standard has been set so low that men cannot provide a decent living for their families.
It is impossible to say just what proportion of the workers of the United States are receiving wages which are so low that they are compelled to supplement them by sending their children to the factory. There are, however, figures which roughly indicate the facts.
Dr. Robert C. Chapin analyzed a series of schedules of workingmen's family expenditures, collected in Manhattan Island, and concluded that:—"An income of $900 or over probably permits the maintenance of a normal standard, at least so far as the physical man is concerned.…"
These figures were compiled for the Borough of Manhattan, but, with the exception of rent, none of the other items would be materially reduced in any large-sized industrial town or city. According to this analysis $900 is a minimum wage which will permit the maintenance of physical efficiency for a man, wife, and three children under fourteen years
