London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972
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Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
Lewisham 1953
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Lewisham Borough]
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in relation to its total population. The sex ratio, that is females per
thousand males, was 1,130 in Lewisham, as compared with 1,138 for
the whole county — almost exactly the same. Of the different boroughs
the lowest ratio was 1,025 females to 1,000 males which occurred in
Stepney and the highest was 1,402 females to 1,000 males which
occurred in Chelsea.
Persons in full time attendance at an educational establishment
In Lewisham 31,622 persons were attending full time at educational
establishments, of whom 329 were aged 0-4, 14,913 were 5-9, 13,005
were 10-14, 1,382 were aged 15, 734 were aged 16, 556 were aged 17-19,
457 were aged 20-24 and 246 were 25 and over. The sexes were
approximately equal up to the age of 14, the females were then in
moderate preponderance to the age of 19, but at ages 20 to 24 there
were 316 males as against 141 females, and over 25 years of age there were
207 males against 39 females.
Occupied population in relation to terminal education ages
There were 70,227 occupied males of whom 48,716 had finished
their education under the age of 15, 9,057 at age 15, 7,503 at age 16,
3,536 at ages 17 to 19, 1,415 at age 20 and over, and 2,240 unstated.
With regard to the females there were 35,365 employed, of whom
25,527 finished their education under the age of 15, 5,954 at age 15,
5,119 at age 16, 2,763 between the ages of 17 and 19, 1,002 at 20 and
over, and 1,501 not stated.
Social class distribution of occupied and retired males over the age of 15
In Lewisham there were 79,009 such males and the social class, with the percentages, can be shown in the following table to which I have added for comparison purposes the percentages of what would appear to be the borough with the highest class I and II grouping, the borough with the highest class IV and V grouping, and the whole County:—
| No. of males | Percentage | Comparisons (percentages) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hampstead | Bermondsey | Whole County | |||
| Social class 1 | 2,794 | 3.5 | 11.9 | 0.8 | 4.0 |
| II | 12,553 | 15.9 | 26.2 | 8.0 | 13.0 |
| III | 46,429 | 58.8 | 46.5 | 46.1 | 54.2 |
| IV | 7,681 | 9.7 | 8.0 | 13.2 | 11.9 |
| V | 9,552 | 12.1 | 7.4 | 31.9 | 16.9 |
The term "social class" is based on occupation and the occupational
unit groups are graded to one of five groups, traditionally
described as social classes. Very broadly speaking, class I are the
professional, etc., occupations, class II are the intermediate occupations,
class III are the skilled occupations, class IV are partly skilled
occupations, class V are unskilled occupations.