AN ANALYSIS OF THE RELATIONSHIPS OF PUBLIC POOR RELIEF IN PENNSYLVANIA SINCE 1875 AND INDICES OF ECONOMIC CONDITIONS.

The article presents an examination of the public poor relief statistics of Pennsylvania, since 1875, which is interesting from a number of angles. The present paper is concerned with only one of these, namely, the relationships found between various indices of business conditions and the poor relief series. The study confined itself largely to three series of yearly figures, total outdoor relief expenditures, total "almshouse" expenditures, total number of "inmates" remaining in the almshouses at the end of the fiscal year. Representative coefficients of correlation with probable errors are given in the accompanying tables. The very small coefficients are recorded to aid the reader in forming a comprehensive view of the relationships. Through a visual comparison of deviations from trends it was evident in many instances that no correlation existed and the coefficients were not computed. There is a considerable degree of negative correlation shown for several of the series. Highest correlations are shown for outdoor relief and lowest for number of almshouse inmates.