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In 1915 there were 4,141 occupied houses, chiefly in Purley and
Woodcote, whereas in 1938 there were 15,431 houses, distributed amongst
the Wards as follows:—
Coulsdon East 1,980
Coulsdon West 2,731
Kenley 1,181
Purley 2,504
Sanderstead 3,793
Selsdon and Farleigh1,631
Woodcote 1,611
There was thus an average of 3.5 persons per occupied house in
1938 as compared with 4.3 in 1915.
VITAL STATISTICS.
BIRTHS.
During the year 738 Births were registered as belonging to the
District, of which 362 were males and 376 were females, as compared
with 692 in 1937.
This is equal to an Annual Birth Rate of 13.4 per thousand of
population, as compared with 12.8 last year, and 12.5, 12.2 and 11.8
in the preceding three years.
The average Birth Rate for this District declined during the four
quinquennial periods 1915-1934, viz., 13.9, 13.5, 12.9 and 11.6, but
slight rises occurred in the District and in the Country as a whole in
1934, suggesting that a turning point had been reached. Locally and
nationally this proved correct, as increases in the Birth Rate have now
been experienced in the District in five successive years, while the Birth
Rates for England and Wales have been 15.1 in 1938, 14.9 in 1937,
14.8 in 1936 and 14.7 in 1935.
The greater rate of increase locally probably reflects in part the
number of young married couples who continue to settle in this District
being attracted by the amenities and the type of development which has
taken place in recent years.
There were 20 illegitimate births (11 males and 9 females) registered,
this being 6 less than the preceding year. Expressed as a percentage
of total births, 2.7 were illegitimate. The proportion of illegitimate
births showed a marked decline from 1915-1934, the average for the
five yearly periods being 5.7, 3.4, 3.7 and 2.8.
The number of stillbirths has only been recorded during the last
eight years. In 1938 there were 21 registered (14 males and 7 females)
this being 6 more than last year. All the stillbirths occurred in legitimate
children. The local stillbirth Rate was thus 0.38 per thousand of
population, as compared with 0.60 for England and Wales.
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