MORE BIRTHS IN 1939

Press, Volume LXXVI, Issue 23080, 24 July 1940, Page 10

MORE BIRTHS IN 1939

EFFECT OF INCREASED MARRIAGE RATE

HEALTH DEPARTMENT’S ANNUAL REPORT

[From Our Parliamentary Reporter.]

WELLINGTON, July 23

An > increase in the birth-rate to 18.73 a. thousand of mean population, the highest since 1930, occurred last year and is recorded in the annual report of the Department cf Health, which was presented in the House of Representatives to-day by the Minister for Health (the Hon. JI. T. 1 Armstrong). The report states that the births of 28,833 living children were registered during the year, an increase of 1584 over the total for the previous year. “While some satisfaction can be expressed at the rising tendency in the birth-rate, the increasing percentage of first births to total births indicates that it is largely the result of the increase in the marriage rate during recent years,” the report says. "New Zealand’s future cannot be viewed without misgivings unless the position continues to improve.” The mean population of the Dominion fpr 1939 was estimated to be 1.539,420, an increase of 19,814 over the figure for 1938. Deaths registered during the year totalled 14,158, a decrease of 596 compared with the number the year before. The crude death-rate was 9.2 a thousand compared with 9.71 in 1938.

“The vital statistics compare favourably with those of the previous year,” the report continues, “There was also a relatively low incidence cf common infectious diseases. There was a marked decline in the number of deaths from pneumonia and measles which accounted ’for part of the fall in the death-rate. The infant mortality rate was 31.14 a thousand of live births in comparison with a mortality rate of 63 in 1938. The 1939 rate is the second lowest recorded and was only beaten by the rate of 30.96 in 1936. The stillborn rate was 31.21, the highest rate since 1930. The maternal mortality rate was 3.64 a thousand live births compared with 4.07 in 1938.”

The maintenance estimates l of all hospital boards provided for a net expenditure of £1,964,604, of which £953,998 was required to be contributed by the levy on local authorities and £1,010,605 by subsidy from the Consolidated Fund, a total increase of £278,691 compared with the estimates for the previous year. There was a further decrease in the requirements for charitable aid expenditure, the estimate for the year being £33,486 less than for 1938-39.

The Maori population for 1939 was 89,092. The death-rate for the' year was 19.92, a decrease compared with 1938 and the infant mortality rate was 114.92 per 10,000 live births against 153.26 in 1938. The Maori birth-rate was 46.2 a thousand of population against 42.37 the year before. The excess of births over deaths gave the Maori race a satisfactory natural increase of 2.63 per cent. The death-rate from all forms of tuberculosis was 44 per 10.000 of population.