Average Farm Family in Wake County Lacks Amenities Related to Health, 1949

Less than 50 percent of Wake County farm families had central heating, telephones, private bath and toilet, running water, sanitary sewage disposal, kitchen sink, and adequate rat control in 1949, and African-American families were significantly worse off than white families. The following was published in the 1949 Research and Farming Annual Report by the Agricultural Experiment Station at N.C. State College, Raleigh. C.H. Hamilton, who conducted the research, was head of the Department of Rural Sociology at the time.

Numerous surveys have shown that the rural people of North Carolina have more illness and get less medical care than do urban people. A 1949 survey in Wake County confirmed this fact and further indicated that the health problems of rural people are due, in part, to a poorer home environment.

In this survey, directed by C. Horace Hamilton, one out of every 50 households in Wake County was surveyed. The health environment of each family was measured by means of a 23-point scale. The score was based on housing, sanitation and home conveniences such as heating and plumbing which are most closely related to maintenance of good health.

Using the scale on a percentage basis with 23 points equal to 100 per cent, the average score for Wake County families was found to be 74 per cent. As many be seen from the accompanying table, the health environment scores for rural farm families was only 58 per cent, while that for the urban (Raleigh) families was about 83 per cent. Differences by race and tenure groups ranged from a high of about 95 per cent for urban white home owner families to a low of only 35 per cent for rural non-farm Negro renter families.

Hamilton reports the following as the most serious deficiencies in the health improvement of rural farm families in Wake County:

--almost nine families out of 10 had no central heating system,

--eight out of 10 had no telephone,

--68 per cent did not have running water,

--almost three-fourths had no private bath and toilet,

--67 per cent had no sanitary sewage disposal,

--two-thirds had no kitchen sink,

--56 per cent did not have rats and insects under control,

--45 per cent did not have a mechanical refrigerator,

--45 per cent had no safe water supply, and

--28 percent did not average one bedroom for each two people.

Even with net incomes averaging less than $1,500, Wake County farm families were spending a higher percentage of their incomes for medical services than were families with higher incomes. For instance, rural farm tenants with a median family income of only $1,147 were averaging $107 or 9.3 per cent of the income for medical care. Rural farm owners with a median family income of $2,444 were paying $282, or 7.4 per cent, for medical care.

Voluntary health insurance has not yet become effective among farm families of Wake County, Hamilton reports. Only 28.7 per cent of Raleigh families carried insurance.

As a result of low incomes and lack of health insurance, the farm people of Wake County receive less than half as much dental service and eye examinations and less than a third as many health examinations as do urban people.

Health Environment Percentage Scores of Wake County Families by Residence, Color, and Tenure

Color and Tenure	Residence
	Total	Urban	Rural Nonfarm	Rural Farm
Total	74	82.7	73.8	58
Owners	81.1	89.6	80	68.7
Renters	67.3	77.1	60.6	46.6
White Families	80.9	90.4	78.5	65.7
Negro Families	52.7	62.5	42	40.9