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27
In comparing death-rates it is necessary to take into consideration
both the age and the sex of the persons composing the populations
whose rates are the subject of comparison, as the death-rate varies
very considerably at different age-periods, and is generally higher
in males than in females.
In Table XIV the population of Westminster is shown to vary
considerably from that of London : thus, in London 30 per cent. of
the population is under 15 years of age, while in Westminster only
19½ per cent. At each age-period above 15 Westminster has a
larger proportion of persons than in London. These figures are
calculated from those given by the Registrar-General, and do not
include persons in St. George's and the Strand Workhouses outside
the City, for which detailed figures are not yet available, and thus
the proportions are not quite correct, especially at the higher ages;
but the addition of these 3,000 persons would increase the contrast
between the proportions of persons living under and over the age of
15 years by slightly lowering the earlier figures and increasing the
later ones, as most of the inmates of these institutions are elderly
persons.
I have also calculated the proportions for each of the three
Registration Districts which correspond in area with the three Poor
Law Unions. Here the omission of the outlying institutions affects
practically only St. George's and the Strand, the former to a much
less extent than the latter, where the original population is much
smaller. The distribution of population in St. George's Union closely
resembles that for the City; in Westminster Union the younger ages
are slightly higher, from 15 to 45 years of age they are a good deal
higher, while above 45 years the proportions are lower than in
the City, and nearer those for London. In the Strand Union the
number of persons living at all age-periods up to 35 years is less
than in the City, while there is a corresponding excess in the higher
periods of life when mortality is heaviest.
When complete population statistics are available it will be
possible to obtain factors by the use of which these variations of
population as regards age and sex may be removed, and the rates
be made directly comparable. Meanwhile, the effect of these variations
may be estimated by comparing Table XIV with Table XV.
Table XV shows the death-rate at certain age-periods, while
Table XIV shows the proportion of persons liviug at these periods.
Table XV also shows the effect of sex on the death-rates at
the various periods. At all ages the male death-rate is 17.6, as
compared with 13.8, the female death-rate. The preponderance,
therefore, of females, as in St. George's Registration District, has