THE BIRTH RATE.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LV, Issue 129, 18 October 1912, Page 7

THE BIRTH RATE.

SIGNIFICANT DECREASE. A SERIOUS DECLiXE. By Telegraph—Own Correspondent. Wellington, Last Night. The following significant .paragraph is published in part 2 of the new Gazette and Official Year Book just published: Taking the number of married women in New Zealand at what might be considered the child-bearing age, i.e., 15 to 45 years inclusive, as shown by each census since 1878, and ior the same year the number of legitimate births (excludplural) registered, the ibirth rate per 100) married women of the above stated ages is easily found, and is shown to be steadily declining, l'n 1878 the rate was 337 per 1000, in 1890 it had fallen to 252, in 1001 tq 244, in 1900 to 228, and in 1911 to 209, 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 live. In April, 1900, New Zealand had 102,745 children living under the age of five 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 15,104, or 14.70 per cent, on 1906. Although the population at all ages increased in the quinquennium by only 13.49 per cent., between 1891 and 1890 the increase was only 455, or 0.55 per cent., while between 1880 and 1891 the children living under five years actually decieasad in number by 3624, the increase of population of ail ages (8.33 per cent) being less than between 1891 and 1890 (12.24 per cent.), 1890 and 1901 (9.80 per cent.), or 1901 and 1900 (44.99 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 1901.