Housing Needs and Social Welfare Services

This chapter describes a description of the housing needs in the Arab sector: housing density, and housing standards. In absolute terms, a more severe picture is revealed of housing density in the Arab sector. Overcrowded housing, then, is one of the hallmarks of the distress and the need of large families. In comparison to the general picture in the country, the situation of Arab families, from the point of view of housing density, is worse according to Standard A than according to Standard B. Flaws in housing standards are generally more characteristic of the older buildings. Small groups of the population are still living in extremely difficult conditions, and the improvement in housing conditions that did take place did not reach them. The best-known program in Israel for assisting families in need of housing is the program of loans and grants of the Ministry of Housing.