Rural Population in England and Wales, 1911 and 1931

Abstract

IN I914 I read a paper to the Royal Statistical Society in which I traced the changes in rural and agricultural employment in the period i86i to I9II. It has been suggested to me that it would be useful to bring the series of statistics up to a more recent date. This date cannot be more recent than that of the Census of I93I, since the relevant figures for later years are not available. In my former paper I laid emphasis on the nature of the administrative classification of areas in England and Wales into Urban and Rural Districts, and on the difference between employment in Rural Districts and agricultural or land occupations. In fact many persons in Urban Districts are engaged in land occupations, especially in domestic or market gardening, and many in Rural Districts *in non-agricultural work, such as coal-mining or in factories besides the mechanical and service trades connected with agriculture. Rural population is not coincident with, nor in different regions proportional to, the numbers occupied on the land. It has not been practicable to follow exactly the same lines as in 1914, but the same problems are considered, and in particular the relation of occupations to the density of population is again analysed. The age distribution of agriculturists as contrasted with that of all occupations is dealt with in the final section. Before proceeding to details, some general explanations are necessary. The administrative divisions of England and Wales are as follows, with the number of each in I9II