Simple Measures of Inadequate Housing 1

Abstract

This paper attempts to identify empirically a measure of inadequate housing that might be included in the 1990 Census of Housing, to provide housing quality information for small areas and population groups. The analysis starts with the elaborate measures formulated by HUD and CBO from the American Housing Survey, and develops much simpler criteria that correlate highly with these measures across Standard Metropolitan Statistical Areas, but require only two or three additional questions in the 1990 Census. Some 30 altematives were constructed; many performed reasonably well, and a few extremely well. The worst criteria were those consisting only of attributes already contained in the Census of Housing, among them the factors used in the Community Development Block Grant fund allocation formulas. As a byproduct, the most commonly used measure of inadequacy turns out to overstate substantially the incidence of inadequacy nationally, because it mismeasures heating system problems in the South.