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ES 4.1

INADEQUATE HOUSING

Housing is a major expense for most families. A home's physical condition, its safety, the level of crowding in a household, and the quality of the surrounding neighborhood can all affect children's well-being.27

Table ES 4.1 presents recent trends in the physical quality of housing for children, reporting the percentage of families with children under age 18 living in housing units with moderate to severe physical problems as defined by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.28 Data are presented for every other year from 1985 through 1993. Across this time period, the percentage of children's households with moderate to severe physical problems fluctuated slightly from 9 percent in 1985 to 7 percent in 1993.29

Differences by Type of Family. Data are also presented separately for three types of households containing children: married couples, other types of households containing two or more adults (which could include, for example, cohabiting couples, adult siblings, mother and grandmother, or adult house mates), and households with one or no adult. The data consistently indicate that married-couple families with children are the least likely to experience housing with physical problems as defined here, followed by households with one or no adult, and households with two or more adults who are not married. In 1993, for example, 6 percent of married-couple households with children, 10 percent of households with one or no adult, and 11 percent of households with two or more unmarried adults lived in housing with moderate to severe physical problems (see Figure ES 4.1).
 

Figure ES 4.1  
Inadequate Housing: Percentage of Households Containing Children Under Age 18 in Housing with Moderate to Severe Physical Problems: 1993 

 
Note: Physical problems include problems with plumbing, heating, electricity, upkeep, and/or hallways. For detailed definitions of "moderate" and "severe" physical problems, see American Housing Survey for the United States, 1993, page A-13. 
Source: Current Housing Reports: American Housing Survey for the United States for 1993. 

 

Table ES 4.1 
Inadequate Housing: Percentage of Households Containing Children Under Age 18 in Housing with Moderate to Severe Physical Problems, 1985-1993

   
1985 
1987 
1989 
1991 
1993 
------- 
------ 
------ 
------ 
------ 
All Households with Children under Age 18
9 
8 
9 
9 
7 
  Married couples
7 
6 
7 
7 
6 
  Other households with two or more adults
15 
15 
13 
14 
11 
  Households with one or no adults
12 
13 
13 
13 
10 
 
Note: Physical problems include problems with plumbing, heating, electricity, upkeep, and/or hallways. For detailed definitions of "moderate" and "severe" physical problems, see American Housing Survey for the United States, 1993, page A-13.
Source: Current Housing Reports: American Housing Survey for the United States for 1985, 1987, 1989, 1991, and 1993.

27 U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and U.S. Department of Education. 1995. The JOBS Evaluation: How Well are They Faring? AFDC Families with Preschool-aged Children in Atlanta at the Outset of the JOBS Evaluation. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation. See also Blackman, T., Evason, E., Melaugh, M. And Woods, R. 1989. Housing and Health: a Case Study of Two Areas in West Belfast. Journal of Social Policy, 18(1): 1-26.

28 Physical problems can include problems with plumbing, heating, electricity, upkeep, and/or hallways.

29 It is not clear whether or not this downward trend is statistically significant. The level of fluctuation in this estimate from year to year would indicate that the contrast may be the result of random error.

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