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4
To the Mayor, Aldermen and Councillors of the
Metropolitan Borough of Battersea.
Mr. Mayor, Ladies and Gentlemen,
I beg to present to you the Annual Report on the health of Battersea
for the year 1961, which follows in the main the form of previous
reports.
The population of the Borough, which has been gradually declining,
was reduced still further in 1961 to 104,980, according to the RegistrarGeneral's
mid-year estimate. This figure, which has been used in
calculating the various statistical rates, shows a reduction of 2,140 on
the estimated population in 1960. The preliminary results of the 1961
Census have, however, now been received, according to which the
population of Battersea is 105,758.
The live birth rate for the year was 19.18 per thousand of the
population, an increase over the figure of 17.5 for the previous year,
while the death rate was 10.87, showing a slight increase over last
year's figure of 10.09. The birth rate for London was 16.8, and for
England and Wales 17.4, while the death rate for London was 11.4
and for England and Wales 12.0. As in previous years the rates given are
the adjusted rates arrived at after the use of the Registrar-General's
comparability factor.
In previous Reports no special mention has been made to the subject
of illegitimacy ; this year I think a few comments would be appropriate
since from time to time references are made to this social problem
from the national point of view. In 1961 there were, in fact, 232
illegitimate live births out of the total 2,055 live births belonging to
Battersea. In 1960 there were 192 illegitimate live births, so that there
was an increase in 1961 of 40 illegitimate live births over the previous
year. If this figure of 232 is taken as a percentage of the total live
births, we find that in Battersea in 1961, 11.3% of all live births were
illegitimate. No figures are yet available for London and the rest of
the Country for 1961, but the corresponding figure for 1960 for London
was 11.4%, and for England and Wales 5.4%. It is thus seen that
Battersea, in common with London generally, has a comparatively high
proportion of illegitimate births.
This is an important social problem embracing as it does many
questions such as the educational, the employment of leisure, the bonds
of family life, the spiritual, the moral and other related and probably
more abstruse factors. It is well recognised that a high proportion of
illegitimate births is to be expected in London, and, presumably, this
would apply to Battersea. For instance, there are proportionately more
single women in London, with an influx of a number who may already
be pregnant. The facilities which London provides for an unmarried
mother to have her baby away from her own home, possibly without
the knowledge of relations and friends, and in many cases, almost
anonymously, are peculiar to the Metropolis. Thus, good facilities for
ante-natal care and the confinement are available, and subsequently the
help, support and guidance of Moral Welfare Organisations can be
provided. These are some reasons why London has an attraction for
an unmarried woman who has become pregnant. In Battersea, for