New Light on the Relation of Housing to Health

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Abstract
The national health survey data presented have established an important broad association between housing and ill health. Illness rates are higher in congested households, especially for certain diagnoses; digestive diseases are substantially more frequent in households not having private inside flush toilets; and serious home accidents increase with drop in rental or value. The excess illness rate, in whatever degree it is to be ascribed to bad housing itself, occurs in the low-income, poorly housed populations who are least able to meet the burden of disease. The heart of the housing problem lies in the economic problem. A large proportion of the population of this country is not receiving incomes adequate to insure suitable standards of living. Housing is only one symptom of this maladjustment. It must be attacked as a symptom but not without realizing that the underlying issue is that of securing a better distribution of income and greater security against the disastrous effects of depression. Even in this critical period, the safeguarding and furthering of sound social values are important, both in the extension of health programs to the entire population and the improvement of housing conditions.