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crowding, i.e., those in which families might be overcrowded when the
sizes as well as the numbers of the rooms occupied were taken into
consideration. The second stage of the survey consisted of the
measurement of the floor area of all the rooms in the houses in which
doubtful cases of overcrowding had been disclosed by the preliminary
enumeration, with a view to determining definitely whether the families
were or were not overcrowded on the standard laid down in the Act.
In this second stage of the survey, the ages of children under 10 years
of age were recorded and particulars of the numbers of lodgers living
with families were obtained. The task of taking the room measurements
was completed with the ready co-operation of the families concerned.
The survey was concluded in December.
The method adopted for selecting the doubtful cases of overcrowding
was to fix, in respect of each size of dwelling, an arbitrary
number below the maximum permitted number in Table I and to
assume that, if the "equivalent number" of persons (i.e., counting
each child under 10 years of age as half a person) occupying the
dwelling was less than this number, the dwelling would not be overcrowded
on the standard of Table II in the Act.
If the "equivalent number" of persons in a dwelling house was
equal to or in excess of the reduced permitted number and the family
was not definitely overcrowded on the standard of Table I, the case
was considered doubtful and detailed room measurements were
obtained.
Statistical summary of the survey.
From the information obtained as a result of the survey, tables
were prepared showing the distribution of the families concerned in
relation to the size of the family and the size of the accommodation
occupied, in terms of the maximum number of persons permitted to
occupy the dwelling under the Act. The following table gives the
information relating to the whole Borough.
The vertical columns of the table show the sizes of the rooms
occupied in terms of the maximum "equivalent numbers" of persons
who could be permitted to occupy the dwellings without causing them
to be overcrowded. In cases in which the floor areas of the rooms in