The Results of Migration 151 



as a whole. This table indicates that the proportion of single 

 and widowed females is considerably higher in the cities of 

 both the North and the South than in the total Negro pop- 

 ulation. Much of the low morality and looseness of family 

 tie s indicated bvthese figures is due to t he disturbance in the 

 ratio of the tw a sexes throug h migration. 



Number of Children Born. — The census figures tabulated 

 under the heading of "Fertility" need further interpreta- 

 tion for several reasons. In the first place, they are a ratio 

 of the number of children to the number of women 15 to 44 

 years of age. This ratio depends on the proportion of 

 women who are married, the number of children born and 

 the proportion who survive. With this in mind the follow- 

 ing figures from the Census of 1910 are suggestive (p. 288) : 

 In the South there were 617 white children under 5 years of 

 age per 1,000 white women of 15 to 44 years of age, while 

 there were only 554 colored children per 1,000 colored 

 women of 15 to 44 years of age. In other words, even in 

 the South, where the Negro population increases most rap- 

 idly, the disturbances in sex ratio, marriage rate and infant 

 mortality have reduced the proportion of colored children 

 below that of the native white children. In the North 

 there were only 282 colored children per 1,000 col- 

 ored women 15 to 44 years of age, whereas there were 

 442 white children per 1,000 white women of the same 

 age. This is in part due to the disturbance in the sex ratio 

 and the consequent lowering of the marriage rate, and it 

 is in part due to the rise in the standard of living in North- 

 ern communities. The increased struggle for existence in 

 the cities and increased living expenses causes a decrease 

 in the birth rate. This is indicated by the fact when the 

 ratio is based on married women instead of all females 

 between the ages of 15 and 44 it is as follows: Children 

 under 5 years per 1,000 married females in the South, 

 749 white and 757 colored, in the North 539 white and 396 

 colored. 



