
Harve st F i eld Prior to September 15 .

Table IV .

--

I

;

Amount of Earning s
z

-

1

Tota l I'lio .
of Cases

/

7

0

}Jumbe r of Days r;orkeo.
19
- 12
13 - lb

I

- 24

25 and
over

0

~

Tota l

I

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34

2

8

2

1

8

5

11

I

$ . 01 - 9 . 99
10 . - 19 . 99
20 . - 29 . 99
30 .-39 . 99
40 . - 49 . 99
50 . - 59 . 99

60 .

I

3

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'

I

11

and over

I

7

I

3

8

6

3
2

2

1
1
1
2

1

'7

7

I

'

Median no . days worke d
Med ian earning s
Median dai l y wage

I

17
$33 . 75
$2 . 21

Tab l e V.

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Nwnbe r
of
Rooms

1

2

3

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24 25 21

Tota l

93

2

1
2
3
4
5

15
15

1 6
3
1 5
1
4
3

24
12
11

6

7 and ov - r

-a/

9
7

2

8

2 5
1
7 6
3 4
33
1
1 2

1

5

2 4

1

1

I

=------:--=----c Occupancy Ratin~/
Very
Spacious Ade - Cr owde<f175v 0r Great l y
Spa-quate
Cr owded,
overcious
cr owded

l4

12

1

8

1 1
3 2

1

3

1

1
1

4

1
2

2
1 1

Exc luding 17 b oar de rs and lodgers .
.
/

1

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+

P ersons in .tfousehold
Total

I

· - -·- - ·

Density of Occupany in 93 Dwelling Units~/

z

0

.

[\)

4
4

22

3L~

4

1
3
7
4

6
9
11
4

2
2

5
3
3

4

1

2
1

I

7
6
1

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3
1

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Tab l e VI .
Amount
z

0

Amount and Type of I ndebtednes s of 80 Case s .

II'otal.3/, Chatte l Interest Taxe s Rent
Mor tgage

Gas

Gr oce r Elect ri city ies

Medi cal

Dental
Farm
Equipment

Misc .

~

I

Tota l

~
m

80

4

5

11

26

6

18

30

53

4
3
1
2
1

1

4
2

13
3

10
10

1

2
1
1

6
5
6
4
2
4
5
3
3

2

9

37

1

2
3
2
1

5
6
5
3
5

1

2 .

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0

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$

. 01- $ 9 . 9s
4
10 . 00- 19 . 9s
7
20 . 00- 29 . 9s
4
30 . 00- 39 . 9s
7
40 . 00- 49 . 9c
7
50 . 00- 59 . 9s
5
60 . 00- 69 , 9c
4
70 , J O- 79 . 9s
6
80 . 00- 89 , 9S
5
90 . 00 - 99 . 9:
100 . 00 - 119 . 9s
5
120 .oo- 139 - :~9
3
140 . 00- 159 . 99
160 . 00 - 179 ; 99
5
1
180 . 00- 199 . 99
200 . 00- :ir.d ov e , 17

2

1
1
1
1

8
6
2
2
1
1
1
1
1

l

1
1

1

1

1

2

2

4

2
3

1

4
1

1
3

1

6

1

15 . 00

5G . 75

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Median

$ 73 . 33

60 . 00

65 . 00

15 . 00 26 . 67 7 . 50

6 . 92

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18 . 33

38 . 33

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The t ota l numb er of cases falli ng i n a giv en c l ass i nt e r val in thi s co l umn does not equal the sum of
the corre s pondi ngfr equeuci es i n the f oll owi ng co l wnns because a case may have a s pec ifi e d total debt
which is di str ibuted und er differ ent head i ng s i n vari ed arnounts .
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Table VI I - -

z

Amount an d Type of Debts Contracted by

30 Cas e s Since Clo sin g

0

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Tota l.Y

Ai:1ount

I Rent

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Gas

Elect ri ci ty

Groce r ies

Mer1 ica l

Dental

Misc .

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Total

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h

10

3
1

7

4

5

6

13

1
1

4

3

3
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$

. 01- $ 4- 99
5.009. 99
10. 00- 14-99
15 . 00 - 19. 99
20 .00- 24 - 99
25 .00- 29 .99
30 . 00- 34 . 99
35. 00 and ov er

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Mec ian

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2
3
1

1

2
1

1

4
1

$17 .00

2
3

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2
1
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18 . 13 3 ,331I
-

3.57

8. 33

4 . 17

3

15.001I 15 . 83

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The t ota l numbe r of cas e s falli ng in a giv en c l ass int er val i n this column does
n ot equal the sum of. t he c orr esponding f ,r equenc"ie-s in t he f o ll owing c olumns because
a case may have a speci fi ed total debt which is distr ibut ed unde r diffen,,nt hea dings
i n vs.ri ed amounts .

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Digitized by

Original from

NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY

NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY