View report page

7
Considerable advance was made in the provision of new housing accommodation;
and careful consideration was given during the year to the code of by-laws regulating
health conditions, in houses occupied by more than one family, the drafting of which
under the Housing Acts of 1919 and 1923 rests with the Council. Some 20 years
ago considerable difficulty was experienced in London in the housing of transmigrants
passing through England on their way to lands abroad. In 1919, at the cessation
of the war, the unsatisfactory features of this traffic were repeated in an acute form.
Steps were taken to minimise the evil until the shipping companies were able to
make arrangements in other directions; passengers of this class are not now being
brought to London in appreciable numbers.
A.—Vital Statistics.
The population of London County at the census of 20th June, 1921, was 4,484,523,
including members of the armed forces in London but excluding Londoners on active
service elsewhere. It is estimated by the Registrar-General that the population
with residence in London as at the date of the census was about 4,524,000, allowance
being made for persons absent on holiday when the census was taken.
The Registrar-General estimates the civil population in the middle of 1923 to
have been 4,564,109, and non-civilian 6,000. The births in the period from the
middle of 1921 to the middle of 1923 exceeded the deaths by 80,041, and on the
basis of the Registrar-General's estimate the balance of movement of population
in the two years has resulted in the loss of about 35,000 persons.
The estimated mid-year civil populations of the metropolitan boroughs in 1923
are shown in the table on p. 57.
Population.
The marriages registered in London during 1923 numbered approximately
39,294, or 17.2 per thousand of population, the corresponding figures for last year
being 41,611 and 18.4, respectively. From figures recently published it appears
that the decrease in the number of marriages in 1922 as compared with 1921 was
greatest among women under 21 years of age, being at that age about 10 per cent.
The age-distribution of the 1923 marriages is not yet available. The course of the
marriage-rate in London since 1840 is shown in the diagram on p. 6.
Marriages.
The births in London during 1923 numbered 91,662, this being 6,870 less than
last year. The birth-rate was 20.1 per thousand of population as compared with
20.9 in 1922 and 22.1 in 1921. The birth-rates for each metropolitan borough and
for London as a whole will be found in the table on p. 57 ; and the movement in the
London birth-rate since 1840 is shown in the diagram on p. 6.
Births.