M 13
BIRTHS.
The births registered during the year were as follows:-
Male. Female. Total.
Chinese Non-Chinese
1,369 654 2,023 151 147 298 1,520 801 2,321Total 1918.................... 1,520
Total 1917......... 1,600 800 2,400
This gives a general birth rate 4.1 per 1,000 as compared with 5.3 in 1917 and 6.1 in 1916.
The birth rate among the non-Chinese community was 22.07 per 1,000 as compared with 20.08 in 1917 and 20.5 in 1916. The nationality of the non-Chinese parents was as follows: British 126, Filipinos 9, Portuguese 85, Indian 42, American 8, Malay 7, Norwegian, Australian, and Japanese 3 each, Eurasian and Dutch 2 each, Brazilian, French, Spanish, Jewish, Annamite, West Indian, Parsee, and Greek, 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 1918 was 1,094 making a total of 3,435 births in 1918 as compared with 3,005 in 1917.
The birth rate so corrected is therefore 6.1 and for the Chinese community the rate becomes 5.6 instead of 3.6 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 194 males to every 100 females. In 1917 the proportion was 219 to 100; in 1916 the proportion was 211 to 100; and in 1915, 201 to 100.
In the non-Chinese community the proportion of male to female births was 102 to 100, the same as in 1917, as compared with 120 to 100 in 1916.
M 13
BIRTHS.
The births registered during the year were as follows:-
Male. Female. Total.
Chinese Non-Chinese
1,369 151
654 2,023
147
298
801 2,321
Total 1918.................... 1,520
Total 1917......... 1,600 800 2,400
This gives a general birth rate 4'1 per 1,000 as compared with 5.3 in 1917 and 61 in 1916.
The birth rate among the non-Chinese community was 22-07 per 1,000 as compared with 20-08 in 1917 and 20-5 in 1916. The nationality of the non-Chinese parents was as follows: British 126, Filipinos 9, Portuguese 85, Indian 42, American 8, Malay 7, Norwegian, Australian, and Japanese 3 each, Eurasian and Dutch 2 each, Brazilian, French, Spanish, Jewish, Annamite, West Indian, Parsee, and Greek, 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 ma- jority, 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 1918 was 1,094 making a total of 3,435 births in 1918 as compared with 3,005 in 1917.
The birth rate so corrected is therefore 6'1 and for the Chinese community the rate becomes 5.6 instead of 36 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 194 males to every 100 females. In 1917 the proportion was 219 to 100; in 1916 the proportion was 211 to 100; and in 1915, 201 to 100.
In the non-Chinese community the proportion of male to female births was 102 to 100, the same as in 1917, as compared with 120 to 100 in 1916.
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