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3
SECTION A
STATISTICS . AND SOCIAL CONDITIONS
(i) General Statistics.
Area in Acres 1,390
Population (Registrar General) 40,780
Number of inhabited houses (approx.) 11,115
Rateable Value-General Rate £ 540,822
Sum represented by Penny Rate £ 2,287
(ii) Social Conditions.
I am indebted to the Manager of the local Employment
Exchange for the following information regarding employment
in his area which includes the Boroughs of Kingston,
Maiden & Coombe, and Surbiton, and the Urban District of
Esher.
Unemployment during 1948 did not exceed 1.2% of
the industrial population at any time, and the greater
part of this was short term unemployment of two weeks
or less. On the 5th. July, 1948, the National Insurance
(1946) Act came into force, and this had the effect of
bringing many more workpeople than hitherto, within the
scope of unemployment insurance.
It was possible to find alternative employment for
the majority of the redundancies caused by the removal
of Messrs. Ley lands from the area before they actually
left this firm, and Messrs. Hawker (Aircraft) Ltd. vho
took over the factory, were able to transfer their
Kingston domiciled workpeople from their Langley factory
as well as taking on some of the ex-Leyland people.
There was a noticeable falling off in demand for
women factory workers, but the demand for women to work
in shops, laundries, and offices remained steady. The
supply of daily domestic workers exceeded the demand for
the first time in some years.
The supply of juvenile labour was not nearly sufficient
to meet the demand, a total of only 85 boys, and
65 girls, leaving Kingston schools during the year.
The principal industries of the area, which is still
in the main of a residential character, are Building,
Motor Engineering, general engineering, and the construction
and repair of aircraft.
(iii) Extracts from Vital Statistics of the Year.
Live Births - Total Male Female
Legitimate 677 345 332
Illegitimate 45 21 24
722 366 356
Birth Rate (Registrar General)
per 1,000 population 17.73