OUR FALLING BIRTH-RATE.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1574, 18 October 1912, Page 6

OUR FALLING BIRTH-RATE.

. —. —? SOME SIGNIFICANT FIGURES. "Taking tho number of married womet in New Zealand at what, may bo considered tho child-bearing ages (i.e., from 15 to 45 years, inclusive) as shown by 'each census siyco 1878, and for tho same years tho number of legitimate births (excluding plural) registered, the birth raio per 1000 married women of tho aboveslated ages is shown to, 1,0" steadily declining (states a paragraph in Part 2 of the Now Zealand Official Year Book, just circulated). In 1878 the rate was 337 per 1000, in 1806 it had fallen to 252, in 1901 to 241, in 1906 to 228, and in 1911 to 209.2; or, in other words, in 1878' one in every three of tho married women between tho ages specified, gave birth to a child, while in, 19U.the rate was only one in nearly five. In April, 1906, New.Zealand'had 102,715 children living under the age of fivo years, an increase of 15,939, or 18.35 per cent, on the figures for 1901; and in April, 1911, the number was 117,909, an increase of 15,164, or 14.76 per cent, on 1906, although tlie population at all ages increased ill' the quinquennium by only 13119 per cent. Between 1891 and 189G Iho increase was only 455, or 0.55 per cent., while between 1886 and IS9I the children living under five vears actually decreased in number by 3624, the increase of -Jiopu. lation of all ages (8.33 per cent.) being less than between 1891 and 1896 (12.24 per cent.), 1896 and 1991 (9.8G per cent.), or 1901 and 19(IG (11.99 per cent.). The .birth" 3 of 1078 children (the figures are for 1911) were illegitimate; thus (I in everv 1000 children l.orn were born out'of wedlock, against 45 in 1910.