Some aspects of the demographic consequences of the first world war in Britain

Summary

The demographic consequences of the First World War in Britain have never been fully assessed partly on account of the lack of reliable mortality data on soldiers and civilians in the years 1914–18. In this paper, the extent of British military losses is determined and estimates of their age structure are given on the basis of the mortality experience in 1913–17 of the approximately five million men whose lives were insured by the Prudential Assurance Company. An examination of male mortality at ages 16–49 of this primarily working-class population shows both the age-incidence of war-related deaths and an improvement in life expectation for men too old for active service or combat. This latter phenomenon is related to a rising standard of living for the working class during the 1914–18 war.

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Notes on contributors

J. M. Winter

I am grateful to the following people for their criticism and advice on aspects of this paper: Dr Michael Teitelbaum, Professor D. V. Glass, Mr Norman Carrier, Professor Abram Jaffe and Dr E. A. Wrigley.