F. L. Hoffman. Sociology and Eugenics.335
The average number of children to all married women in the State of
Rhode Island was 2.66; for the native-born the average was 2.06; and for
the foreign-born it was 3.35
Considered in detail by nativities, it is shown that the average number
of children to the total number of married women in Rhode Island of
French-Canadian parentage was 4.42; of Russian parentage, 3.51; of
Italian parentage, 3.49; of Irish parentage, 3.45; of Scotch and Welsh
parentage, 3.09; of English parentage, 2.89; of German parentage,
2.84; of Swedish parentage, 2.58; of English-Canadian parentage, 2.56;
and of Polish parentage, 2.31; in contrast to an average of only 2.06 for
native-born married women.
Compared with the state census of 1885, the average number of children
of native-born mothers has decreased from 3.49 to 2.88, or 17.5%. The
average number of children of foreign-born parents has decreased from 5.38
to 4.06, or 24.5%. The average number of children of parents of all
nationalities has decreased from 4.72 during the 20-year period to 3.48,
or 26.3%. Compared with the State Census of 1885 the average number of children
to native-born married women has decreased from 2.81 to 2.06 or 26.7%.
The average number of children of foreign-born married women has
decreased from 4.69 to 3.35 or 28.6%. The average number of children of
married women of all nationalities has decreased from 3.54 to 2.67, or
24.6%. In 1885 a number of mothers were found in Rhode Island with families
of from nineteen to twenty-four children each, while in 1905 no mothers
were enumerated by the census who had more than eighteen children each.
During the past twenty years the number of native-born mothers without
children has increased 9.8%, whereas the number of foreign-born childless
mothers increased only 4.7%.
Considering the proportion of childless women by nativity, it was ascer
tained by the census for 1905 that of the English-Canadian wives 24.2%
were without children, whereas for the French-Canadian wives the propor
tion was 14.8%; for English wives, 18.5% ; for German wives, 17.6%; for
Irish wives, 17.5%.; for Italian wives, 16.5%; for Polish wives, 21.6%; for
Russian wives, 12.0%; and for Scotch and Welsh wives, 17.1%. Of
course, to a certain extent, these results are affected by the age distribution
of the population, and it is well-known that most of the nativities from
South-eastern Europe represent chiefly immigrants of the child-bearing
period. Of the total number of children born to native-born mothers 79.5% were
living at the time of the census enumeration, whereas for foreign-born
mothers the corresponding percentage was 75.7. Comparing 1885 with
