MUNICIPAL HOUSING.

Evening Star, Issue 22631, 24 April 1937, Page 9

MUNICIPAL HOUSING.

TO THE EDITOR. Sir, —“ Family’s ” letter in your issue last evening draws attention to what is undoubtedly a serious defect in this housing, scheme. It is apparent that this municipal scheme is designed to serve young married couples or folk with no children. How about the parents with two or three children, not to consider those who have more children to provide for? This is a problem that can and must be solved if this young country is to arrest the tendency to race suicide. Unfortunately the larger the house the greater the cost, and those with families are least able as a rule to pay bigger rents. So we have many families crowded into small houses, which is bad in every way. Every fair-thinking man realises something must be done to ameliorate the lot of the family parents. Why not have in every group of houses built under municipal or Government control a proportion with one or two more rooms? But the rents should be no more than for the smaller houses. In fact, under a more perfect system of social service the rent for the family man should be less. But then larger bouses would have to be reserved for those with families. To overcome the rent problem, either put a small addition to the rent of all houses to pay for the extra cost of the larger houses, or let the Government subsidise the building of them. It is only another way of helping to “ bear each other’s burden.” We'all know the future of our country depends on the children. It is a national duty to encourage the bearing of children, and a national duty to see they are properly housed.—l am, etc., Parent. April 23.