OUR FALLING BIRTHRATE.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXXIV, Issue 1012, 19 October 1912, Page 3

OUR FALLING BIRTHRATE.

some Significant

figures

“Taking the number of married women in New Zealand at what may be considered the child-bear-ing ages (i.e., from 15 to 45 years, inclusive) as shown by each census since 1878, and lor the same years the number of legitimate births (excluding plural) registered, the birthrate per 1000 married women of the above staled ages is shown to be steadily declining (states a paragraph in Part 2 of tne New Zealand Official Year Book, just circulated). In 1878 the rate was 337 per 1000, in 1896 it had fallen to 252, in 1901 to 244, in 1906 to 288, and in 1911 to 209 2 ; or, in other words, in 1878 one in every three of the married women between the ages specified gave birth to a child, while in 1911 the rate was only one in nearly five. In April, 1906, New Zealand had 102,745 children living under the age of five years, an increase of 15.939, or 18-35 P er cent. oa the figures for 1901 ; and in April, 19x1, the number was 117,909, an increase of 15,164, or 14.76 per cent, on 1906, although the population at all ages increased in the quinquennium by only 13.49 per cent. Between 1891 and 1896 the increase was only 455. or 0.55 per cent., while between 1886 and 1891 the children living under five years actually decreased in number by 3,624, the increase of population of all ages (8.33 per ceut.) being less than between 1891 and 1896 (12.24 per cent.), 1896 and 1901 (9.86 per cent.), or 1901 and 1906 (14.99 per cent.) The births of 1078 children (the figures are for 1911) were illegitimate ; thus 41 in every 1000 children born were born out of wedlock, against 45 in 1910.