LIFE AND WORK IN LONDON.

Tuapeka Times, Volume XXVI, Issue 4079, 28 February 1894, Page 5

LIFE AND WORK IN LONDON.

Mr Charles Booth has been conducting a renewed inquiry into the life and labor of the people of London on the basis of the 1891 census. Mr Booth, for the purpose of his inquiry, combined some of the smaller registration sub-districts of London with others, making of the 127 districts 114 local divisions. The population dealt with consisted of nearly a million families, of which 177,073 were of the most numerous class of two persons each, and 11,086 consisted each of more than ten persons. Mr Booth took into his calculation 93,650 persons each living a lonely existence, and, regarding each of the 93,050 as a separate " family," he had a grand total of 926,766 heads of families, consisting in all of 3,848,114 persons. Adding 157,771 persons (excluding servants) residing in institutions, and 205,858 servants, he dealt with a total population of 4,211,743. Of these 49.8 per cent, claimed London as their birthplace. The average size of a family he found was 4.13 persons, or counting servants 4.34, of whom 1.05 per cent, were occupied, 2.08 per cent, were unoccupied, and 0.21 were servants. Of the heads of families 741,000 were males and 185,000 females. Calculating in a previous work on the population of London in 1889 (over-estimated at 4,309,000) Mr Booth then found 30.7 per cent, were living in poverty and 69.3 in comfort. Of the 4,211,743 persons of the last census he finds 31.5 per cent, were not crowded, Though the total percentages "crowded" and "not crowded" agreed* very nearly with the totals of the previous classification "in poverty" and "in comfort," Mr Booth explained no such absolute comparison as the figures might suggest could be made, as living in close quarters was no certain test of poverty. It St. Giles's and Whitechapel the crowding exceeded the poverty by 20 per cent, and 16£ per cent, respectively. In the City of London the excess of poverty was 1 percent., and in Greenwich 16£ per cent. In the poorest districts, where women marry soonest, there was found a surplus of unmarried men.- In the richest districts, where women marry latest, there was still a greater surplus of unmarried women. The rate of increase was at least at the extremes of poverty and wealth. In conclusion, Mr Booth gave a few samples of the conditions of life in connection with particular industries.