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16
SECTION D. HOUSING.
The following figures indicate to some extent the amount
of attention the Sanitary Inspectors have been able to devote
to housing inspection during 1943 :—

Of 689 houses inspected, 625 were for general defects, 2 for
overcrowding, 37 verminous conditions, 9 dirty conditions, 5
water supply, 4 disinfestation purposes and 7 noxious accumulations.
583 houses were found not to be in all respects reasonably
ftt for habitation, and 431 were rendered fit in consequence
of informal action by the Inspectors.
The excess of nuisances remedied over nuisances found is
due to the remedying of items outstanding in the previous year.
328 inquiries and disinfection arrangements regarding
infectious diseases were made by the Inspectors.
Housing Conditions.
In order to give some indication of the present housing
conditions, I have extracted from the health visitors' records
the housing conditions of the family of the new-born during
the year, and also as a separate investigation the financial state
of those who applied for municipal midwifery service during
1943. The first set of figures relate to 767 babies, the latter to
450 expectant mothers. There is, of course, no direct relationship
between the two sets of figures.
Table I is an attempt to give statistical returns of the housing
conditions of babies visited for the first time in 1943. The broad
summary of these figures show that no less than 45 per cent,
of these families are unsatisfactorily housed, a condition, no
doubt, aggravated as a result of war; but it remains a factor
for consideration in post-war reconstruction.
Table II, extracted from the midwifery service records,
gives the percentage under various income scales. In giving
attention to this table it must be remembered that many of
these expectant mothers are the wives of serving soldiers, and
that the income recording refers in the main to that period
when the mother has ceased to work and is dependent upon the