+----------------------------------+ |Ages.| M. | F. |Ratio M. per| | | | | 100 F. | |-----|-------|-------|------------| | 0-1| 120 | 96 | 125 | | 0-5| 39·2 | 32·2 | 122 | | 5- | 3·1 | 3·1 | 100 | | 10- | 1·9 | 2·0 | 95 | | 15- | 2·7 | 2·5 | 108 | | 20- | 3·5 | 3·0 | 117 | | 25- | 4·6 | 3·8 | 121 | | 35- | 8·0 | 6·5 | 123 | | 45- | 15·0 | 11·5 | 130 | | 55- | 30·7 | 23·0 | 133 | | 65- | 64·5 | 51·1 | 126 | | 75- | 140·4 | 117·5 | 119 | | 85- | 266·8 | 241·0 | 111 | |-----|-------|-------|------------| |Total| 14·7 | 12·8 | 115 | +----------------------------------+ As might be expected from these figures, the Census shows that males are in excess of females in very early life, but are gradually overtaken, and in later years especially men are considerably outnumbered by women. The disproportion of women is mainly due to their lower death-rate, but also in part to the fact that so many men go abroad for professional or commercial avocations. Some of these are accompanied by wives or sisters, but a large proportion go alone. The disproportion of women is more marked in town districts than in rural ones. This may be partly due to the lower infant death-rate in the country, for a high rate of infant mortality on an average affects more boys than girls. But no doubt the large demand for young women's labour in factories and as domestic servants is another cause of the surplus of women in towns. In rural districts there is a surplus of males over females up to the age of 25. The disproportion of women does not show any marked tendency to increase except among the elderly, the preponderance becoming increasingly marked towards old age. It would overload this chapter too much to give figures illustrating the changes in the last half century; those who wish to make themselves acquainted with the matter can refer to the very full and interesting tables given near the end of Vol. VII. of the Census, 1911. _Marriage._--The preponderance of young women, though not very considerable in figures, is, however, in fact a more effective restriction of marriage than might be expected, because women are by custom more likely to marry young than men, and thus the numbers of marriageable young women at any given date exceed the corresponding numbers of men in a proportion higher than the actual surplus of young women in particular age-groups.