London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972

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London County Council 1901

[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for London County Council]

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17
From the previous table (VI.) showing the number of survivors at each age in different
communities it is evident that the populations of urban communities such as London, Glasgow and
Manchester begin life under more adverse conditions than the population of the country as a whole.
Whether those who survive the greater risks to early life which obtain in such communities are still
subject, at the later ages, to conditions which are more adverse to longevity will be better seen on
reference to the following table (VII.), which shows the numbers surviving given age-periods out of
1,000 entering them ; by this method of comparison the effect ot a high infant mortality on the total
survivors at any age out of a given number born is eliminated, and the effects of the conditions affecting
longevity obtaining for particular age-periods can be more easily appreciated. At each period of
life the conditions affecting longevity were more favourable in London in 1891-1900 than in Glasgow
and Manchester in 1881-90 and less favourable in London in 1891-1900 than in England and Wales
in 1881-90 except at those ages affected by migration, as has been already pointed out.
Table VII.

Of 1,000 entering given age-periods the number surviving through the period.

Age period.Males.Females.
London, 1891-1900.Glasgow, 1881-90.Manchester, 1881-90.England and Wales, 1881-90.London, 1891-1900.Glasgow, 1881-90.Manchester. 1881-90.England and Wales, 1881-90.
0— 5719669679751749700718783
5—15964924929966963930928969
15—25960927946955968923950955
25—45803779732814847775777833
45—65519475414571611539488638

The expectation of life at various ages in these different communities is shown in the
following table (VIII.), and it has again been necessary to compare London figures based on the
experiences of 1891-1900 with those of the other communities based on the experiences of the preceding
decennium. Thus compared it is seen that London occupies a position between England and
Wales and Brighton on the one hand and Glasgow and Manchester on the other. This will be more
clearly seen on reference to diagram II. The "expectation curves" for London, England and Wales
and the healthy districts are shown in diagram III.
Table VIII.

Expectation of life at various ages—London, 1891-1900. Glasgow, Manchester, Brighton andEngland and Wales, 1881-90.

Age.Males.Females.
London, 1891-1900.Glasgow, 1881-90.Manchester 1881-90.Brighton, 1881-90.England and Wales, 1881-90.London. 1891-1900.Glasgow, 1881-90.Manchester 1881-90.Brighton, 1881-90.England and Wales 1881-90.
040-98351834-7143-5943-6645-3337-7038-4449-2547-18
5516046-97455952-8752-75551248-27480657-3654-92
1047-8444-3242-75491249-0051-4945-4445-4353-605110
1543-4040-5138-7844-6744-4747-1041-5941-5049-2646-55
20391336-9034-6240-5540-2742-77' 38 0037-3344-9542-42
2534-9633-2930-6936-5136-2838-4634-6033 384C-3838-50
3527-25260623-7629-0228-9130-4228 0626-3032.393116
4520-6519-5417-8022-3622-0623-2921-6119-79253024-05
5514-7613-9912-4916-4815-7416-7215-60139118-481723
659-769-388151C-9610-31110110-69911121911-26
755915-965116-346106-576-975-766-976-68

An interesting question to which the life table supplies an answer is how much of the total
expectation of life at birth is lived at various age periods of life ? How much of the total expectation
of life is lived in infancy, in maturity and in old age ? It will be seen from the life table (page 22) that
509,112 males born in London will live a total of 20,865,753 years, the average lifetime of each being
20,865,753/509,112or 40-98 years; from the figures given in the Qx column of the table it is easily shown how
many of these years of life are lived between any given ages thus the number of years of life lived
between ages 0 and 5 years will be equal to Q0— Q5 or 20,865,753—18,888,313 — 1,977,440 years and
the average number of years lived by each of the 509,112 males at birth between ages 0 and 5 will be
equal to or 3-88 years.
In Table IX. similar results are shown for four age periods which approximately represent
infancy, school-age, working period of life and the period of decline. From this table it appears that,
adopting the England and Wales figures as a standard, London males lose 3.5 per cent, ot the period
of infancy, 4-4 per cent, of the period of school-age, 5'6 per cent, of the working period of life, and
18.4 per cent, of the period of decline. It should, however, be pointed out in this connection that the
age of decline in a community whose mean expectation of life falls below that of England and
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