DEPARTMENT OF VITAL STATISTICS.
GEORGE D. LESLIE, STATISTICIAN.
INCREASE OF BIRTHS: 1906 TO 1907.
Summary.-The births registered in California numbered 24,674 for 1907, against 20,974 for 1906, an increase of 3,700, or 17.6 per cent, partly due to improved registration.
The per cent of increase was 18.6 for the counties north of Tehachapi, as compared with 15.6 for those to the south.
For the metropolitan area, comprising San Francisco and the other bay counties, the rate of gain was as great as 34.0, and for Los Angeles County it was 21.9, the per cents of increase being much less for other groups of counties.
Of the individual counties, thirty-four showed increases in births. two no change, and twenty-one showed decreases.
The increases were above the State average, 17.6 per cent, in the following twenty counties: Humboldt, Mariposa, Mono, Sutter, Contra Costa, Ventura, Colusa, Inyo, Lake, Trinity, Alameda, Shasta, San Mateo, San Francisco, Tehama, Monterey, Los Angeles, Merced, Lassen, and Marin.
The rate of gain was 18.4 for the nineteen freeholders' charter cities and 16.5 for all the rest of the State.
The cities showing increases in births were as follows, in descending order: San Bernardino, Berkeley, San Francisco, Pasadena, San Diego, Santa Cruz, Sacramento, Oakland, Stockton, Salinas, Los Angeles, Santa Rosa, Napa, and Fresno.
Comparison of the ranking of the leading counties in births registered shows gains for the following counties: Sacramento, Riverside, Santa Cruz, Tulare, Monterey, Contra Costa, San Mateo, San Luis Obispo, Mendocino, Shasta, Ventura, and Humboldt.
In the comparative ranking of cities there were also rises in rank for Berkeley, Sacramento, Pasadena, San Bernardino, Santa Cruz, Watsonville, and Napa.
Altogether 60.3 per cent of the births registered in California in 1906 were in nineteen freeholders' charter cities, and 64.0 per cent of the State total for 1907 were in the twenty-four cities of this class reporting births that year.
Geographic Divisions.-Exclusive of stillbirths, altogether 24,674 births were registered in 1907 and 20,974 in 1906, under the law of 1905 requiring physicians to file certificates with County Recorders and City Health Officers for transmittal to the State Bureau of Vital Statistics. The increase of births for 1907 over 1906 was 3,700, or 17.6 per cent, part of the gain being due to more complete registration.
The births registered in the counties north of Tehachapi totaled 16,752 for 1907, against 14,121 for 1906, a gain of 2,631, or 18.6 per cent. The totals for Southern California were 7,922 in 1907 and 6,853 in 1906, an increase of 1,069, or 15.6 per cent.
The per cent of increase was no less than 30.7 for San Francisco and 38.4 for the other bay counties, or 34.0 for the metropolitan area, against 4.5 for the rural counties north of Tehachapi. Similarly, the rate of gain was 21.9 for Los Angeles, but only 1.2 for the other counties of Southern California.
Further details appear in the table below giving the number and per cent of increase in births for the several geographic divisions of the State, in 1906 to 1907:
Increase of Births, for Geographic Divisions: 1906 to 1907.
Counties. The table on the following page gives the increase (or decrease) of births for each county, as well as the per cent of increase for those showing gains in 1907 over 1906.
The apparently high rate of gain shown for Humboldt County is explained by the incompleteness of the returns for 1906, while the high rates for Mariposa and Mono counties are unimportant on account of the very small totals each year.
The per cents of increase were highest for the following counties: Sutter, 80.4; Contra Costa, 61.7; Ventura, 53.8; Colusa, 46.7; Inyo, 45.5; Lake, 44.3; Trinity, 40.0; Alameda, 38.8; Shasta, 33.8; San Mateo, 32.2; San Francisco, 30.7; Tehama, 30.6; Monterey, 25.6; Los Angeles, 21.9; Merced, 21.2; Lassen, 19.4; and Marin, 19.2. Each of these seventeen counties shows a rate of gain above the average rate for the State, 17.6 per cent.
There were also increases in births, but at rates below the State average, in the following fourteen counties, arranged in descending order: Madera, 16.1; San Diego, 15.1; Amador, 14.8; Sacramento, 13.4; Fresno, 9.6; Kings, 8.8; San Bernardino, 8.6; San Luis Obispo, 7.7; Yuba, 4.2; Glenn, 3.7; Santa Clara, 3.5; Napa, 2.2; Sonoma, 1.6; and Solano, 0.4. For Alpine and Calaveras counties exactly the same number of births were reported in 1907 as in 1906.
According to the registration, there were decreases in births for 1907, as compared with 1906, in the following twenty-one counties arranged alphabetically: Butte, Del Norte, El Dorado, Kern, Mendocino, Modoc, Nevada, Orange, Placer, Plumas, Riverside, San Benito, San Joaquin, Santa Barbara, Santa Cruz, Sierra, Siskiyou, Stanislaus, Tulare, Tuolumne, and Yolo. In some cases the decreases were considerable, indicating the failure of physicians to register births and the neglect of officials to enforce the law.
Cities. The County Recorder is ex officio local registrar of births, except that in cities having freeholders' charters the Health Officer so acts. Returns are therefore available only for cities with freeholders' charters, and a comparison between 1907 and 1906 must necessarily be limited to the cities reporting births for both years. The table on the following page shows the increase (or decrease) of births in 1906 to 1907 for freeholders' charter cities and for the rural parts of the counties containing them.
In the nineteen freeholders' charter cities reporting births both years, there were 14,985 births in 1907 and 12,654 in 1906, an increase of 2,331 or 18.4 per cent. In all the rest of the State the number of births registered was 9,689 for 1907 and 8,320 for 1906, a gain of 1,369 or 16.5 per cent.
The per cent of increase was 26.7 for the rural parts of the fifteen counties with freeholders' charter cities. The rates of gain range as follows for the rural parts of the counties mentioned: Alameda, 141.3; Los Angeles, 81.3; Monterey, 29.6; Fresno, 17.6; Santa Clara, 6.2; and Solano, 1.8. There were decreases in births, according to the registra- tion, in the rural parts of the following nine counties: Napa, Nevada, Sacramento, San Bernardino, San Diego, San Joaquin, Santa Barbara, Santa Cruz, and Sonoma. In these cases, as in counties without any freeholders' charter cities, the County Recorders are the officials held directly responsible for the enforcement of the law..
The per cents of increase in births were as follows for freeholders' charter cities: San Bernardino, 41.4; Berkeley, 34.2; San Francisco, 30.7; Pasadena, 27.2; San Diego, 26.2; Santa Cruz, 24.7; Sacramento, 23.5; Oakland, 16.8; Stockton, 14.4; Salinas, 13.2; Los Angeles, 11.1; Santa Rosa, 9.5; Napa, 6.8; and Fresno, 0.5. The registration showed decreases in births for the following five cities: Grass Valley, San José. Santa Barbara, Vallejo, and Watsonville. Here the City Health Officers are charged with the duty of enforcing the registration law upon their fellow physicians.
*Figures are for county exclusive of freeholders' charter city or cities. †Includes 6 births in Imperial County, formed August 15, 1907.
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