The Migrant Family and Social Agencies in Washington: The Registration of Migrant Families by Family Welfare Agencies in Nine Cities in Washington

The Migrant Family and Social Agencies in Washington: The Registration of Migrant Familiesby Family Welfare Agencies in Nine Cities in WashingtonAuthor(s): Marion HathwaySource: Social Forces, Vol. 9, No. 2 (Dec., 1930), pp. 232-235Published by: Oxford University PressStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2570313 .

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MARRIAGE AND THE FAMILY*

Contributions to this department will includc original articles, reports of confercnces, special investigations and research, and programs relating to marriagc and thc family. It is cditcd by Erncqt R. Groves of thc University of North Carolina.

THE MIGRANT FAMILY AND SOCIAL AGENCIES IN WASHINGTON

THE REGISTRATION OF MIGRANT FAMILIES BY FAMILY WELFARE AGEN-

CIES IN NINE CITIES IN WASHINGTON

MARION HATHWAY

Unziversity of Washington

HE appearance of migrant families in large numbers on the Pacific Coast has been stimulated by the seasonal

nature of the industries of the region, by the development of cheap and rapid means of transportation, and by the establish- ment of camping sites along the main high- ways and in the region of the harvest fields. The migrant family has confronted social workers with new and complex problems. For the practices of many social agencies are still shaped by the "residence requirement" of the old poor law and are clearly ineffective when ap- plied to a rapidly mobile group.

In order to determine the nature and extent of the problem, the Interstate Com- mittee on Residence and Transportation of the Pacific Coast Conference of Social

Work undertook, in the summer of i9z8, to study the migrant families known to social agencies in Washington, Oregon, and California. The committee's first project was a registration of migrant families for the six months period July i, i9?8 to December 3I, 19z8.'

There are evident limitations to a study of migrant families known to social agencies. The group is a selected one and migration is only one of the criteria for selection and may be quite incidental to

1 Agencies participating in the Washington registration were the City Mission, Bellingham; American Red Cross, Everett; American Red Cross, Longview; American Red Cross, Olympia; Social Welfare League, Seattle; Social Service Bureau, Spokane; Family Welfare Association, Tacoma; Y. W. C. A. Health Center, Walla Walla; and the County Commissioner's Office, Yakima.

* Although there was never greater attention given to the problems of marriage and the family, there is at present no scientific periodical devoted to their discussion. The journalist is invited by newspapers and popular mnagazines to exploit the widespread interest in matrimonial and family experiences, but aside from The Facmily, which is adapted to the needs of the social worker, and the child-study magazines, there is no publication that stresses the research and interpretation of the scientist.

The appearance of an ever increasing number of books treating problems of marriage and the family reveals the interest of the serious student and suggests the need of offering opportunity for the publication of scientific articles. This department of SOCIAL FORCEs aims not only to provide space for such articles, but also to en- couirage the scientific study of marriage and the family.

232.



THE FAMILY 233

problems of health and economic stress which may have been the occasion of application to the agencies. The findings of the Washington registration set forth in the following paragraphs will serve only to indicate problems for attention in a more comprehensive study of the mnigrant family.

The total number of migrant families registered by the nine cities in Washington during the period July i, i9z8 to December 3I, i92.8 was z63. One hundred and sixty registration blanks were selected for inten- sive study, the remaining ones having been discarded because they either anti-dated the registration period or were clearly not migrant famnilies, but migrant individuals. It is evident that the committee's defini- tion of "migrant family"2 was variously interpreted. Some of the agencies laid emphasis on the mode of transportation, registering families who travelled by automobile, whether or not they were migrant. Other agencies stressed residence, reporting the names of families who were non- resident, regardless of the intent to establish residence. Walla Walla and Yakimna agencies registered 99 families out of the i6o. These cities are in eastern Washing- ton in the region of- the fruit and apple fields, but this fact alone would hardly account for the large number of registra- tions. It is evident that the term "migrant family" has been loosely interpreted.

The harvest season in Washington begins with the fruit and berry crops of the early summer and ends with the apple crops of the late autumn. It includes the months of July, August, September, and October. The six months chosen for the study therefore cover the periods when there are numbers of families at work in the harvest regions and the months of the

late fall when the fields are deserted and the unemployment begins. The number of families registered was least in July, increased somewhat in August, reached its high point in September and October, and decreased in November and December. By this time many of the families have gone south for the winter.

Mode of travel used was reported by II9

of the I6o families. Of this number, 85 travelled by automobile, 24 by train, and io by various other means. It is clear that the automobile is a significant factor in the equipment of the migrant family. Thirty-seven families were not accompanied by children. Twenty-eight of this number reported the mode of travel used, I4 reporting automobiles. One hundred twenty-three families were accompanied by children. Ninety-one of this number reported mode of travel, 7I reporting automobiles. The automobile was a more important part of the eqiipment of the large family.

Occupations of the chief wage-earners in the families could be only roughly classi- fied, for 46 of the i6o did not report occupation, and 56 of the number reported merely "laborer" and could not be grouped accurately according to the census classifi- cations. A wide range of occupations was apparent, 32. exclusive of that of "laborer" having been reported. Comparatively few have come from agricultural pursuits; a larger number from the skilled and semi- skilled trades found to a large extent in urban centers. Probably the usual occupation of the individual has been reported in each instance. This may indicate that harvest work is used to bridge over the gap of idle time between periods of employment at usual occupations. The number from the lumber industry who have become migrant is significant in the light of the wide-spread unemployment in the industry in the northwest region.

The effect of migration upon school

2 For the purpose of the study, the term "migrant" was defined as "an individual or family which moves from place to place without definite intention of establishing a permanent residence."



234 SOCIAL FORCES

attendance of children is suggested by the study. Thirty-seven of the i6o families did not report any children; the remaining IZ3 reported 394 children or a distribution of three children per family. Two hundred twenty of the 3 64 children whose ages were reported were under ten years of age. One hundred eighty-three were of school age or between the ages of six and sixteen. Only 45 of the total group of 364 whose ages were reported were beyond the compulsory school age. The signific- ance of this fact is evident when it is noted that izi of the i6o families were registered between September and Decem- ber, months during which the public schools are in session. One hundred and five of these families were accompanied by children. The contention that children in migrant families remain out of school for considerable periods of time is sub- stantiated.

A study of the length of residence in the county at the time of registration indicated that 64 of the families had been resident less than one month in the county, 57 less than three weeks, 5z less than two weeks, and 35 less than one week. On the other hand, only 35 had been resident in the state less than one month, 30 less than three weeks, 26 less than two weeks, and z2 less than one week. In other words, I39 of the families had been resident in the county less than six months, while only 75 had been resident in the state less thanl six months. Numbers of the families have been in the state for a considerable period of time. This is some indication that the migrant family is migrant within the state, seeking the fruit and harvest fields when employment there becomes more profitable than at the customary occupation. It is a partial contradiction of the common belief that many of them come from the eastern states and are mnerely passing through Washington on the way to California and back.

Perhaps the most important result of the investigation is the discovery that of the i6o families, only two had been known to two or more agencies. This fact refutes the contention that migrant families travel fromn city to city depending upon social agencies for their maintenance. It suggests that there is little inherent in migration alone that produces a case work problem.

The registration blanks yielded a meagre amount of case material. The brief sum- maries which follow will indicate some of the problems with which the migrant family confronts the social agency.

Case No. r. Man, Woman, Girl 4, Boy 3, and Boy I. Reported by Health Center, Y. W. C. A., Walla Walla; Arrived in the state October i928, and in the county on the same date. From Willows, California. Destination is "anywhere they can find health and work; suffer from malaria." Man was employed as a "laborer on road and fruit;" Family living in auto camp and in the summer camp near their work. Travelling by Automobile. Aid was asked November 15, I928.

Case No. 2. Man, Woman, Boy I5, Boy I3, Boy 9. Reported by the county commissioner's office, Yakima. Arrived in the state in I974 from Salem, Oregon, and in the county in 1928 . Previous addresses were Portersville, California; Fresno, Cali- fornia; and Salem, Oregon. No destination was reported. Family travelling by automobile. Man gave his occupation as laborer. The family asked aid on December 2o, i928.

Case No. 3. Man, Woman, Boy 9, Boy I7 months. Reported by Social Service Bureau, Spokane. Family arrived in the state on Septemnber 25, I928, and in the county on the same day. Previous address was Williamsport, Pa., and destination was "out west.' The family travelled by Ford automobile until "it smashed and then walked." The occupation of the man was painter and truck gardener. Nationality American. The famiily asked aid on September 25, I92.8.

Case No. 4. Man, Woman, Girl zo, Boy i6, Girl I4, Boy 12, Boy io, Girl 8. Reported by the Social Welfare League, Seattle. Family arrived in the state and county in October, i9p8, from Winchester, Wisconsin, and destination California. Travelling



THE FAMILY 235

in two Fords. Man's nationality is American and occupation blacksmith. Family asked aid on Decemi- ber 7, I928.

Case No. I3. Man, Woman, Boy 7, Boy 5, Boy 4, Girl a, and Girl i. Reported by American Red Cross, Longview. Family arrived in the state and county October 3oth, i92.8 from Sacramento, Califor- nia. Destination is Tacoma. Previous addresses, Chicago, Illinois; Joliet, Illinois; Sacramento, California. Travelling by Ford and camping in auto camps. Man's nationality American and occupation is laborer or junk dealer. Aid asked on October 3oth, 292.8. On November a, reported by American Red Cross, Olympia. Destination now

California. Came to Washington to get work and are now on their way back to California.

It may be concluded from this investigation that the problem of the migrant family has received undue emphasis, hardly justified by the small number of cases known to the social agencies. That the problemn is a complex and difficult one because of the aspect of non-residence is not denied, but it seems to be due to the persistence of outworn tenets concerning residence not justified in the light of modern economic development.

ELECTRICAL APPLIANCES IN THE HOME*

AMY HEWES

Mount Holyoke College

ON NLY Fairyland can vie with the bright prospects pictured by the heralds of the Age of Electricity,

especially by those who sell the instru- ments which make its transforming power available. The older industrial revolution, ushered in with the application of steam-power, took contented women and little children away fronm happy domestic occupations with spindle and loom into factories where they labored from dawn to dark. The new industrial revolution, with its giant power lines flung across the world, may see some of the tasks which were taken from the home restored to it, but they will be performed in well-lighted, hygienic houses fitted not only with every convenience human ingenuity can devise, but with labor-saving devices which will create more hours of leisure than have ever been enjoyed before. Women are to be especially blessed, for household drudgery will be no more.

Already the equipment in the twenty- seven million homes in this country

has attained amazing proportions. Mr. Stuart Chase roughly estimates' that I7,600,000 of them are wired for electric current, that in them are used i5,300,000 electric flat irons, 6,8z8,ooo vacuum clean- ers, 5,ooo,ooo washing machines, 4,540,000 electric toasters, 755,ooo electric refriger- ators, and 348,000 ironing machines. In order to get some idea of what this ava- lanche may mean for the family life of the people of this country, which is the largest producer and consumer of electrical goods in the world, it is necessary to picture the individual home as affected by it, to find out how the routine of every-day activi- ties has changed, and what new opportuni- ties have been inade possible.

SCOPE AND METHOD

An opportunity to secure material for such a study was made by the students in the statistics course at Mount Holyoke Col- lege in the autumn of i9_9 through the cooperation of their fellow students in the college. A canvass was made of the entire

*Data prepared by class in statistics under the direction of Professor Hewes.

1 Stuart Chase, Prosperity: Fact or Myth, I92.9,

p. 6z.



Documents

The Migrant Family and Social Agencies in Washington: The Registration of Migrant Families by Family Welfare Agencies in Nine Cities in Washington