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 1935
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for London County Council]
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11
' The maximum of this movement would appear to have been attained sometime during
the years 1851-61 when there was a particularly heavy influx of persons of both sexes. The
movement out of males during the two periods 1901-11 and 1911-21 may be ascribed as probably
due in part to military service, but mainly to post-war migration out following the Boer War
and Great War respectively.
In calculating the male migration between ages 18 and 50 during the period 1911-21 in
table 11, allowance has been made for the casualties of the Great War, which, in accordance with
the Registrar-General's estimate of 645,000* for England and Wales, is about 74,000. These
deaths were of course not recorded among the civilian deaths during these years. It will be
observed, however, that in spite of this adjustment, table 11 shows that the movement of males
out of the county was maintained during this period, partly as a result of post-war emigration.
As regards table 10 also, the excess of cxpected over actual survivors at the end of the period is
due to war losses and migration combined.
The movement out of the child population under five years of age would appear to have
increased during the war period as a result, no doubt, of air raids.
According to table 11 there seems to have been a small net movement in of males aged
45-05 during the same period which may point to employment on munitions and other war work.
Between the years 1921-31 the net movement out of persons of both sexes over the age of 25
increased, coinciding with a similar increase in that of children under 15. In this connection,
as has been remarked above, there has been a large expansion in the population of the outer ring
since the Great War.
Table 9.—Balance of migration at various age.i expressed as a rate per 1,000 mean population
| Ape at migration | Persons | 1891-1901 Males | Females | 1901-1911 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Persons | Males | Females | ||||
| 0- 5 vears | - 11.0 | - 10.9 | - 11.2 | - 24.3 | - 24.1 | - 24.4 |
| 5-15 „ | - 9.8 | - 11.1 | - 8.6 | - 13.2 | - 14.5 | - 11.9 |
| 15-20 ., | + 30.3 | + 16.0 | + 43.0 | + 12.5 | - 0.9 | + 24.0 |
| 20-25 „ | + 10.4 | + 4.1 | + 15.6 | - 5.3 | - 14.0 | + 1.8 |
| 25-45 „ | - 7.9 | - 3.2 | - 12.1 | - 16.7 | - 13.0 | - 19.9 |
| 45-65 „ | - 12.0 | - 9.3 | - 14.3 | - 13.9 | - 11.8 | - 15.8 |
| 65 + | - 21.6 | - 30.3 | - 16.0 | - 9.6 | - 13.4 | - 7.1 |
| All ages | - 4.2 | -4.9 | - 3.4 | - 12.2 | - 13.3 | - 11 .3 |
Continued from previous page...
| Age at migration | 1911-21 | 1921-31 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Persons | Males | Females | Persons | Males | Females | |
| 0- 5 years | - 28.3 | - 28.2 | - 28.4 | - 42.4 | - 43.5 | - 41.4 |
| 5-15 ,, | - 2.1 | - 3.8 | - 0.4 | - 8.0 | - 8.9 | - 7.1 |
| 15-20 „ | + 9.8 | 8.0 | + 25.9 | + 20.3 | + 6.1 | + 33.2 |
| 20-25 ,, | - 1.4 | - 9.9 | + 5.1 | + 10.9 | + 15.6 | + 7.2 |
| 25-45 ,, | - 12.8 | - 7.5 | - 17.1 | - 14.6 | - 10.0 | - 18.3 |
| 45-65 „ | - 3.5 | + 0.4 | - 6.9 | - 5.9 | - 4.7 | - 6.8 |
| 65 + ,, | - 2.3 | - 4.2 | - 1.0 | - 4.1 | - 6.8 | - 2.3 |
| All ages | - 7.0 | 7.6 | - 6.5 | - 7.6 | - 7.5 | - 7.7 |
The table above, based on table 11, shows the net migration rates of the sexes by age, since 1891,
expressed per 1,000 of the mean population in each decennium. The high rates of influx for
both sexes between ages 15 and 25in the periods 1891-1901 and 1921-31 should be noticed. The
total rate of movement out was highest during 1901-11, being 12.2 per 1,000 or about treble
that of the years 1891-1901. In the following periods this was reduced by nearly one-half. On
the other hand, the rate for children under 5 has been steadily rising, showing clearly the increasing
extent to which Londoners are seeking new homes without the county boundaries.
* See p. 14, General Report, 1921 Census.