THE CAUSES OF THE DECLINING BIRTH RATE i6i 



In Italy in 1908 and 191 1 the birth rate of cities with over 

 100,000 inhabitants was as follows : 



Birth Rates in Italian Cities 



City 



Rome . . . 



Venice.. . 

 Turin. . . 

 Livorno . 

 Genoa. . . 

 Florence. 

 Milan . . . 



City 



Messina^ 

 Naples. . 

 Palermo . 

 Catania.. 



Bologna. 



Italy as a whole 



Birth Rate 



IQ08 

 29 -5 



29 



30 

 33 

 19 



33-4 



IQII 



37-2 

 25s 

 30-7 

 28.5 

 22.2 



31-5 



1 On account of the earthquake there were 5,021 births in 1908, but the number 

 increased to 16,210 births in 1911. 



In Great Britain and Ireland the crude birth rate in many cities 

 is higher than in the countries in which they are located. Rela- 

 tions of city and country in Great Britain are anomalous for 

 several reasons; nevertheless the country districts, so far as our 

 information goes, have a somewhat higher fecundity when this is 

 estimated by the proportion of children to i ,000 married women of 

 child-bearing age. As stated in the report of the National Birth 

 Rate Commission on the Declining Birth Rate, "In 191 1 the 

 legitimate birth rates in terms of 1,000 married women, aged 

 i5~4Sj were for County Boroughs 195, for London 199, Urban 

 Districts 192 and Rural Districts 204." 



In her report on the decline in the birth rate in the north of 

 England Miss Elderton states that in order of decrease in the 

 birth rate come ''(i) textile and woolen towns, (2) engineering 

 and metal working towns, (3) mining districts, and lastly (4) 

 purely rural districts." 



In France in 1 913 the crude birth rate in cities of 10,000 or over 

 averaged 18.67. The birth rate for the rest of the population was 

 19.45 and for France as a whole 18.8. The rate for the rural 

 districts was exceeded only by that of the towns between 5,000 



