HC Deb 30 November 1987 vol 123 cc451-5W
Ms. Harman

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will give, for each year from 1975 onwards, the numbers of livebirths, stillbirths, early neonatal deaths, late neonatal deaths and postneonatal deaths of legitimate and jointly registered illegitimate babies in England and Wales with fathers whose occupations were classified as(a) social class I, (b) social class II, (c) social class III non-manual, (d) social class III manual, (e) social class IV, (f) social class V, (g) armed services and (h) students, unoccupied and any occupations not included in (a) to (g).

Mrs. Currie

I regret that the full information requested can be provided only at disproportionate cost. However, the tables show readily available statistics on infant and perinatal mortality.

Livebirths Stillbirths Deaths
Social Class1 Early Neonatal Late Neonatal Post-neonatal
Illegitimate 60,637 699 594 122 390
Total 535,781 5,108 4,205 935 2,590
1979
Legitimate
I 38,600 200 200 51 129
II 121,600 771 671 164 341
III non-manual 60,200 413 359 72 157
III manual 209,300 1,715 1,311 258 813
IV 88,600 835 644 162 464
V 32,600 316 299 49 263
Other2 17,700 160 140 31 159
Illegitimate 69,467 715 653 152 522
Total 568,600 5,125 4,277 939 2,848
1980
Legitimate
I 40,800 204 194 38 132
II 123,600 745 632 155 384
III non-manual 61,900 387 345 72 212
III manual 212,300 1,576 1,213 303 748
IV 87,700 708 616 145 424
V 32,700 313 247 72 204
Other2 19,900 144 156 45 162
Illegitimate 77,372 696 620 134 537
Total 578,862 4,773 4,023 964 2,803
1981
Legitimate
I 41,100 190 150 39 128
II 122,100 682 510 124 329
III non-manual 60,300 335 258 75 181
III manual 198,300 1,302 1,026 248 777
IV 79,900 576 486 140 384
V 31,600 280 215 60 223
Other2 20,200 146 122 36 145
Illegitimate 80,983 697 546 141 542
Total 553,509 4,207 3,314 862 2,709
1982
Legitimate
I 40,700 177 153 28 107
II 118,000 599 473 129 390
III non-manual 58,000 334 270 64 193
III manual 190,000 1,200 880 198 734
IV 78,500 590 452 112 363
V 30,800 249 203 42 201
Other2 20,200 132 126 34 143
Illegitimate 89,857 657 564 162 642
Total 536,076 3,939 3,121 769 2,773
1983
Legitimate
I 39,200 166 120 28 96
II 116,800 560 436 102 353
III non-manual 57,100 279 239 60 166
III manual 188,300 1,059 816 215 694
IV 76,400 535 420 105 393
V 31,200 221 179 39 182
Other2 20,800 93 126 32 161
Illegitimate 99,211 718 594 142 586
Total 529,923 3,631 2,930 723 2,631
1984
Legitimate
I 39,600 157 125 39 88
II 115,200 507 411 105 305
III non-manual 57,600 267 205 55 180
Livebirths Stillbirths Deaths
Social Class1 Early Neonatal Late Neonatal Post-neonatal
III manual 185,500 997 837 193 593
IV 76,400 515 377 103 308
V 29,900 256 169 45 170
Other2 22,100 126 93 30 149
Illegitimate 110,465 818 580 148 637
Total 526,353 3,643 2,797 718 2,430
1985
Legitimate
I 40,000 162 149 38 95
II 118,400 485 411 92 335
III non-manual 56,200 291 204 53 144
III manual 184,300 982 724 178 592
IV 75,400 477 362 96 301
V 30,500 221 161 30 158
Other2 25,300 155 143 38 156
Illegitimate 126,250 872 664 146 757
Total 530,167 3,645 2,818 671 2,538
1 The legitimate livebirths for each social class are estimated numbers only, based on a 10 per cent. sample.
2 Includes armed forces, students, unoccupied and not stated.
From 1975 to 1978, social class is derived from 1970 Classification of Occupations, and between 1979 and 1985 from the 1980 Classification.