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London County Council.
ANNUAL REPORT OF THE COUNCIL, 1928.
VOL. III—PUBLIC HEALTH.
CHAPTER I.
REPORT OF THE COUNTY MEDICAL OFFICER FOR THE YEAR 1928.
By F. N. Kay Menzies, M.D., F.R.C.P. (Ed.), D.P.H., F.R.S.E., County Medical
Officer of Health and School Medical Officer.
Population.
Vital Statistics.
The population of the County of London 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 and elsewhere. It is estimated by the Registrar General
that the population resident in London at the date of the census was about 4,524,000,
allowance being made in this estimate for persons absent on holiday when the census
was taken. The Registrar General estimates the total population in the middle
of 1928 to have been 4,469,000 including 10,800 non-civilians. The estimated
populations of the metropolitan boroughs in 1928 are shown in the table on page 30.
Marriages.
The marriages registered in London during 1928 numbered approximately
41,392, being 18.9 per thousand of population, the rate for the preceding year being
18.2.
Births.
The births in London during 1928 numbered 72,352, as compared with 73,263
in the preceding year. The birth rate was 16.2 per thousand as against 16.1 in 1927.
The lowest birth rate recorded in London was that for the year 1918, when the effects
of the war were at their maximum. In that year, there were 70,976 births, this being
only 1,377 less than in 1928. In the last quarters of 1927 and 1928, the births fell
below the lowest number recorded for these quarters even during the war.
Fertility of
married
women in
relation to
social
condition.
The birth rate for each metropolitan borough will be found in the table on page 30.
The fertility of married women of the better class must necessarily be considerably
below that of the poorer class owing to higher age at marriage, and the consequent
reduction in the length of their child-bearing period: but it can be shown that
only a relatively small proportion of the difference in the extremes of social class
is attributable to difference in the actual ages of the mothers.
In Vol. XIII of the census for 1911, Part II, page 21, the number of children
born to married women living at the date of the census whose husbands' occupations
form the lower of five "social groups" is shown to be about l½ times the number
born to women whose husbands' occupations were classed as belonging to the highest
of these social groups. The grouping is, however, faulty owing to the fact that the
occupations include a number of persons of different social status : bank managers
are included in the highest social group but so also are other bank employees : and
in the lowest social group brickmakers for instance include persons of all grades
whose occupation is concerned with the manufacture of bricks. The fertility of
married women in relation to social conditions in London has been discussed from
time to time in the Medical Officer's reports, and in that for 1909 (p. 10) it is shown
that where allowance is made for the difference in ages of the married women the
fertility of a group of metropolitan boroughs of the poorer class populations is about
(5)
1000— (0.13955— 76A)—2.7.29—16479