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to 13.9 in 1909, or a decline of 43 per cent. In Hampstead the birthrate
has undergone a greater proportionate decline than in England and
Wales.
The significance of the decline in the birth-rate has to some extent
been masked by the marked decline in the death rate that has also
occurred in the years under review. The death-rate has fallen in
England and Wales from 20.9 in 1876 to 14•5 in 1909—a decline of
30•6 per cent.—and in Hampstead from l5•2 to 8•9 in the same years —
a decline of 41•4 per cent. It is obvious, however, that the death-rate
cannot be expected to decline indefinitely. Death cannot be prevented ;
it can only be postponed. The present age-constitution of the population
in this country is favourable to a low death-rate, but as the
proportion of old persons in the population increases the death-rate will
tend to rise. In France the death-rate has in several years exceeded the
birth-rate, and the same result has been recorded in some parts of
England. The Adelaide Ward in Hampstead affords an exampleTins
Ward in 1909 had the low death-rate of 8 per 1000 population,
but the birth-rate was only 7•6. The corresponding figures in 1907
were 7•9 and 6•9. Death being inevitable, there must always be a deathrate;
but birth is not inevitable, and there is nothing in the nature of
things to prevent the birth rate from falling to zero.
The causes of the fall in the English birth-rate have been discussed
in the recent Annual Reports of the Registrar-General, and the conclusion
reached is that the fall is due to a decrease (1) in illegitimacy ;
(2) in the marriage-rate; and (3) in the fertility of marriages, which
again is due to (a) the greater proportion of older women in the
population of married women at conceptive ages, and (b) the voluntary
limitation of the family. The last, no doubt, is the chief cause that has
been at work in the decline of the birth-rate.
The following table shows the Ward and sex-distribution of the
births, and the birth-rate for each Ward:—