The Average Family

Pacific Press Publishing Association · Mountain View, California · Dec 15, 1909

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 36, No. 49.

The Average Family

REFERRING to the coming census, an exchange says: “The most striking single fact which would be shown by a comparison of the figures of the censuses of 1790 and 1910 (as the latter will present themselves when assembled) would be the disappearance of the children. One hundred years ago one half of the population of the United States consisted of boys and girls under sixteen years of age. Now the proportion is only one third. If the average family in this country to-day were as large as in 1800, there would be 16,000,000 more children in the United States than are actually living. In 1790 there were 780 persons over twenty years of age for every 1,000 girls and boys under sixteen. To-day there are 1,600 such adults for every 1,000 children.”