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Michigan Tends Toward Stationary Population

Michigan Tends Toward Stationary Population image
Parent Issue
Day
21
Month
April
Year
1941
Copyright
Copyright Protected
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Donated by the Ann Arbor News. © The Ann Arbor News.
OCR Text

Michigan Tends Stationary Toward Population

(News Washington Bureau)

WASHINGTON — In from two generations to “several decades” Michigan will find itself with a stationary population, assuming the continuance of present birth and death rates, the census bureau reported today.

A sharp reduction in the “reproduction rate” of female births was one of the population trends noted by the bureau in a comparison of the characteristics of the state’s population from 1930 to 1940.

Population Ages

It was also noted that the population of the state aged somewhat, that the white population dropped slightly in relation to the colored population, and that rural, non-farm population group grew faster in the 10 years than any other group, while the total number of inhabitants of the state increased by 413,781 persons or 8.5 per cent to a total of 5,256,106.

“The 1940 census returns also show that white persons (including Mexicans) comprised 95.5 per cent of the population in 1940, as compared with 96.3 per cent in 1930 and that there were 105.8 males per 100 families in 1940 as compared with 108.4 males per 100 families in 1930.

Small Towns Grow

"The census returns also show that rural non-farm population grew more rapidly between 1930 and 1940 than did the urban or the rural farm population.” In other words, it appeared, "small town” population in the state increased during the decade faster than that population either on the farms or in the larger cities.

“If present birth and death rates at the various age levels should continue for several decades, the large excess of births over deaths observed in the decade 1930-1940 would eventually be cut down considerably, the bureau said.

“In Michigan the net reproduction rate in 1940 was just 101, just barely above the maintenance level, indicating that, if present birth and death rates should continue, the population of Michigan would in about two generations increase by approximately 1 per cent per generation.”