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Illegitimacy

Illegitimate births in London reached a peak figure in 1946, but because or the high
birth rate in that year this was not wholly reflected in the percentage figure. Since
1949 the number of illegitimate births has been fairly stable but with a fall in total
births the percentage of illegitimate births has increased. Such evidence as is available
suggests that the true illegitimate fertility rate in London is lower than would appear
from the crude figures because of the understandable wish of the unmarried mother to
bear her child in the anonymity of a large city and to take advantage of the facilities
available therein. It is known from the records of voluntary organisations who care
for unmarried mothers and their babies (see page 74) that 418 unmarried women
came to London to have their babies in 1955; some 200 of these were Irish girls and
about 60 were West Indians. Such births are however allocated to London and consequently
increase both its illegitimate and total fertility rates. It is also known that at
least 142 unmarried West Indian women already resident in London had illegitimate
babies and were assisted by these voluntary organisations in 1955 (there may be others
who did not seek assistance).
Deaths under one year among illegitimate infants amounted to 38 per 1,000 illegitimate
births compared with a rate of 22 for legitimate births. The corresponding rates
for 1954 were 31 and 20 respectively. A detailed comparison of deaths in both groups
is given in Table 6 (page 184).
Still.births
There were 1,034 still.births m 1955 or 20.3 per 1,000 total births—the legitimate
and illegitimate rates being 19.9 and 25.7 respectively. The number of still.births and
rate per 1,000 total births in each year since 1946 and for each of the three preceding
quinquennia is shown in Table 2 (page 180). After remaining stable for several years the
still.birth rate fell sharply in 1943 and continued to fall until 1948 ; since then the rate
in London has remained relatively stable and somewhat lower than that of England and
Wales (23.2).
Mortality'1'
The total deaths in 1955 amounted to 37,877 or 11.5 per 1,000 of the population.
Detailed figures are given in Tables 3 (population, etc. by boroughs f), 4 and 5 (pages
181, 182, 183). Mortality from infectious diseases is discussed under the heading of
'Infectious Diseases' on page 20, and tuberculosis is dealt with separately (see page
26).
The trend of the death rate in London, together with the corresponding rate for
England and Wales, is indicated by the diagram on page 14. The areal comparability
*A review of mortality in this century appears as Appendix A (page 153).
† A further commentary on the vital statistics of London by boroughs appears as Appendix B (page 164).
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