A dwelling unit is considered substandard by the Public Housing Administration if it is either dilapidated or does not have the following plumbing facilities: flush toilet and bath inside the structure for the unit's exclusive use, and hot running water. The Public "ousing Administration considers the absence of hot running water to be evidence generally of poor quality of the dwelling unit, but there may be some localities in which the absence of hot running water is not deemed to be a sufficient indication by itself of poor quality. In such localities, a revised count of substandard ulits may be obtained from table 1 by subtracting from the total the units which lack hot water only. If it is desired to eliminate the units lacking hot water only from the total count of substandard units, the distributions shown in the tables will not be materially affected.

The criteria used to define substandard units in these tabulations are not identical with the housing characteristics included in the published reports from the 1940 Census. Therefore, any comparison of data in this report with the 1940 results must be made with extreme care. A direct comparison cannot be made with the 1940 results because information on hot running water was not collected at that time. Further, the 1940 data on condition were collected showing dwelling units "needing major repairs," whereas

in 1950 data on condition were collected showing units as "dilapidated." Because the definitions of these two terms differ significantly, the 1940 count of dwelling units needing major repairs and the 1950 count of dilapidated dwelling units are comparable only in a general way.

The data are presented in the series of attached tables. In table 1 the structural and occupancy characteristics are shown for all substandard dwelling units. Table 2 shows the rent paid for renter-occupied substandard units; table 3 shows the condition and plumbing facilities of these same units. Table 4 shows the characteristics of all families (both primary and secondary) living in the substandard units. Table La classifies the primary families by family income.

In the contract rent tabulation, dwelling units occupied rent-free are tabulated in the "$9 or less" category. In the gross rent tabulations, however, such units are tabulated as "not reporting," except when utilities were reported.

DEFINITIONS

The definitions used in this special tabulation are generally the same as those used in the 1950 Census of Population and Housing. Some of the more important definitions are given below.

Dwelling unit.--In general, a dwelling unit is a group of rooms or a single room, occupied, or intended for occupancy, as separate living quarters by a family or other group of persons living together or by a person living alone.

Primary family.--A primary family consists of two or more persons including the head of the household and all (one or more) persons in the household who are related to the head by blood, marriage, or adoption. It may include a subfamily consisting of a married couple with or without children, or one parent with one or more children under 18 years of age, living in the household and related to but not including the head of the household or his wife. The subfamily is considered a part of the primary family for all tabulation purposes.

2. The amount of net money income received from self-employment in 1949; and

3. The amount of other money income received in 1949, such as interest, dividends, veterans' allowances, pensions, or rents.

Gross rent.--Monthly gross rent is contract rent plus the reported average monthly cost of water, electricity, gas, and other fuel paid for by the renter. If furniture is included in the contract rent, the reported estimated rent of the dwelling unit without furniture is used for the computation instead of the contract

rent.

SOURCE AND RELIABILITY OF THE DATA

All of the data shown in this report are based on complete counts, including all dwelling units and families with the specified characteristics. The housing and family data in tables 1 through 4 were obtained by tabulating the information as reported in the census. The distributions involving income in table 4a were obtained by a special supplementation of the census income data, since in the census, family income was asked of only one-fifth of the families. The supplementation was accomplished by a subsequent field enumeration of the families who were not in the original 20-percent sample used in the census but who were living in substandard dwelling units.