LACK OF HOMES FOR THE PEOPLE

Dominion, Volume 37, Issue 239, 6 July 1944, Page 4

LACK OF HOMES FOR THE PEOPLE

There can lie little doubt that the shortage of adequate housing in this country has a substantial bearing on the decline of the birthrate and the spread of the abortion evil. Letters received ,bv the Dominion Settlement Association, in comment on its recently-published interim report bn the abortion problem, emphasize the very serious hardship experienced throughout New Zealand by large families who, because they are large, cannot obtain suitable accommodation. While it may be a matter for admiration that “nearly all the letters show a spirit of sturdy independence,” this cannot be taken as indicating that the. average married couple is prepared to have a family ot several children unless they have—or can look forward to possessing within a measurable distance of time —a home suited to their needs.- People who commonly display the greatest fortitude in adverse family circumstances arising after the birth of their children might be extremely hesitant about accepting the responsibilities of parenthood if handicapped from, the outset of their married lives. In an uncounted number of cases that handicap has been created. Not only are existing families being deprived of the ordinary comforts of life, and the settled atmosphere of an established home?, by the paucity of the right kind of accommodation, but in addition a large proportion of young people, newly embarked on married life, is discouraged from early parenthood, or repeated parenthood, by the difficulty discerned on every side of obtaining houses. It is not to lie wondered at that numbers of such people look to the flat or the “apartment” as a means of enabling them to marry and set up, without undue delay, something which passes lor a home. Anti it is a likely sequel that”many of these young couples should postpone the responsibilities and jovs of parenthood, or even, tn some cases, seek an illegal and perilous means of avoiding it. It has been argued that a Hat is better than no house, anti ol course that is true. But the palliative of flat-building in an attempt to meet an incrcasingly-urgent housing .situation is deplorably unsound. Apart from its function as a place of abode, a flat is not a substitute for a familv home; and tlie idea, in this young country ot small, spacious communities, of the State encouraging the congested style of tenement dwelling which has come, to be glamorized as ' flat lite should be repugnant'and disturbing to thoughtful citizens. But what is even more deplorable today, in view ot the increasing evidence ot acute hardship among home-seeking families, is the evidence that the 1 iovernment. while verbally acknowledging the urgency ol the problem, is not actually treating it with the urgency it demands. Here and there labour and materials are being employed on State enterprises nut of an essential character, nor of any degree of importance comparable with that of putting a sound and adequate root over the heads of needv people. Recently nt Invercargill labour and materials were expended on premises for the. Trust-controlled licensing experiment, it can be stud that the situation there called for action in order to comply with the licensing law and keep faith with the people. Nevertheless, there is something topsy-turvy and exasperating to the public mind nt the spectacle Of new licensed premises being rushed tip in one part ot this small country, while in .'mother part a man has to live with his wife and live children in a onc-roomed cabin “without .-ink. bathroom or w;i.-hhoii.-e." 'I lit re is equal reason for questioning the propriety ~f <ming ahead with alterations to Parliament Buildings, involving the improvement of restaurant accommodation for members u hen family group.- are at their wits’ end to provide themselves with the barest essentials of home life. There are other constructional activities m Ihi- country today—importtint, no doubt, tn themselves, but not sufficiently urgent tb be given priority over homes for the people. Hie existence of such works at this time suggests a lack of sincerity and administrative judgment in handling the country's domestic altairs in order of real urgency. It i- a condition of things—rooted..apparently, partly in muddiement and partly in selfishness or sectionalism—which Parliament should challenge at the earliest possible moment-