The registrar general and demographic studies in England and Wales

Abstract

This memorandum is concerned with data and analyses relevant to our understanding of the ‘trend of population’ in the United Kingdom during the next 30 years or so. It is directed primarily to the work of the Registrar General of England and Wales, but the main suggestions would also apply to Scotland and Northern Ireland, though the statistical system in Northern Ireland is not identical with that in the rest of the United Kingdom. It is not the object of the memorandum to make categorical recommendations, but rather to suggest a number of questions which might be examined in detail and in a fuller practical context by an appropriate body. Reference is made later to one such possible body for England and Wales, though comparable opportunities for a continuing survey of needs and possibilities are required for the United Kingdom as a whole.