Unwillingness on the part of the wife to give up remunerative work is a factor that operates in certain cases; this may be due to the position of the wife as the support of an invalid husband and family, but in other cases the reason is obviously selfish. While dealing with this question of social outlook, it will not be out of place to refer to an aspect which, though mentioned by only a few witnesses, is known to all social workers as a factor of increasing importance. This is the fear of war. It may take the form of (_a_) conscious visualization of the horrors of war, or (_b_) sub-conscious fear evidenced by excessive anxiety regarding the future. In either case it acts as a powerful deterrent from child-bearing, although it is doubtful whether those who are influenced by this fear would resort to abortion where contraception had failed. Speaking of social conditions, some witnesses, under the impression that the average age at marriage was rising, attribute the increasing abortion-rate among the unmarried partly to this cause. The actual fact is that the age at marriage has decreased of late years, but is still probably higher than would be the case if economic conditions were more favourable. It is clear that, whether the motives be worthy or selfish, women of all classes are demanding the right to decide how many children they will have. Methods which depend on self-control are ruled out as impracticable. Contraceptives are largely used, and, judging by the marked decline in the birth-rate in recent years, are in many cases successful. In other cases, however, they are not so, and there is then frequently a resort to abortion. (5) IGNORANCE OF EFFECTIVE METHODS OF CONTRACEPTION AND OF THE DANGERS OF ABORTION. The public as a whole is ignorant of the physiology of reproduction. This results in attempts being made to prevent conception by methods which are doomed to failure at the outset. The use of defective methods owing to their comparative cheapness and the unnecessarily high cost of effective appliances are undoubtedly among the causes of such failure.