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and 1921 was greater than the increase in the number of dwellings
in the same period, yet the increase of the percentage of the population
living more than two persons to a room was only a slight one.
The ratio of two or more persons per room has been selected
as an approximate comparative index figure for the purpose of
measuring the prevalence and distribution of overcrowding conditions,
but obviously it cannot be accepted as an absolute standard
or a definition of overcrowding; other factors enter, such as the
size of the rooms, the age-distribution of the population including
the number of children.
In the intercensal period 1911—1921, there was an increase of
810 or 7.5 per cent. in the number of total dwellings in the district.
In the same period there was an increase in the number of private
families of 2,012 or 15.6 per cent.
A reference to the table giving the number of persons occupying
the different number of rooms will show that 6,478 were living
more than 2 persons to a room. In 1911, the number was 5,947. The
percentage of the total family population living more than 2 persons
to a room in 1921 was 10.7 compared with 10.4 in 1911. This percentage
naturally is higher in the 1, 2 and 3 room tenements. In
the 1 room tenements the percentage was 21, in the 2 roomed
cues it was 28, and in the 3 roomed tenements it was 20. In the
4 roomed tenements it dropped to 8 per cent. For comparative purposes
the Registrar-General has adopted a standard based upon
the number of rooms per persons in the whole of England and
Wales. Based upon the England and Wales standard, the deficiency
of rooms in Acton was 3,126 or 4.8 per cent.
The average number of rooms per person in a dwelling does
not depend on the size of the tenement but on the size of the
family. In families of one person each the average number of
rooms per person is 2.36, and this number steadily and continuously
goes down till it reaches .4 in the family of 14.
A considerable difference exists in the conditions of the
different wards The population of the South-West Ward exceeds
that of any other, but in area it is the least.
The highest number of private families was in the North-East
Ward, but the highest number of structurally separate dwellings
was in the South-East Ward.
The total number of rooms occupied was highest in the NorthEast
Ward, but the highest average of rooms per person was in the
North-West Ward.
The greatest intercensal increase occurred in the North-East
Ward, and the smallest in the South-East Ward.
The ratio of females to males was lcwest in the South-West
Ward with 1,092 females to every 1,000 males, and highest in the
North-West Ward with 1,295 females to every 1,000 males.