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18
Declining Birth Rate.—The Annual Summary of the
Registrar-General shows that the birth rate continues to decline
throughout England and Wales. The birth rate for the whole
country during the year under review amounted to 27.0 per 1,000
of the population, which was 0.2 per 1,000 below the rate in
1905, and again lower than any rate on record.
The 76 Great Towns for which returns are available
showed a birth rate of 27.8 per 1,000 of the population, the rates
for the three preceding years having been 29.7, 29.1 and 28.2.
It is interesting to note the wide range in the birth rates
of various districts: e.g., Hastings 16.3, Bournemouth 17.7,
Hornsey 18.4, Halifax 18.9, Bradford 20.6; Rhondda 37.3,
Merthyr Tydfil 36.4, Middlesbrough 35.6, Sunderland 34.9,
St. Helens and Hanley 34.0.
In London the birth rate amounted to 26.5, or 1.5 per
1000 below the average for the past 5 years and also the
lowest on record. Here again wide variations occur according
to the districts: e.g., Hampstead 16.5, City of London 16.7,
City of Westminster 17.2, Kensington 19.2, Stoke Newington
20.8; on the other hand, Stepney 34.2, Bethnal Green 34.5,
Shoreditch 31.2, Bermondsey 31.8, Poplar 31.6, Finsbury 30.2,
Fulharn 30.0.
Illegitimacy.—During the year 1906, 4,838 infants were
registered in London as having been born out of wedlock. This
figure gives a proportion of 39 per 1,000 births, which is 2 per
1,000 above the average proportion in the preceding 10 years.
In Lewisham of the 3,446 registered births, 82 or 23.8
per 1,000 were registered as being illegitimate, compared with
33.3 per 1,000 in the previous year.
On reviewing the returns of illegitimate births it is found
that 50 per cent. of these children were born to domestic