ABSTRACT
The 1960 census used three categories to describe housing conditions: sound, deteriorating, and dilapidated. According to the 1960 Census of Housing, 8.5 million American families were living in substandard housing. This statistic, however, may be regarded as a minimal statement of the inadequacy of housing conditions. The 1976 survey reported that 3.4 million households lived at density ratios higher than 1.0 persons per room and 0.7 million at densities of 1.5 or more persons per room. One objective of housing programs intended to benefit the poor would, of course, be the reduction of housing expenditures. An even larger issue in housing needs and goals is whether they should relate to absolute standards that establish some universally applied minimum or should, instead, refer to some standard that reflects where one's housing bundle is relative to the rest of society.
