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48
It would appear generally to be the case that illegitimacy is
greatest when social standards, cultural and material, are low and,
collectively, factors such as an insecure family life, poor and overcrowded
homes, lack of direction and personal drive in life, etc.,
seem to be implicated.
In London, rates tend to be higher than that for the country
as a whole possibly by reason of a higher proportion of single
females but very probably because of its compelling attraction to
pregnant women who find not only anonymity but better facilities
in the ante-natal, maternity, social and welfare fields.
Illegitimate births in Greenwich during the current year
numbered 315 (8.4% of all live births) giving an illegitimate rate
of 84 per 1,000 live births compared with a figure of 77 for England
and Wales. Put more prosaically, one baby in every twelve born
of Greenwich residents was illegitimate.
Stillbirths
in recent studies, instituted by the Medical Research Council
and others, the mother's age, parity and social class were found to
be significant factors affecting stillbirths. Furthermore, although
recent years have shown reductions in stillbirths throughout the
country, the improvement was most marked in the higher social
classes.
Registered Greenwich stillbirths numbered 82 (43 males—
39 females) which is equivalent to a rate of 21.55 per 1,000 total
births, an increase of 4.72 over that calculated for 1964. Greater
London returned a rate of 14.7 and that for England and Wales was
15.8.
Deaths
Populations are not similarly constituted and their crude Death
Rates therefore fail as true comparative mortality indexes in that
their variations are not due to mortality alone, but arise also from
differences in their population constitution. For instance, a town
with a population consisting of aged persons would register more
deaths than one composed entirely of young and vigorous adults.
Again a town containing a larger number of males than females
records more deaths with a consequent higher Death Rate than
one in which females preponderate.
To overcome this difficulty the Registrar-General has worked
out for each area in the country an adjusting factor which is termed
the "Comparability Factor" and is based on the last census population
figure. The Factor for Greenwich, viz. 1.06, may be regarded
as the population handicap to be applied which, when multiplied