[Report 1905] / Medical Officer of Health, Staffordshire County Council.
- Staffordshire (England). County Council
- Date:
- 1905
Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
Credit: [Report 1905] / Medical Officer of Health, Staffordshire County Council. Source: Wellcome Collection.
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![Birth-Rate per 1000 of Population. DISTRICTS. 5 Years 5 Years 5 Years 1904. 1905. 1889-1893. 1894-1898. 1899-1903. <D / jg I Combined Urban & Rural 34-4 35-4 33-1 32-5 31-0 13 ■] Urban. 36-0 30-5 34-2 33-7 32-0 i§ 1 _<§ Rural. 30-8 34-0 30-2 28-4 27 T 35 \ England and Wales. 30-8 29-7 28-7 27-9 27-2 Large Towns in England .... 31-5 30-7 29-7 29-1 28-2 In Biddulph, where a birth-rate of 36-o is recorded, the Medical Officer of Health points out that it exceeds the average by 17, and has only twice been higher, namely, in 1895 and 1901. With this exception, in most of the reports attention is directed to the fact that the rates are exceptionally low. The Medical Officer of Health of Fenton, where the rate was 36-5, points out that, with one exception, it is the lowest during the past 10 years. The Medical Officer of Health of the Borough of New¬ castle, in referring to a rate of 27^5 as being the lowest recorded for at least 20 years, writes :—“ In assigning a cause for this decrease, there are many factors which have to be taken into consideration, and probably not the least important is the general slackness of trade and the poverty which has existed in the town.” In Sedgley it is said that although the rate has been slightly higher the last two years, this year’s rate of 34T is 3‘9 lower than the mean for the previous 10 years. In referring to a rate of 30’8, compared with a mean rate of 367 for the previous 10 years, the Medical Officer of Health of Willenhall writes :—“ This decrease in the birth-rate is partly artificial, and is not confined to Willenhall—for a large decrease has been shown not only in England, but in all Western Countries in recent years, and it may before long lead to serious political consequences to some nations. It appears to be due not only to a determination of the people to raise for the time being their standard of comfort, but is](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b30131807_0025.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
