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ILLEGITIMACY (from " illegitimate," L...

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Originally appearing in Volume V14, Page 304 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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ILLEGITIMACY (from " illegitimate," See also:Lat. illegitimus, not in accordance with See also:law, hence See also:born out of lawful wedlock) , the See also:state of being of illegitimate See also:birth. The law dealing with Table II. See also:Country. 1846-55. 1856-65. 1866-75. 1876-85. 1886-95. `1896-19o5. See also:England and See also:Wales . 17 18 16 13 lo 8 See also:Scotland . . .

. .. 22 23 20 17 13 See also:

Ireland . . . .. 5 4 5 3 See also:Denmark . . . .. 28 27 26 24 23 See also:Sweden 20 22 23 22 22 See also:Germany 28 27 26 See also:Netherlands . lo 9 9 6 See also:Belgium . . . . 16 16 17 19 17 17 See also:France . . .

15 17 17 16 17 18 See also:

Italy 24 24 19 L This is given for certain countries in the legitimation of See also:children born out of wedlock will be found under See also:LEGITIMACY AND LEGITIMATION. How far the prevalence of illegitimacy in any community can be taken as a See also:guide to the morality of that community is a much disputed question. The phenomenon itself varies so much in different localities, even in localities where the same factors seem to prevail, that affirmative conclusions are for the most See also:part impossible to draw. In the See also:United See also:Kingdom, where the figures differ considerably for the three countries—England, Scotland, Ireland—the reasons that might be assigned for the See also:differences are negatived if applied on the same lines, as they might well be, to certain other countries. Then again, racial, See also:climatic and social differences must be allowed for, and the See also:influence of legislation is to be taken into See also:account. The fact that in some countries See also:marriage is forbidden until a See also:man has completed his military service, in another, that consent of parents is requisite, in another, that " once a See also:bastard always a bastard " is the See also:rule, while in yet another that the merest of subsequent formalities will legitimize the offspring, must account in some degree for See also:variations in figures. Table I. gives the number of illegitimate births per See also:I000 births in various countries of the See also:world for quinquennial periods. It is to be noted that still-born births are excluded, as in the United Kingdom (contrary to the practice prevailing in most See also:European countries) See also:registration of such births is not compulsory. The United States is omitted, as there is no See also:national See also:system of registration of births. This method of measuring illegitimacy by ascertaining the proportion of illegitimate births in every thousand births is a fairly accurate one, but there is another valuable one which is often applied, that of comparing the number of illegitimate births with each thousand unmarried See also:females at the See also:child-bearing See also:age-- the " corrected " See also:rate as opposed to the " crude,"as it is usually termed. The generally accepted See also:idea that the inhabitants of the warmer countries of the See also:south of See also:Europe are more ardent in temperament has at least no support as shown in the figures in Table I., where we find a higher rate of illegitimacy in Sweden and Denmark than in See also:Spain or Italy. See also:Religion, however, must be taken into account as having a strong influence in preventing unchastity, though it cannot be concluded that any particular creed is more powerful in this direction than another; for example, the figures for See also:Austria and Ireland are very different.

It cannot be said, either, that figures See also:

bear out the statement that where there is a high rate of illegitimacy there is little See also:prostitution. It is more probable that in a country where the See also:standard of living is See also:low, and See also:early marriages are the rule, the illegitimate birth-rate will be low. As regards England and Wales, the illegitimate birth-rate has been steadily declining for many years, not only in actual See also:numbers, but also in proportion to the See also:population. See also:Year. Ille Itimate Proportion Illegitimate g to woo of Births in Births. population. I000 Births. 186o 43,693 2.2 64 1865 46,585 2.2 62 187o 44,737 2'0 56 1875 40,813 I.7 48 188o 42,542 I.6 48 1885 42,793 1.6 48 1890 38,412 1.3 44 1895 38,836 1.3 42 1900 36,814 1.1 40 1905 37,315 1.1 40 1907 36,189 1•o 39 The corrected rate bears out the result shown in Table III as follows: Rate per woo. Compared with rate in 1876-1880, taken as Too. 1876-188o 14.4 See also:loom 1881-1885 13.5 93.8 1886-1890 11.8 81.9 1891-1895 Io•I 70.1 1896-1900 9.2 63.9 1901-1905 8'4 58.3 1906 8•T 56.3 1907 7.8 54.2 Table V. gives the illegitimate births to T000 births in England and Wales for the ten years sSo7-zoo() and for 1876-1880. 1881-1885.1886-1890. 1891-1895.1896-1900.1901-1905. England and Wales 48 48 46 42 41 40 Scotland .

. 85 83 81 74 68 64 Ireland . . 24 27 28 36 36 26 Denmark . Io1 See also:

loo 95 94 96 I0I See also:Norway . . . . 84 81 75 71 74 Sweden too 102 103 105 113 See also:Finland 73 70 65 65 66 See also:Russia . . 28 27 27 27 27 Austria 138 145 147 146 141 See also:Hungary . 73 79 82 85 90 94 See also:Switzerland 47 48 47 46 45 Germany. 87 92 92 91 90 84 Netherlands . . 31 30 32 31 27 23 Belgium 74 82 87 88 8o 68 France 72 78 83 87 , 88 88 See also:Portugal . .. .. 123 122 121 Spain .

. .. ... 49 44 Italy . . 72 76 74 69 62 56 New South Wales 42 44 49 6o 69 70 See also:

Victoria . . 43 46 49 6o 69 70 See also:Queensland 39 41 44 48 59 65 South See also:Australia . .. 22 25 30 38 41 See also:West Australia . .. .. 48 51 42 See also:Tasmania .. 44 38 46 57 New See also:Zealand 23 29 32 38 44 45 Ten Ten Ten Ten years years years years 1897- 1907. 1897- 1907.

1897- 1907. 1897- 1907. 1906. 1906. 1966. 1906. See also:

Bedford . . 49 53 See also:Hertford . . 40 42 See also:Oxford . . 53 56 N. See also:Riding . 53 45 Berks .

. . 47 48 See also:

Huntingdon . 49 46 See also:Rutland . . 46 70 W. ,, 43 41 Bucks . . 40 44 See also:Kent . . 40 41 See also:Shropshire 64 61 See also:Cambridge 48 53 See also:Lancashire 38 37 See also:Somerset . . 37 35 See also:Anglesey 81 75 See also:Chester . . 41 39 See also:Leicester- See also:Stafford . . 4o 38 See also:Brecon . . 44 40 See also:Cornwall 50 48 See also:shire 40 39 See also:Suffolk . . 56 62 See also:Cardigan .

. 64 61 See also:

Derby See also:Cumberland . . 4 4shire 55 54 See also:Sussex . . 38 37 See also:Carnarvon See also:Carmarthen . 37 72 . . 37 38 52 52 See also:London See also:Devon . . 319 39 9 See also:Middlesex See also:Warwick . . See also:Denbigh . . 49 47 See also:Dorset . . 40 37 See also:Monmouth 29 27 Westmor- See also:Flint . . . 42 42 See also:Durham . . 34 37 See also:Norfolk .

. 62 65 See also:

land . . 61 62 Glamorgan 26 26 See also:Essex . . . 28 27 See also:Northampton 41 42 Wilts . . . 41 42 See also:Merioneth . 71 77 See also:Gloucester 36 36 Northumber- See also:Worcester 37 38 See also:Montgomery . 76 73 Hants . . 40 36 land . 39 38 Yorks- See also:Pembroke 52 47 See also:Hereford . . 66 66 See also:Nottingham . 5o 49 E.

Riding . 52 49 See also:

Radnor . . l 66 67 Illegitimate Births to woo Unmarried and Widowed Females, Decrease per cent Reggistration aged 15-45 years. in each See also:County Counties. Three-year Periods. Years. between See also:period 1870-1872. 1880-1882. 1890-1892. 1900-1902. 1903-1905. 1906. 1907. and 1907. England and Wales 17•o 14.1 10.5 8.5 8.3 8.1 7.8 54'1 London .

10.3 9-8 8.1 6.9 6.9 6.8 6.4 37.9 Bedford . 21.1 18•o 11.2 8.4 8•o 8.2 8.7 58'8 Berks 16.8 13.4 10.3 8-7 8.6 8.1 8.4 50.0 Bucks 19.0 16.5 12.6 9'1 8.9 7'3 8.8 53'7 Cambridge 19.3 15.6 12.4 9.6 Io•I 9.7 10.4 46.1 Chester . 17.5 14.2 10.3 7'7 7.3 7.2 6.9 60.6 Cornwall 16.5 14.8 11.2 8.6 8.1 7'5 7.5 54.5 Cumberland . 29.2 23.9 18.6 12.3 12.3 12.3 11.0 62.3 Derby 22.5 17.7 12.8 10•0 10.0 10.0 9.4 58'2 Devon 14•0 10.6 8.1 6.7 6.5 6.7 6.1 56.4 Dorset 14.2 13.1 9.6 7.2 7.2 8.1 6.4 54'9 Durham . 24.0 18•o 13.8 11.1 11.1 16.8 I1.6 51.7 Essex 16.2 12.7 9•I 7.3 7.1 6.7 6.4 60.5 Gloucester 12.9 11.6 8.2 6.3 6.1 6.8 5.8 55'0 Hants 13.6 11.8 8.5 7.3 7.1 6.9 6.4 52.9 Hereford 21.4 19.0 13.4 11.2 11.5 10.3 11.0 48.6 Hertford 18.4 15'3 10.4 7.0 7'2 6.6 7.5 59'2 Huntingdon 19.8 14.0 12.9 10.9 9'7 9'7 9.7 51.0 Kent 14.7 12.1 9.3 7'5 7'6 7.5 7.2 51.0 Lancashire 16.2 13.6 10.2 7'9 7'8 7'5 7'2 55'6 See also:

Leicestershire 19.9 16.1 11.4 8.6 7'9 7.5 7.3 63'3 See also:Lincolnshire . 22.3 18.5 14.2 12.2 12.1 12.7 11.9 46.6 Middlesex 9.4 9.4 6.5 5'9 6•o 6.1 5.7 39.4 Monmouth 18.6 15'9 11.3 10'2 9'1 9.6 9'3 50.0 Norfolk . 27.3 22.6 16.7 13.4 13.4 12.5 12.8 53.1 Northampton 18.7 15.9 11.7 9.1 8.8 9.0 7.7 58.8 See also:Northumberland 21.1 17.9 12.4 10.2 ' 10.0 10.4 9'3 55'9 Nottingham . 24.5 21'7 15'4 12.7 12.6 12.0 11.9 51'4 Oxford . 19.0 15.4 10.4 9'0 9'1 9'3 9'2 51'6 Rutland . 18.1 12.7 7'9 7.2 6.8 9'0 11'4 37'0 Salop 28.2 21.8 16.6 12.8 13.4 13.0 11.8 58.2 Somerset 13.3 11.3 7.4 6•o 6•o 5'4 5.5 58'6 Stafford . 24.6 19.4 14.5 11.2 11.4 10.9 10.1 58'9 Suffolk . 22.0 17.8 14.0 12.0 11.7 12.4 12'5 43'2 See also:Surrey 9'5 8.5 6.6 5'9 5'7 5'9 5.7 40.0 Sussex 13.7 11.5 8.7 7.2 7.0 6.5 6.4 53'3 Warwick .

14.9 13.2 9'7 7.6 7'5 6.6 6.8 54'4 See also:

Westmorland 21.9 17.9 13•I 8.6 9.1 8.5 7.8 64.4 Wilts 17•I 14.7 10.3 9.2 8.7 8.6 9.3 45.6 Worcester 16.3 13.7 9.2 7.2 6.8 6.6 6.6 59'5 Yorks- 23.0 18.2 14.3 12.2 I1.7 12.2 10.6 53.9 E. Riding N. Riding 27.7 20.2 15.4 12.1 11.6 11.9 10.2 63.2 W. Riding 20.4 16.1 11.4 9`4 9.2 8.8 8.1 60.3 Anglesey 19.7 16.7 15.7 16.1 14.9 13'3 12'9 34'5 Brecon 19.9 18•o 12•5 16•I 9.2 9.2 8'3 58'3 Cardigan 16•o 14.8 II.8 8.9 7'8 6'3 7.3 54'4 Carmarthen 18.2 13.9 9'4 7.7 8'2 7'7 8'9 51'1 Carnarvon 18.3 13'9 12'7 10'3 9'6 9'4 10'5 42'6 Denbigh . . . . 21.1 17-6 13.4 12.3 11.6 13''5 10'3 51'2 Flint 18.7 18.4 13•1 9.7 11.2 11•.9 11.0 41.2 Glamorgan 17'7 13.5 10'3 8.5 9.1 8.9 8'4 52.5 Merioneth 24.4 19.5 16.4 13.5 13.4 13.2 12.7 48'0 Montgomery 29'5 24'3 16.7 13.1 13.4 12.6 I1.7 60.3 Pembroke 21.6 15'9 12.4 8.9 10.2 10.7 8.4 61•1 Radnor . . . . 41'8 33.2 20 1 14.4 13 4 8.3 11.3 73.0 See also:Belfast. . 31 See also:Liverpool . . 54 See also:Birmingham 35 See also:Manchester . . 28 See also:Bradford . 40 Middlesboro' .

. 25 See also:

Bristol . . 31 See also:Newcastle . . . 36 See also:Cork . 18 Nottingham . . 60 See also:Dublin. 28 See also:Portsmouth • 33 See also:Edinburgh 69 See also:Salford . . . 28 See also:Glasgow . 63 See also:Sunderland . 30 See also:Leeds . 54 See also:Total Births per Percentage of Births.

Legitimate. Illegitimate. moo of o Illegitimate to p p• Total Births. 132,005 122,699 9306 27.93 7.05 Percentage Percentage Illegitimate of Illegitimate of Births. Illegitimate Births. Illegitimate to Total to Total Births. Births. 1860 9,736 9.22 1895 9204 7.28 1865 11,262 9.96 1900 8534 6.49 1870 11,108 9.63 1901 8359 6.32 1875 10,786 8.73 1902 8300 6.28 1880 10,589 8.5o 1903 8295 6.21 1885 io,68o 8.47 1904 9010 6.79 1890 9,241 7.60 1905 9082 6.91 1906 9306 7.05 Illegitimate Illegitimate Births Births. per I000 of Un- married See also:

Women and Widows between 15 and 45. No. Per moo of pop. Districts: 4318 7.14 See also:Principal See also:Town . Large Town . 1029 5.58 Small Town .

. . 1724 6.23 Mainland-rural 2099 9.08 Insular-rural . . . 136 5.88 See also:

Shetland . . 31 5.30 7.0 See also:Orkney 29 5'99 7.7 See also:Caithness . . 84 9.96 19'4 See also:Sutherland . . 28 6.81 10.1 See also:Ross and See also:Cromarty 74 4'40 6.9 See also:Inverness 145 8.02 1I.5 See also:Nairn 18 10.29 13.2 See also:Elgin (or See also:Moray) 169 15.66 26.3 See also:Banff 202 12.93 25.4 See also:Aberdeen . . Io83 12.38 24.2 Kincardine 93 8.15 17.0 See also:Forfar 676 9.43 14.2 See also:Perth 215 7.93 10.8 See also:Fife 308 4.56 9.7 Kinross 20 9.95 22'2 See also:Clackmannan . 53 6.69 10.9 See also:Stirling 235 4.91 13.2 See also:Dumbarton . . 163 4.14 9.7 See also:Argyll 148 10.07 12.7 See also:Bute 30 8.36 9.2 See also:Renfrew . 410 4.46 8.5 See also:Ayr 499 6.23 14'3 See also:Lanark 2872 6.28 15.9 See also:Linlithgow . . 99 3.88 15.4 Edinburgh .

. 930 7.23 11.0 See also:

Haddington. 66 5.92 11.8 See also:Berwick 6o 9.63 12.7 See also:Peebles 21 6.18 7.9 See also:Selkirk 46 9.13 11'5 Roxburgh . . 83 8.67 9.8 See also:Dumfries 218 12.51 19.9 See also:Kirkcudbright . 92 10.71 15.7 \\'igtoun. . 106 12.79 22.5 Scotland . 9306 7.05 14.1 the year 1907. Table VI. gives the " corrected " rate for certain three-year periods. In connexion with these tables the following See also:extract from the Registrar-See also:General's See also:Report for 1907 (p. M.) is important. " It is difficult to explain the variations in the rates of illegitimacy in the several counties. It may be stated generally that the proportion of illegitimate children cannot alone serve as a standard of morality. Broadly speaking, however, the single and widowed women in London, in the counties south of the See also:Thames, and in the south-western counties have comparatively few illegitimate children; on the other See also:hand, the number of illegitimate children is comparatively high in Shropshire, in See also:Herefordshire, in See also:Staffordshire, in See also:Nottinghamshire, in Cumberland, in See also:North Wales, and also in 1903.

1904. 1905. 1906. 1907. Ireland . . 2.6 2.5 2.6 2.6 2.5 See also:

Leinster . 2.6 2.6 2.7 2.7 2.7 See also:Munster . 2.3 2.2 2.3 2.2 2•I See also:Ulster 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.5 3.3 See also:Connaught . 0.5 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.6 nearly all the counties on the eastern seaboard, viz. Suffolk, Norfolk, Lincolnshire, the See also:East and North See also:Ridings of See also:Yorkshire, and Durham. In the Registrar-General's Report for the year 1851 it was assumed that there was an indirect connexion between See also:female illiteracy and illegitimacy. This may have been the See also:case in the See also:middle of the last See also:century, but there is no conclusive See also:evidence that such is the case at the See also:present See also:day.

The proportions of illegitimacy and the proportions of married women who signed the marriage See also:

register ounty. No. of cent of County. Illegitimate Total Births. Births. Leinster- 27 3.56 See also:Carlow Dublin 34 1.15 Dublin Co. See also:Borough 314 3.29 See also:Kildare 22 1.46 See also:Kilkenny 54 3.29 See also:King's 24 2.07 See also:Longford 11 1.23 See also:Louth 27 2.01 See also:Meath 30 2.27 See also:Queen's 18 1.70 See also:Westmeath 19 1.57 See also:Wexford 89 4'11 See also:Wicklow 37 2.91 Munster- 23 1.04 See also:Clare Cork Co. and Co. Borough 151 1.69 See also:Kerry 51 1.34 See also:Limerick Co. and Co. Borough 107 3.14 See also:Tipperary N.R 19 1'49 Tipperary S.R 66 3.32 See also:Waterford Co. and Co. Borough 68 3.69 Ulster-- 230 5.08 See also:Antrim See also:Armagh 99 3'49 Belfast Co. Borough . 355 3.13 See also:Cavan 27 1.54 See also:Donegal 54 1.36 See also:Fermanagh 41 3.15 See also:Londonderry Co. and Borough 145 4.35 See also:Monaghan 24 1.55 See also:Tyrone 116 3.80 Connaught- -. - 32 .80 See also:Galway See also:Leitrim to '77 See also:Mayo 21 '45 See also:Roscommon 9 .50 See also:Sligo 9 .52 Leinster 716 2.67 Munster 495 2.11 Ulster 1272 3.32 Connaught 8i •6o 2564 by See also:mark are relatively high in Staffordshire, in North Wales, in Durham and in the North Riding of Yorkshire; on the other hand, in Norfolk, in Suffolk and in Lincolnshire there is a comparatively high proportion of illegitimacy and a low proportion of illiteracy." This latter conclusion may be carried further by saying that in those European countries where elementary See also:education is most See also:common, the rate of illegitimacy is high, and that it is low in the more illiterate parts, e.g.

Ireland and See also:

Brittany. It has been said that one of the contributory causes of illegitimacy is the contamination of See also:great cities; See also:statistics, however, disprove this, there being more illegitimacy in the rural districts. Table VII. gives the rate of illegitimacy in some of the principal towns of the United Kingdom. That poverty is a determining See also:factor in causing illegitimacy the following figures, giving the rate of illegitimacy in the poorest parts of London and in certain well-to-do parts, clearly disprove: Rate of Illegitimacy per loon Births. London. 1901. 1903. 1905. 1907. See also:Stepney 12 9 18 10 Bethnal See also:Green . . . 13 15 13 i1 Mile End Old Town .

. 15 13 16 15 Whitechapel . . . . 22 24 19 19 St See also:

George's, See also:Hanover Sq.. 40 45 45 45 See also:Kensington . . . 48 44 49 54 See also:Fulham 43 42 45 40 Marylebone . . 182 186 198 182 Tables VIII. and IX. give the rate of illegitimacy for the various counties of Scotland, and Table X. the rate for Ireland. B1n1,1oGRAawn—The See also:Annual Reports of the Registrars-General for England, Scotland and Ireland; statistical returns of See also:foreign countries; A. Leffingweil, Illegitimacy and the Influence of the Seasons upon Conduct (1892). (T. A.

End of Article: ILLEGITIMACY (from " illegitimate," Lat. illegitimus, not in accordance with law, hence born out of lawful wedlock)

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