# M 13
# BIRTHS.
The births registered during the year were as follows :—
Male. Female. Total.
Chinese, 1,458 661 2,119
Non-Chinese, 142 139 281
Total, 1,600 800 2,400
Total, 1916, 1,751 880 2,631
This gives a general birth rate of 5.3 per 1,000 as compared with 6.1 in 1916 and 6.1 in 1915.
The birth rate among the non-Chinese community was 20.08 per 1,000 as compared with 20.5 in 1916 and 13.2 in 1915. The nationality of the non-Chinese parents was as follows: British 128, Filipinos 8, Portuguese 66, Indian 47, American 5, Malay 7, Parsee and Eurasian 3 each, French, Arab, West Indian, and Jewish 2 each, Dutch, Turkish, Swiss, Italian, Australian, Japanese, and Russian 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 1917 was 886 (411 males and 475 females) making a total of 3,005 births in 1917 as compared with 3,575 in 1916.
The birth rate so corrected is therefore 7.3 and for the Chinese community the rate becomes 6.9 instead of 4.9 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 219 males to every 100 females; in 1916 the proportion was 211 to 100; and in 1915, 201 to 100, but the addition of the 886 unregistered births reduces the proportion to 164 males to 100 females for 1917.
M 13
BIRTHS.
The births registered during the year were as follows :—
Male. Female.
Total.
Chinese,
1,458
661
2,119
Non-Chinese,
142
139
281
Total, 1917,
D
1,600
800
2,400
880
2.631
Total, 1916,......... 1,751
This gives a general birth rate of 53 per 1,000 as compared with 61 in 1916 and 6·1 in 1915.
The birth rate among the non-Chinese community was 20-08 per 1,000 as compared with 20-5 in 1916 and 132 in 1915. The nationality of the non-Chinese parents was as follows:-British 128, Filipinos 8, Portuguese 66, Indian 47, American 5, Malay 7, Parsee and Eurasian 3 each, French, Arab, West Indian, and Jewish 2 each, Dutch, Turkish, Swiss, Italian, Australian, Japanese, and Russian 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 num- ber of such children in 1917 was 886 (411 males and 475 females) making a total of 3,005 births in 1917 as compared with 3,575 in 1916.
The birth rate so corrected is therefore 73 and for the Chinese community the rate becomes 6.9 instead of 4.9 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 219 males to every 100 females; in 1916 the proportion was 211 to 100; and in 1915, 201 to 100, but the addition of the 886 unregistered births reduces the proportion to 164 males to 100 females for 1917.
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