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10
Ages at death
Table 3 on page 8 shows the ages at death during 1951. If this
table is looked at as it is printed year by year probably nothing much is
apparent to the ordinary reader, but if it is compared with a considerable
number of years ago the differences are obvious. To make the comparison
more vivid the following diagrams have been constructed in circular form
to show the proportion of deaths at different ages in 1901 and in 1951,
50 years later. Certain points are immediately obvious. First, that in
1901 the proportion of deaths under the age of one year was a quarter
of the total, whereas in 1951 this had fallen to a narrow segment of
the circle. Secondly, the proportion of deaths from ages 1 to 5 in 1901
made quite a substantial slice of the " cake " whereas in 1951 they were
so small that their indicator has had to be put outside the circle; the
position with regard to deaths from ages 5 to 15 is very similar. Thirdly,
in 1901 the deaths over the age of 65 were just over a quarter of the
total whereas in 1951 those over the age of 75 alone are considerably
more than a quarter and those over the age of 65 are considerably more
than a half, in fact almost two-thirds of all deaths. Nevertheless,
while noting with approval what has happened, we must not be in any
way complacent about these matters for it will be seen that the proportion
of deaths between the ages of 15 and 65 (the cross hatched area) has not
altered greatly over the years, being somewhat over a quarter of the
whole both in 1901 and 1951. Improvements in the control of disease
in future years, particularly of cancer and heart affections, will be
necessary to contract the 15 to 65 slice and so save many years of
able-bodied manpower.