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
London County Council 1933
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for London County Council]
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| Age-group. | Death-rates per 1,000 living at each age. 1921-30. 1841-50. | Decrease per cent. in rate, 1841-50 to 1921-30. | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Males. | Females. | Males. | Female. | Males. | Females. | |
It will be seen from the last two columns of the table that the decrease in death-rates since 1841 for both sexes diminishes towards the higher ages and that it is
generally greater among females than among males ; but it will be observed that
between the ages of 15 and 25 years the advantage is with the males ; in regard to
this fact reference may be made to the Annual Report for 1931 (Vol. III, Part I,
pp. 12-15), where it is shown that the relative increase in the mortality from pulmonary
tuberculosis among young women is the principal factor contributing to
this result.
The expectation of life, at birth, for the decennial period 1921-30 is found to be for males 56.1 years and for females 61.2 years. The following table enables comparison to be made between these figures and those for earlier periods for which it has been possible to calculate the expectation:—
| Period. | Expectation of lite at birth. | Excess of expectation of females over males. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Males. | Females. | ||
The figures show that there has been an increase in the expectation among males
amounting to 21.5 years and among females to 22.9 years between 1841-50 and
1921-30.
The increased difference in the expectation of life among males as compared with
females in the later periods is specially interesting in view of the considerable changes
which have taken place, particularly in regard to employment; that these changes
were already influencing the expectation before the war is shown by the fact that the
relative increase in expectation among females is apparent in the figures for the
period 1901-10.
Infectious Diseases.
The notifications, attack-rates and death-rates of the principal infectious diseases
in London in 1933 and earlier years are shown in the tables on pages 22 to 25, and for
the constituent metropolitan boroughs in 1933 in the table on page 22.