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19
SOCIAL CONDITIONS

LOCAL INDUSTRIES
There have been no changes in the main local industries detailed in previous reports.
COMMENTS ON THE VITAL STATISTICS
POPULATION
The Census taken during 1931 showed that the population of the borough was 150,928, but
the Registrar-General's estimate of the population for the year 1938 was 137,700. This latter figure
has been used for the compilation of the various rates mentioned in this report.
Despite a natural increase (excess of births over deaths) of 356, the Registrar-General estimates
a further decrease of 1,200 in the population from mid-1937 to mid-1938. As I suggested last year, a
quinquennial census offers many advantages in the ascertainment of correct populations as well as in
other directions.
MARRIAGES
The number of marriages during 1938 was 1,335, and the marriage rate (the number of marriages
per thousand of the population) was 9.61 compared with 1,340 marriages and a rate of 9.65 in the
previous year.
BIRTHS
During the year the live births, corrected by the distribution of those occurring in lying-in
institutions in the Borough to those districts in which the mothers resided, and the inclusion of
children born to Fulham mothers in institutions outside the Borough, numbered 1,958, of whom
992 were males and 966 females. The birth rate (the number of live births per 1,000 of the population)
was 14.2, an increase of 0.3 compared with 1937. The birth rate for the Metropolis was 13.4 and
for England and Wales 15-1.
STILLBIRTHS
The number of stillbirths during 1938 was 67, an increase of 6 compared with the previous
year. The stillbirths amounted to 33.1 per thousand of of the total births (live and still). The corresponding
rate for England and Wales was 38.0. On the basis of stillbirths per thousand of the
population the local rate is 0.9 compared with 0.60 nationally and 0.9 in the administrative county.