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57
Since 1969, no further statistics on these lines have been issued
for specific areas but the Registrar-General has estimated that,
of the total birth occurrences in England and Wales during 1971,
5.8% were to parents of New Commonwealth ethnic origin The
current national figure shows no significant change from that for
1970.
If this situation obtains in Greenwich, then the current fertility
rate of resident females born in the New Commonwealth countries
is continuing on a course similar to that calculated for 1969,
namely, at something more than 2\ times that of the indigenous
population.
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 area comparability factor and is based on the last census population
figure. The factor for Greenwich, viz. 1.07, may be regarded
as the population handicap to be applied which, when multiplied
by the crude Death Rate for the year, modifies the latter so as to
makes it comparable with the country as a whole or with any
similarly adjusted area.
The net number of Greenwich deaths registered during 1971 was
2,546 of which 1,296 were males and 1,250 females compared with
last year's total of 2,606. This gives a crude Death Rate for the
Borough of 11.73 per 1,000 of the population, representing an
increase of 0.17 over that calculated for the previous year. When
the area comparability factor is taken into account the rate is
increased to 12.55 for comparative purposes.
The comparable Death Rates for Greater London and for
England and Wales are 11.61 and 11.6 respectively. Inner London
returned a crude Death Rate of 12.3.
In Greenwich, the crude death rate per 1,000 living was 12.28
for males and 11.13 for females compared with 12.12 and 11.11,
the respective national rates.