# BIRTHS.
The births registered during the year were as follows:
Males. Females. Total. Chinese, 1,601 760 2,361 Non-Chinese, 150 120 270 Total, 1916, 1,751 880 2,631 Total, 1915, 1,692 919 2,611This gives a general birth rate of 61 per 1,000 as compared with 61 in 1915 and 73 in 1914.
The birth rate among the non-Chinese community was 205 per 1,000 as compared with 132 in 1915, and 168 in 1914. The nationality of the parents was as follows: British 143, Portuguese 63, Indian 35, Malay 9, Filipino 7, American 4, French and West Indian 3 each, Brazilian and Syrian 2 each, Swedish, Dutch, Siamese, Japanese, and German, one each.
The number of births of Chinese nationality registered does not give an accurate record of the number of births which has occurred. Owing to the custom of the Chinese of not registering any birth unless the child has survived for a month, and often, in the case of female children, not at all, it is probable that the majority, if not all, of the infants who are sickly at birth or die before reaching the age of one month have not been registered. It is customary, therefore, to assume that all children of one month or less admitted to the various Convents, together with those found dead in the streets, harbour, hillsides, etc., have been born in the colony but have not been registered. The addition of this number to that of the registered births gives a more correct estimate of the birth rate which is therefore calculated in this manner. The number of such children in 1916 was 944 (451 males and 493 females) making a total of 3,575 births in 1916 as compared with 3,701 in 1915.
The birth rate so corrected is therefore 87 and for the Chinese community the rate becomes 79 instead of 58 per 1,000 but even this addition is not sufficient as the total of infant deaths is still greater than the total of births so calculated, from which it is evident that many are brought into the colony from the mainland of China.
The last census return (1911) showed 1,180 Chinese under one year of age in the colony, while between the ages of one and five there were 24,738.
The preponderance of male over female registered births is very marked among the Chinese, there being 211 males to every 100 females; in 1915 the proportion was 201 to 100; and in 1914, 168 to 100, but the addition of the 944 unregistered births reduces the proportion to 164 males to 100 females for 1916.
In the non-Chinese community the proportion of male to female births was 125 to 100 as compared with 92 to 100 in 1915.
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M 15
BIRTHS.
The births registered during the year were as follows :---
Males.
Females.
Total.
Chinese, Non-Chinese,
1,601
760
2,361
150
120
270
Total, 1916,...... 1,751
880
2,631
Total, 1915,...... 1,692
· 919
2,611
This gives a general birth rate of 61 per 1,000 as compared with 61 in 1915 and 73 in 1914.
The birth rate among the non-Chinese community was 2005 per 1,000 as compared with 132 in 1915, and 168 in 1914. The nationality of the parents was as follows-British 143, Portuguese 63, Indian 35, Malay 9, Filipino 7, American 4, French and West Indian 3 each, Brazilian and Syrian 2 each, Swedish, Dutch, Siamese, Japanese, and German, one each.
The number of births of Chinese nationality registered does not give an accurate record of the number of births which has occurred. Owing to the custom of the Chinese of not registering any birth unless the child has survived for a month, and often, in the case of female children, not at all, it is probable that the majority, if not all, of the infants who are sickly at birth or die before reaching the age of one month have not been registered. It is customary, therefore, to assume that all children of one month or less admitted to the va- rious Convents, together with those found dead in the streets, har- bour, hillsides, etc., have been born in the colony but have not been registered. The addition of this number to that of the registered births gives a more correct estimate of the birth rate which is there- fore calculated in this inanner. The number of such children in 1916 was 944 (451 males and 493 females) making a total of 3,575 births in 1916 as compared with 3,701 in 1915.
The birth rate so corrected is therefore 87 and for the Chinese community the rate becomes 79 instead of 5·8 per 1,000 but even this addition is not sufficient as the total of infant deaths is still greater than the total of births so calculated, from which it is evident that many are brought into the colony from the mainland of China.
The last census return (1911) showed 1,180 Chinese under one year of age in the colony, while between the ages of one and five there were 24,738.
The preponderance of male over female registered births is very marked among the Chinese, there being 211 males to every 100 females; in 1915 the proportion was 201 to 100; and in 1914, 168 to 100, but the addition of the 944 unregistered births reduces the proportion to 164 males to 100 females for 1916.
In the non-Chinese community the proportion of male to female births was 120 to 100 as compared with 92 to 100 in 1915.
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