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12
THE BIRTH-RATE.
The number of Births registered in Lambeth during the
year 1899 was 9433, as compared with 9256 for the year
1898. Of the total 9433 births, 4849 were males, and 4584
females, showing an excess of 265 males.
The birth-rate for Lambeth is, therefore, 30.6 per 1,000
inhabitants (333 for males, and 28'2 for females), as compared
with 29 4 for London (316 for males and 27 2 for
females) ; whilst in the various Registration Sub-Districts
the birth-rates work out as shown in Table A. Tables B
and C shew the number of births, and the birth-rates for
the last 10 years in Lambeth.
It must again be pointed out that the death-rate and
birth-rate must be taken together, as the death-rate per se
gives no reliable information as to the relative healthiness
or otherwise of a particular district. For this reason, in
considering the statistics of the various Registration SubDistricts
of Lambeth, the birth-rates and death-rates are
given side by side, and any deductions drawn must be
on the understanding of the importance of this interrelationship.
In the Inner Wards (where the birth-rates are high) is
this to be again especially noted, as the high birth-rates
there help the high death-rates, owing to the great
numbers of deaths amongst infants and children between
1 and 5 years of age. Density of population in the Inner
Wards leads to this high infantile mortality, and a persistently
high birth-rate, instead of leading to a lower,
causes a higher, death-rate, and points to the unsatisfactory
and less healthy conditions under which the inhabitants in
the Inner Wards of Lambeth exist, as compared with those
in the Outer Wards. It must be remembered, too, that the
Lying-in Hospital and the Workhouse tend to abnormally
increase the birth-rates in Waterloo Second and Lambeth
Church Second Districts, the necessary corrections being
given in a footnote (see p. 10).