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18
THE BIRTH RATE.
The total number of Births registered in the Borough of
Lewisham during the year 1907 was 3,622. Of this total 1,854
were males and 1,768 females.
The birth rate for Lewisham is therefore 23.7 per 1,000
inhabitants, compared with 23.2 in the previous year, and 25.3
the average for the past five years.
The birth rate for London was 25.6 per thousand, or 1.9
per thousand in excess of this Borough.
Of the total births, 446 were registered in the Lee
division, 2,063 in Lewisham, and 1,113 in Sydenham and
Forest Hill division.
The birth rate in Lee was 22.2, in Lewisham 24.2, and
in Sydenham and Forest Hill 23.5 per 1,000 of the inhabitants
of each division.
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 26.3 per 1,000
of the population, which was 0.7 per 1,000 below the rate in
1906, and again lower than any rate on record.
The 76 Great Towns for which returns are available
showed a birth rate of 27.0 per 1,000 of the population, the rates
for the three preceding years having been 29.1, 28.2 and 27.8.
It is interesting to note the wide range in the birth rates
of various districts : e.g., Hastings 16.6, Hornsey 17.0,
Bournemouth 17.3, Halifax 17.4, Bradford 20.0, Northampton
20.6, Coventry 33.0, Warrington 33.6, St. Helen's 34.2, Middlesbrough
34.2, Sunderland 34 3, Merthyr Tydfil 35.9, Rhondda
37.1.