APPENDIX N
Vital Statistics

[APRIL 1, 1998]  Unless noted, this compilation of vital health statistics presents 1995 data (the latest available in all categories) pertaining to Michigan births, deaths, and marriages/divorces. For ease of reading, percentages and other figures are rounded to the nearest whole number. The source for the data is Health Statistics 1995, Office of the State Registrar, Michigan Department of Community Health.

NATALITY
The general statistics for natality (births) in Michigan may be seen in Exhibit 1. Information on age, prenatal care, and birth weight follows.

Age and Race
Births to teenagers  One in 19 among Asian and Pacific Islander women; 1/15 among Arab women; 1/10 among Caucasian women; 1/5 among American Indian and Hispanic women; and 1/4 among African-American women
Births to minority women  From 1975 to 1995 increased from just under 18 percent of all births to nearly 23 percent

Prenatal Care
Prenatal care received, all pregnant women  81 percent (the figure has hovered around this level since 1985)
Prenatal care received, minority pregnant women  65–73 percent

Birth Weight
Babies born with low birth weight  8 percent; in the last 30 years, the figure has ranged from 7–8.5 percent (the high was in 1970 and the low in 1985)

MORTALITY
The general statistics for mortality (death) in Michigan may be seen in Exhibit 3. Information related to all deaths, infant deaths, race, age, and leading causes follows.

All Deaths
Crude death rate  Less than 9, down from 13 in 1900; the low (8) occurred in 1979

Infant Deaths
Number of infant deaths  8 per 1,000 live births, down substantially from 157/1,000 in 1990
Infant mortality rate  8, down from 11 in 1990—a 22 percent improvement

Race
Caucasian deaths  84 percent of state total
African-American deaths  15 percent
American Indians, Asian and Pacific Islanders, and people of Hispanic and Arab descent  For each, less than one percent of state total
Disparity between black and white populations  In 1995, the black male and female death rates were 76 and 56 percent higher, respectively, than those of their white counterparts; this is considerably higher than in 1970, when the death rates for black males and females were 43 and 54 percent higher, respectively, than their white counterparts

Age and Life Expectancy
Age at death  Half of all deaths occurred at or before age 75
Age at death, females  Half of all deaths occurred at or before age 79
Life expectancy at birth, all males  73 years, an increase of 19 years since 1901
Life expectancy at birth, all females  78 years, an increase of 23 years since 1901
Life expectancy at birth, black males  64 years
Life expectancy at birth, black females 74 years

Leading Causes
The ten causes presented in Exhibit 4 accounted for more than 80 percent of all Michigan deaths in 1995
Accidents Leading cause for white males and females aged 15–24
Homicide Leading cause for black males and females aged 15–24
AIDS Second leading cause for virtually everyone aged 25–34

MARRIAGE AND DIVORCE
The general statistics for marriages and divorces may be seen in Exhibit 5. Related information follows.

Marriage
Rate 15 of every 1,000 Michiganians are married, down from 28/1,000 in 1946, following World War II
First marriages Almost 65 percent of the total

Divorce
Current rate 8 percent, down from 10 percent in 1980
All-time high 10 in every 1,000 marriages (1980)
All-time low 2 in every 1,000 marriages (1900)