Housing space

Space is an important dimension of housing quality. Several studies outline the negative effects of limitations in space and overcrowded dwellings on health, and particularly on child outcomes (OECD 2021, Measuring What Matters for Child Well-being and Policies). As discussed below, the COVID-19 pandemic has renewed such concerns, as preliminary evidence from some countries found that people living in overcrowded dwellings recorded higher infection rates of the virus (see OECD, 2021). This indicator uses (1) the average number of rooms per household member to illustrate how space constraints differ across countries as well as across households within countries, and (2) overcrowding as an alternative measure of dwelling space that takes into account household composition. Rooms refer to bedrooms, living and dining rooms and, in non-European countries, also kitchens (see the section on Data on Comparability Issues for further details). While the number of rooms available to household members highlights the importance of adequate space for housing quality, it makes no distinction between the different needs of households, depending on their composition. Yet, the space requirements for a couple-family with, for example, three toddlers may be quite different compared to those of a single-parent family with two sons aged 21 and 16 and a daughter aged 17. The overcrowding rate takes into account households' different personal space needs depending on household members’ age, gender and relationship.